Copyright 2018 by Gary L. Pullman
Many writers have
developed plots for their stories, long or short, from newspaper
accounts of actual events. A quick way to accomplish this procedure
is to change, add, or delete a word or a phrase to make a mundane
incident appear bizarre or sinister. Here are a few examples from the
“State-By-State” column in the Tuesday, October 16, 2018, issue
of the national newspaper USA Today.
First, the actual news item is quoted, directly, and then the altered
version is presented, the changes are indicated in bold font.
Alabama[,] Birmingham: Sheriff's deputies in Jefferson
County are now armed with body cameras.
Alabama[,]
Birmingham: Sheriff's deputies in Jefferson County are now armed with
weaponized body
extensions.
(What,
exactly, are
“weaponized body extensions”? Whatever you want them to be; have
fun deciding.)
Alaska[,] Homer: After decades of serving independent
movie selections, Barb's Video and DVD is closing its doors this
month.
Alaska[,]
Homer: After decades of showing
snuff films, Thanatos
Palace Video and DVD is closing its doors this month.
(For legal purposes, in fiction it is often advisable to
change the names of actual persons and businesses; some writers also
change the names of actual cities..)
Iowa[,]
Des Moines: State law enforcement officials are warning of a scam in
which callers pretend to be state police and demand payment.
Iowa[,]
Des Moines: State law enforcement officials are warning of a scam in
which callers pretend to be hit
men and demand payment
to call off the contracts
on potential “target's” lives.
Nevada[,] Reno: The 1872 Reno Mercantile and Masonic
Lodge, downtown's oldest building, has been found to be too unstable
to save.
Nevada[,]
Reno: The 1872 Reno Dry
Goods Store and Satanic Lodge,
downtown's oldest building, has been found to be too mentally
unstable to save.
A
mad, possibly demon-possessed personified building:
now that's a twist!
Ohio[,[ Columbus: An exhibition of veterans' art will
showcase works by former military service members from across the
state.
Ohio[,[
Columbus: An exhibition of veterans' art will showcase photographs
of combat
fatalities caused
by former military
service members from across the state.
Pennsylvania[,] Pittsburgh: Authorities say a pizza
deliveryman was shot and killed during a daytime robbery.
Pennsylvania[,]
Pittsburgh: Authorities say a pizza deliveryman was shot, killed, and
eaten during a daytime
delivery to a family of
cannibals.*
Rhode Island[,] Providence: Senator Jack Reed is helping
to kick off a new apprenticeship program for people who want to build
submarines.
Rhode
Island[,] Providence: Senator Jim Kinkaid is helping to kick off a
new apprenticeship program for people who want to build sanctuary
cities for aliens (i. e., extraterrestrials).
An alternative:
Rhode
Island[,] Providence: Senator Jim Kinkaid is helping to kick off a
new apprenticeship program for people who want to build holding
compounds for zombies.
(The
beauty of this item is that the people—or creatures—to be housed
in the new buildings can be pretty much anything, natural or
supernatural. In one of the X-Men
movies, a plastic room, suspended in midair, was built to confine
Magneto.)
Washington[,] Cougar: Forecasters say strong winds are
expected to blow volcanic ash on Mount St. Helens to nearby
communities.
Washington[,]
Cougar: Forecasters say strong winds are expected to blow mutagenic
agents from a remote genetic engineering lab into
certain
unidentified
communities.
Some
of the reports in the column need no modification; they're already
bizarre or sinister.
Arizona[,] Phoenix: A man, 59, is accused of killing his
girlfriend and putting her body in a gun safe he welded shut and
buried in the desert.
Massachusetts[,] Peabody: A house where a victim of the
Salem witch trials once lived is on the market for $600,000.
Tennessee[,]
Bristol: A man police say was run over with a lawn mower while trying
to kill his son with a chain saw [sic]
had his leg amputated.
A
couple of items could be revised to include Bigfoot:
Idaho[,] Boise: An Idaho Fish and game Commission member
is under fire after he shared photos of himself posing with baboons
he killed while hunting in Africa.
Idaho[,]
Boise: An Idaho Fish and game Commission member is under fire after
he shared photos of himself posing with Bigfoot
creatures he killed while
hunting.
New Hampshire[,] Manchester: A New Hampshire Fish and
Game official says a biologist shot and killed two bear cubs because
they were causing a safety issue.
New
Hampshire[,] Manchester: A New Hampshire Fish and Game official says
a biologist shot and killed two Bigfoot
cubs because they were causing a safety issue.
Once
a possible plot has been obtained in this manner, t would need to be
developed. A context would have to be created to account for the
bizarre or sinister incident. Who caused it and why? What
consequences ensued? Who was hurt or killed, how, and why? How was
the incident brought to its end, by whom, and why? These are only
some of the many questions that a writer would have to answer before
the plot was ready to convert into a full-scale short story, novel,
or screenplay.
But,
hey, USA Today gave us
a start!
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