A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 11
This is the third year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Last week I provided a daily explanation about why you should make it a habit to be generating story ideas. This week, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories.
Tip #3: Look at Craigslist.
Dreamworks bought this pitch based on Craigslist ads.
There is this musical based on Craigslist ads.
There was this TV movie based on a Craigslist story.
Now something proactive you can do for your writing career while searching for a used barbell set.
Today’s story: Thieves in Sweden steal left shoes to match stolen right shoes from Denmark:
For months, officers were baffled when designer shoe shops in Malmö reported that only left shoes were disappearing from their shelves. But the mystery was solved when it emerged that in neighbouring Denmark only right shoes were put on display, the Times reports.
“Apparently this is a tried and tested approach,” Stig Möller, a police superintendent in Malmö, Sweden’s third-largest city and scene of the initial crime, told the paper.
Staff at a one shop in Malmö saw two men in their fifties stealing left shoes at the weekend. The duo escaped with seven left shoes which — if paired with the right shoes — were worth £900.
“We have noticed that left shoes have disappeared in the past, but we never caught the thieves,” said Anna Johansson, a shoe shop assistant. “Since we know that Danish stores keep the right shoes in the stockroom and put the left shoes on the boutique shelves and we do it the other way around in Sweden we figured that the corresponding shoes probably disappear as well in stores in Denmark. I do not know why the Danes display the right shoes I guess there are no international rules.”
Malmö, home to 125 shoe shops, is only a 30-minute train ride away from Copenhagen, which has several hundred outlets. Many brands are sold in both cities as manufacturers and chains operate all over Scandinavia.
One of my all-time favorite movies is Local Hero:
I keep looking for a way into a story set in Europe with quirky characters and a quirky plot. Now I will grant you cops chasing after thieves who steal left shoes in Sweden and right shoes in Denmark seems pretty thin, but it’s a start, right? It’s funny, it’s weird, and until you solve it, it’s a mystery. Perhaps one subplot of several?
Or just a good jumping off point for solid indie comedy.
What would you do with this idea?
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