A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 11
This is the fifth 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: Halliwell’s Film Guide.
This is based on the anecdote I heard about Woody Guthrie. Having written 4,000 songs in his life, he was asked how he came up with so many melodies. His answer: “Well, I take a melody I like, and I change it a lil’ here, and change it a lil’ there, and I make it my own.”
Same thing with Halliwell’s. You can read a post I wrote about it all the way back in November 2008, how you can read through the 24,000 movie listings — each with a logline — then gender and genre-bend your life to creative bliss.
Today’s story: Confessions of an Underearner.
In high school, I bought my own M&M’s for marching band fundraisers rather than sell them to my neighbors. Not because I’m a huge fan of M&M’s, but because I hated to sell anything.
I’ve never really negotiated for a raise… I’ve either waited until my boss gave me one or left for a better job.
I have generated countless ideas that I thought were brilliant at the time I came up with them, only to toss them out a short while later as rubbish.
I can be a world-class procrastinator.
According to Underearners Anonymous, these are all classic symptoms of being an underearner, and the cure is a 12-step recovery process aided by the support group above.
But I wondered if that was really the answer to my money issues.
Fortunately, there was an easy way to find out.
I learned that a cluster of Underearners Anonymous chapters in the New York City area were holding a special storytelling event on Saturday, June 1, which they dubbed Share-A-Day. At the events, members would share how UA works for them. It only cost $10 for four hours, which sounded like a bargain to me, not to mention a great opportunity to check out the organization and see if I belonged to their tribe.
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The speakers testified that they had used Underearners Anonymous to successfully transition from jobs that paid the bills — known in the UA vernacular as “B jobs” or “recovery jobs” — to do more of what they loved. They did this by meticulously tracking their time with detailed worksheets, meeting frequently with other underearners for encouragement, writing down their goals and “working the steps and the tools.”
Underearners Anonymous started in 2005 as an offshoot of Debtors Anonymous. Some DA members realized that getting out of debt was only part of the solution. They believed that their entire relationship to money and their habitual time-wasting was a major source of their financial problems. Most of the people I met on Share-A-Day participated in other 12-step programs. “I came for the green and stayed for the self-esteem,” is how one Share-A-Day speaker put it.
This is one of those ideas I’d stick in my files for possible later reference because a story doesn’t immediately leap out and grab me. However these elements about the concept do:
* We live in a time of economic uncertainty.
* Most people having a lot of stress and anxiety about their finances.
* Just about everybody I know seems to be working their collective asses off.
* Stories about people making gobs of money = wish fulfillment.
Then there’s this: The 12 Symptoms of Underearning.
1. Time Indifference — We put off what must be done and do not use our time to support our own vision and further our own goals.
2. Idea Deflection –We compulsively reject ideas that could expand our lives or careers, and increase our profitability.
3. Compulsive Need to Prove — Although we have demonstrated competence in our jobs or business, we are driven by a need to re-prove our worth and value.
4. Clinging to Useless Possessions — We hold onto possessions that no longer serve our needs, such as threadbare clothing or broken appliances.
5. Exertion/Exhaustion — We habitually overwork, become exhausted, then under-work or cease work completely.
6. Giving Away Our Time — We compulsively volunteer for various causes, or give away our services without charge, when there is no clear benefit.
7. Undervaluing and Under-pricing — We undervalue our abilities and services and fear asking for increases in compensation or for what the market will bear.
8. Isolation — We choose to work alone when it might serve us much better to have co-workers, associates, or employees.
9. Physical Ailments — Sometimes, out of fear of being larger or exposed, we experience physical ailments.
10. Misplaced Guilt or Shame — We feel uneasy when asking for or being given what we need or what we are owed.
11. Not Following Up — We do not follow up on opportunities, leads, or jobs that could be profitable. We begin many projects and tasks but often do not complete them.
12. Stability Boredom — We create unnecessary conflict with co-workers, supervisors and clients, generating problems that result in financial distress.
Sure, this seems like one of those lists of personality traits where basically everyone can find qualities they share. But if everyone can relate to at least some of these items, think about it: Everyone = Potential Audience. Possible marketing taglines. By word of mouth buzz. So a story which traffics in this arena feels like it could have some traction with a movie audience.
But what genre?
My default mode is Comedy. And the movie What About Bob comes to mind.
Some poor schlub (Protagonist) goes to a UA meeting, gets a Sponsor who has succeeded in creating wealth in his life, and while ‘advising’ the P, increasingly invades the P’s life. Maybe the way the Sponsor makes his/her income is by moving from town to town (and UA meeting to UA meeting) and fleeces the people he’s supposed to help. Maybe s/he is a grifter who sees easy marks at these meetings and uses them to go after the P’s extended family’s wealth. Or so takes over the P’s life, convinces the P to get a hefty life insurance policy — as part of being ‘fiscally responsible’ — then surreptitiously gets the P to designate the Sponsor as the beneficiary, and arranges the sudden and tragic death of the P. If you imagine the Sponsor to be a master manipulator, I can envision them ensnaring the P.
What I’ve spun here is a dark comedy, isn’t it? Especially if the P survives the murderous attempt on his/her life, and now has a new goal: REVENGE!
Not sure that’s a movie, but my gut tells me there may be something here. What does your gut say? Anything here? Can you challenge yourself to come up with a storyline with this concept?
There you go: My eleventh story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free!
Each day this month, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Gender bend, genre bend, what if. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are all valuable skills for a writer to develop.
See you in comments (hit Reply to join the conversation). And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.
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