A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 13
This is the sixth 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: Obituaries.
When it comes down to it, people live extraordinary lives. And obituaries summarize those lives in nice, neat packages. For some examples, go here.
So if you’re stuck for story ideas? Hit the obits.
Today’s story: Indian court blocks cremation of frozen guru.
According to his wife and son, Maharaj died Jan. 29 of a heart attack. His death was confirmed by physicians and the Punjab police. His followers in the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan sect say he has achieved a transcendent state called “samadhi” where he is at one with the universe. They are keeping him “alive” in a commercial freezer in his ashram.
Maharaj’s family say that the sect’s elders are insisting he is alive so they can control his finances. Maharaj is one of India’s wealthiest religious leaders with an estate worth an estimated $170 million. Maharaj had no named successor so his fortune would remain in a charitable trust if declared dead by the courts.
The Punjab High Court has dismissed the police report, saying Maharaj’s death is a “spiritual matter.” It will hear an application from his wife and son to investigate his death and return his body.
HT to @BrianDuffield for surfacing this story. My first thought was it’s Weekend at Bernie’s meets Slumdog Millionaire. Slacker sons of some rich dude have to keep their dead father ‘alive’ in order to keep feeding off the company teat. Could be a sect, could be a corporation, could be any type of operation which the dead dude headed up before his untimely demise. Pretty much a straight-ahead comedy.
But here’s a twist: What if the dead dude suddenly doesn’t seem all that deceased. Slackers are sure they left his corpse over here, but when they come back, the body is over there. And the dead dude’s eyes always seem to be following the guys, his face getting darker and meaner looking.
Strange things begin to happen. If you go the sect route, maybe the sons begin to think the dead dude is who he claimed he was and is now raised from the dead. Or each of the sons begin to suspect the other of messing with their heads, accusing each other of creating a ‘ghost’ from the dead dude to scare them away from the money.
By the way, here’s a photo of the guy from the article:
Imagine this corpse seemingly in stalker mode!
There you go: My thirteenth story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free!
What would you do with it?
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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