A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 2

This is the sixth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts.

Here’s another one:

The only way to find a great story idea is to work your way through a bunch of crap ideas.

Ira Glass (“This American Life”), arguably one of the most knowledgeable people around today re storytelling, said this:

“You have to record and get rid of a lot of crap before you find something special.”

Same thing with screenwriting: You have to generate a bunch of crappy ideas before you find something special. Still don’t believe me? How about the wisdom of Linus Pauling:

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”

And Linus Pauling should know, one of the few people to win multiple Nobel Prizes.

So why focus on generating a bunch of story ideas? Because most of the ones you come up with will be crap. However somewhere along the line, you’ll find some that a pure gold.

Today’s story idea: Male cop becomes Amish woman to catch a criminal.

It’s Mrs. Doubtfire meets Witness: One Pennsylvania police officer was willing to go undercover as an Amish woman to apprehend a flasher.

In January, Pulaski Township Sgt. Chad Adams donned a dark blue dress and apron, black bonnet, and long coat in an attempt to catch a man who was exposing himself to Amish children walking home from school. According to CBS News, the Amish residents of Lawrence County, near the Ohio border, did not want their children to have to testify in court against the suspect, and were happy to lend their clothing to Adams in exchange for his help.

In a message on Facebook, Adams shared the details of his undercover work, now that the investigation is complete. “Although we did not apprehend the individual, we believe he was caught in another county,” he wrote. “I wanted to share with you that we will use all means available to try and protect our children. That includes dressing up as an Amish woman to attempt to apprehend a pervert.”

Here is the police officer dressed in Amish drag:

I mean, come on. The article itself goes all Hollywood on this one: “It’s Mrs. Doubtfire meets Witness.”

Two questions right off the bat: (1) Is it different enough from Witness? (2) Is it enough of a setup to sustain a movie?

Per the latter, clearly you’d have to make the stakes bigger, more than just trying to catch a flasher. Per the former, what if you spun the dynamic: Instead of a cop impersonating a female member of the Amish community, instead someone goes into hiding. Think Some Like It Hot (When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in) or Sister Act (When a worldly singer witnesses a mob crime, the police hide her as a nun in a traditional convent where she has trouble fitting in).

What would you do with this story idea?

There you go: My second 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. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.

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