A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 20
This is the fourth year in a row I’ve run this series in April. This year, I’ve made a new addition to the ASIEDFAM series: Dumb Idea Friday! Every week, I will post a cruddy concept. Why? Because we have to have the freedom to come up with a bunch of crappy ideas to find great ones. This is brainstorming, people! Set your Internal Editor (“That idea sucks!”) on neutral. Remember the mantra: The best way to find a good idea is come up with a lot of ideas… even crappy ones!
And today’s Dumb Idea is even dumber because it’s Saturday. Why am I posting the Dumb Idea today when it’s supposed to be on Friday? Because in all the hubbub of the last few days, I forgot. So without further ado, today’s Dumb Idea: The Strip Club Binge:
A New York judge has ruled against a man who claimed he shouldn’t be liable for $28,000 he spent in one night at a strip club. William Ilg had claimed that staff at the Hustler Club got him so drunk that he became “no longer capable of conducting transactions.” But the judge ruled that the club had no duty “to protect plaintiff from the results of his intoxication.”
This is dumb on so many levels. First the dude is dumb to get fleeced for $28K. While getting hammered. At a strip club. Second in an increasingly litigious society, dude tries to lay off responsibility for his dumb actions by suing the club.
Third but most relevant to our purposes: It’s a dumb idea because while an interesting narrative element, it seems far removed from anything remotely resembling a movie.
But let’s try.
My first thought was a rom-com whereby the Protagonist, having lost $28K in a night of drunken strip club debauchery, sues the club which is owned by an ex-stripper herself. They go to arbitration to try to resolve the situation. Perhaps she tries to use her sexual wiles to get him to drop the charges. Then they fall in love…
Too dumb.
Okay, how about this: Same setup. Protagonist is a guy, owner is a woman. He sues and loses. She can’t let well enough alone and creates some humiliating scene after the case is decided [let’s assume the case creates a stir, so there is a lot of media coverage, so the scene is broadcast everywhere]. Salt in the wounds and the Protagonist’s reputation shot, he devolves into an extremely bitter place. So he sets out to get revenge.
Still dumb.
Okay, I give up. What would you do with this story conceit?
Dumb idea and all, it’s yours. And it’s 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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