A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 7

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 story idea is how everyone in Hollywood short-hands your script.

From the first moment your script enters into submission process, where it’s covered and at the very top there is a logline, through the marketing of your movie, where posters, newsprint, radio, TV spots, and web content all derive from it, your story idea is the touchstone for everything that happens.

So over time, I think it is fair to say that story ideas have become the lifeblood of Hollywood, what people traffic in all day long. The more you can think like that, play to the way Hollywood people interact with stories, the better your chances of success in the business.

Today’s story idea: 8 Drivers Who Blindly Followed Their GPS Into Disaster.

“The machine knows where it’s going!” yells Michael Scott in an episode of The Office, before driving his car directly into a lake.

If his blind dedication to GPS rings a little too true, fear not, dear driver, you aren’t alone. Next time the mechanical voice tells you to hang a right where none exists, trust your own two eyes instead of making these mistakes:

1. Turning into the park

2. Driving into the bay

3. Continuing on and on and on

4. Riding up to a cliff’s edge

5. Making a U-turn into a lake

6. Running straight into a house

7. Getting stuck in a cherry tree

8. Veering into a sand pit

You can click on the link above to get the specifics of each of these 8 accidents, but I highlight each event with this idea in mind: What if you construct a story using these 8 events as key plot points? Or brainstorm some others. But basically say, “I’m going to have 12 crazy car-inspired incidents and use those as the raw material for the narrative.” Like this:

So what’s the angle on the story? My first thought was an action comedy. What if the car is one of those autopilot vehicles, only develops a mind of its own? Driver gets locked in. And off you go. If you doubt this technology is around the corner, think again.

But who are the Bad Guys?

How about this: A case of mistaken identity whereby the Protagonist accidentally ends up in an autopilot muscle car that has X amount of hours to get from Point A to Point B. And the car itself is the object of pursuit by Nemesis and his/her minions. Perhaps the car has achieved singularity and the Bad Guys want it in order to replicate the same in other cars. Or maybe the car just has in its trunk the proverbial ‘briefcase full of cash’. In any event, the car has its prime directive. The Protagonist is its unwitting passenger, locked inside and imprisoned in a high-speed wreck-o-thon.

It’s Smokey and the Bandit meets Fast and Furious meets William Gibson.

There you go: My seventh story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free!

Now it’s your turn. What would you do with this story setup?

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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