| [BACK]
For anyone who reads the newspapers and keeps abreast of what's happening in our world, plots abound. Not made up stuff, but real--true life--dramas happen every day, everywhere.
The more infamous stories that make the headlines become TV movies--female G.I. Jessica Lynch, the Scott Peterson murder trial (even before there was a verdict), Michael Jackson, the Texas woman who ran down her cheating husband, etc.
Lesser know yet sensational stories that might only be news locally are also everywhere.
The TV show Law and Order is known for taking prominent murders or events in the news and dramatizing them, altering the facts just enough.
If you're having problems finding a story, don't rule out reading your daily newspaper. The material is there. Not only in the areas of high crime, but in the goofy story about the fat guy trying to lose weight who's so fat he can't get through his doorway.
I'm not saying you should lift somebody's actual story and write it. What I'm advocating is that you check out the stories. Find one that appeals to you, then take the bare bones drama, surround it with characters of your own and see how it flies.
There's also the possibility of mixing and matching stories and characters in the news.
And if something genuinely touches you in a way that inspires you to write the truth, there's also the possibility that you contact the victim or victims family and option the rights to his/her story.
|
