I've talked about the writer in residence program at my library. They've been on a break since September/October, and I'm really excited to have it back in full swing. The writer in residence for this month and next is Betty Webb, and I just went to her first workshop today. It was entitled "Five Plots a day: turning newspaper articles into stories."
Betty Webb began by showing us eight or more of her published books. She said that for all of these books, the idea came from the same place. The newspaper.
How to read the newspaper for ideas The article must have content that resonates with your emotions and personal beliefs. Look at the "nut graph," the framework of ethics and human behavior. This can usually be found in the second paragraph of the article. It's where the reporter tells you what the article is about. Think about:
Avoid the "big" stories. Why? Publishing houses will have already contracted well-known authors to write those books. Stick with "small stories." In fact, in our workshop, we talked about how "Dear Abby" articles can be used. (Don't look at the answers!) Don't look for facts When finding story ideas in the newspaper, you aren't looking for facts. You're looking for characters in trouble, people in conflict. A plot is what happens. A novel is about how people respond to what happens. Point of View (POV) Betty Webb showed us that you could get more than one story idea from the same newspaper article because you can look at it from different angles. Who is telling the story? Why? For example, Betty Webb read about a Jaguar-driving parking violator who was arrested after accumulating more than $10,000 in parking fines. You could tell it from the violators POV, Meter maid's POV, wife's POV, cell mate's POV, Judge's POV...etc. Caution Don't use the same name(s) from the newspapers. If you're saying good things about a hotel (for example) you could say their name. Otherwise, don't. Move locations. Change genders. Mix and match.
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