The conference was awesome and I’ll write more about that on Wednesday. Although, I think I could do posts all week long and not run out of material.
This is only the fifth installment of Writing Prod, but it is not getting much of a response. I know that last month most of you were involved in the A to Z bloghop and really didn’t have time to participate. So I am giving it one more shot. If you like this feature please post a comment letting me know that I should continue.
This weeks’ prompt I am calling News Mining. The concept is simple, look through the news items in your paper, online, or while watching television. Pick one of them and write a story that’s based on it having a much different cause than what was reported. In other words, give your readers the background story that hasn’t been reported and is a bit more fantastic than the truth.
If you want to do this as a creative prompt to get your creative juices going for the week you can also select a specific genre for the news item; otherwise, you would just use the genre you normally write. As always, should you or any of your CW (Creative Writing) force be caught or killed, my secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck, Writer.
For my example I am going to write a movie pitch based a news item I picked from MSN and in the techno-thriller genre.
Catch and Release – The President orders the military in Afghanistan to start secretly releasing dangerous prisoners in exchange for information from the terrorists about their rivals. On the surface this looks like a standard political move, but it is really a vicious program of annihilation. Each of the released prisoners has been infected with a virus that will spread death to the terrorist network and their families. The situation changes when several of the service men return home and die from the same engineered virus that they are supposed to be immune, except that this mutated strain no longer targets people that share DNA with the carrier.
Love it. I wish my mind thought like this but alas it does not. Maybe I'll give this a try. I'll come back and tell you if I do.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Hope you come back and give it a try. At least I know that someone is reading this feature when I post it.
DeleteIt was really GREAT to see you at the conferrence.
That is so cool, creepy-cool. Sounds like one heck of a bio-warfare conundrum. Let me give this a try:
ReplyDeleteNo Space - Seventeen year old Raleigh created a page on SpaceWide to keep in touch with friends after her family's sudden move from San Diego. But after a few innocent Updates, Posts and mobile pic uploads, Raleigh finds herself being Messaged by a mystery person warning her to cease and desist all use of SpaceWide. Like any teen she continues using it, resulting in a vandalization of her home. Things don't get any better from there, even after she closes her page. Can Raleigh unravel the mystery before the danger escalates entrapping her and her family in a death net? Is no space the best place?
Very nice. You're pretty good at this. And this is especially creepy because it targets young people using the newer social media technology. I like it. : )
DeleteI saw some article mentioning FB getting so much information on folks...just creeped me out and prompted that little story plot.
DeleteI think you hit a nerve on that one. A good thing if you're writing a story. Any plans on turning it into a full blown story?
DeleteOh man! Storymakers was so fun! And I almost didn't recognize you! I wish I would have been able to visit with you though! I did get to see you walk up and receive your award at the podium though. That was cool! Congrats! :)
ReplyDeleteYes it was. I hope I can make it up there next year. My wife is pushing for me to keep going. I would have loved to visit with you - and anyone else from the blogging-verse. Thanks for the congrats. I was quite happy to receive second place in the contest; although, I'm hoping that next year I won't be able to participate because I'm a published author.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea, and I really like the movie pitch you made from your prod, although I want to call it a prompt. I don't have need of a writing prompt or prod right now because I'm too busy rewriting my book, but it seems like a good thing to keep posting for those who aren't in the middle of a project. I wish I could have gone to the conference. Sort of like wishing I could move back to Utah. Maybe one day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I'm glad you liked my pitch. A lot of the time I'm goofing around and post something I hope will generate a laugh, but in this case I wanted to show that you can take a (prompt) like this and turn it into a serious plot. Unfortunately, I don't write techno-thrillers so this one is just going to sit here.
DeleteBest of luck on the rewrite. Since the response has been so good I will keep posting these writing prods. Would have loved to seen you at the conference. Utah was beautiful. Of course, any place that has green is beautiful to a desert rat like me.