A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 10

This is the 13th 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.

Initially, I provided a daily explanation about why you should make it a habit to be generating story ideas. This week, I’ll give you some tips on how to come up with stories.

Tip: Look at magazines.

I love magazines. Or at least I used to. Before at one point, I had over 30 subscriptions! [Now I’m down to 2: The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books].

The thing is if you’re trolling magazines for possible story ideas, you have to avoid the biggies like People, US, Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, and so on. You can be sure that Hollywood studios and producers cover those regularly. Indeed more and more magazine writers tailor their stories as possible movie projects.

No, you need to dig deeper and go wider with your research into magazines. Fast Company, Smithsonian, New Scientist are some good ones.

Then think regional like Southern Living. Or foreign like Der Spiegel. Or really odd like Miniature Donkey Talk Magazine.

Again there are plenty of story ideas out there, especially in magazines. You just have to look for them.

Today’s story idea: Ancient Japanese ‘killing stone’ said to contain a demon has CRACKED open.

AS IF the world doesn’t have enough problems, people are now worried that an evil demon locked in a rock for almost 1,000 years is on the loose.

The so-called ‘killing stone’ that kept the malevolent spirit imprisoned all this time has split in two, sending believers into a state of panic.

Japanese legend has it that anyone who comes into contact with the rock will die.

According to mythology, the volanic rock — officially called Sessho-seki — is home to Tamomo-No-Mae, aka the Nine-Tailed Fox.

The demon apparently took the form of a beautiful woman, who was part of a plot to kill Emperor Toba, ruler of Japan from 1107 to 1123.

Located in the mountainous northern region of Tochigi, near Tokyo, the rock is something of a tourist hotspot — but now visitors are fearful.

Officials are now mulling over what to do with the rock’s remains and could attempt to restore it.

The Killing Rock. The first image which sprang to mind was this:

The Rock as a Bad Guy! Unleashed upon the world after thousands of years trapped inside a … you know … rock. Then cooler heads prevailed. Dwayne Johnson would never play a Bad Guy, would he?

Besides, I found this to be more intriguing:

According to mythology, the volanic rock — officially called Sessho-seki — is home to Tamomo-No-Mae, aka the Nine-Tailed Fox.

The demon apparently took the form of a beautiful woman, who was part of a plot to kill Emperor Toba, ruler of Japan from 1107 to 1123.

Now we’re talking! The Killing Rock cracks open unleashing a demon in the form of a “beautiful woman” … kinda like this:

That’s Rita Repulsa, the original Bad Gal from the Power Rangers TV series. In our story, the role of the Nemesis is provided by Tamomo-No-Mae.

Look, I confess. Superhero stories are not my thing. I could sit here in deep thought reverse-engineering a Protagonist or group of Protagonists who must take on Tamomo based upon them being forced to confront their greatest fears. More up my alley would be to take the story in the vein of this film:

Under the Skin (2013): A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.

This “mysterious young woman” is probably some sort of alien creature, so perhaps in the vein of Alien, Tamomo is awakened and set free from imprisonment through unexpected human interaction. And off she goes terrorizing humans through sexual or other activities.

That’s all I‘ve got today. If your writing passion is science fiction, superhero stories, or kinky death-through-sex tales, this could be a setup for you.

My 10th story idea this month. If you like it, do with it what you will. It’s YOURS. And it’s free!

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.