A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17
This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up…
This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas.
Today’s story: “We Have a Taylor Swift Concert Crisis. How Do We Solve It?”
A letter to The Ethicist at the New York Times:
Because of the challenges with Ticketmaster in the fall, three friends and I were able to buy only two tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras tour during the original sale, and resale tickets are now absurdly expensive.
Our dilemma is how to decide which two friends get to go to the concert. Although all four of us would love to go to the concert, one friend and I are arguably the biggest Swifties of the group. That said, I already attended an Eras Tour concert last month with my family. I would still love to go again, but maybe I should recuse myself, given that my three friends haven’t been.
It’s also worth noting that there was unequal effort put into procuring the tickets; for example, two of my friends didn’t submit to be entered for “Registered Fan” status, which could have improved our odds of getting tickets. Is there a fair way to divide the tickets? Or is the best option to choose a random-number generator?
The Ethicist ends up advising them to do rock-paper-scissors.
As a screenwriter, I have other ideas that include conflict, madness, and mayhem. I mean, we’re talking Taylor Swift here. And what if the issue among these friends is two tickets to the performer’s final concert … ever.
Yes, it turns out she marries Travis Kelce and immediately gets pregnant. Not only that, she’s delivers triplets. She takes some time off from touring, then discovers she really loves being a mom.
So, now that the triplets are two years old, Taylor has decided to do one final tour, then it’s time to focus on her family.
The last concert of her last tour is set to take place at SoFi Stadium in Southern California. Ticket prices are through the roof, way out of the price range for four lifelong friends: Kelly, Kasey, Kira, and Kevin (the requisite gay member of the group).
There is a radio giveaway. Two tickets to see Taylor Swift. The quartet combine efforts to man hours listening to the radio at the ready to call in on the phone. Then to answer three ridiculously hard trivia questions.
Lo and behold, they win! Two tickets to see Taylor Swift’s final concert!
Then it dawns on them: They have been so obsessed with winning the tickets, they never figured out who would go in the longshot event they would win.
The problem is, each has an equal rationale to justify each being owed a ticket.
Things get testy, then one of them runs off with the tickets.
Chase time!
I see the tickets swapping hands. Friendships frayed and fractured. Tickets lost. Tickets found. Tickets stolen by an interloper. Now the four have to join together to get the tickets back.
And there is a ticking clock: The concert is mere hours away!
What happens? Who ends up going to the concert? Or perhaps none of them get the chance to attend.
I leave that up to you. This could be your story.
There you go. My 17th story this month. Free for you to take and write.
Previous articles in this year’s series:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
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.
See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea.
Let’s say you’ve found a story concept from an article in this series. Or you have an idea of your own, but you’re at the very beginning of the story-crafting process.
How to develop, then write it as a screenplay?
May I humbly recommend my book The Protagonist’s Journey: An Introduction to Character-Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling.
Hundreds of people have sent photos of my book. Here’s one.
The book is structured to provide writers an approach to the story-crafting process grounded in immersing oneself in the lives of the characters (Parts I and II). Then Part III presents a stage by stage approach to break story: from concept to outline.
Go here to read endorsements from dozens of professional screenwriters, authors, and academics.
You may purchase The Protagonist’s Journey here:
Come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.