A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 21

This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April.

Today’s story idea: “The Media Swarmed to His Shower Study. Now Comes a Major Partnership.”

Zachary Irving’s research on why so many great ideas pop out of your noggin in the shower caught some attention two years ago. The New York Post wrote about it. So did The Washington Post and National Geographic.

British cosmetics and soap company Lush also noticed, and recently took it a step further. The company worked with Irving to design a shower routine — with “Dark Angels Fresh Cleanser,” “Sleepy Shower Gel” and “Not Sleepy Shower Bomb” — based on Irving’s scientific knowledge about how to harness the wandering mind.

And just like that, a partnership combining expertise and exfoliation was born.

Pretty simple idea for a comedy. Nerdy, introverted college professor publishes an academic paper on the creative benefits of taking showers. The article catches the attention of a major corporation which manufactures shampoo, cosmetics, and soap. And off our naive Protagonist goes on the roller coaster ride which is capitalism and media hype.

— He signs a multi-million dollar deal as a “creative consultant”

— He’s brought in to corporate meetings where he is a fish-out-of-water

— Imagine the clash between his academic language and corporate speak

— After a few well-placed interviews, he becomes a social media star

— Suddenly, billionaires pay him big bucks to take showers with them to inspire their creative output

— He becomes the object of pursuit of famous actresses and models, which elevates him to the status of a sex symbol

It’s a satire on the influence of money and the cult of personality which leads to the professor becoming a media darling … then his inevitable crash and burn due to his public behavior and academic criticism.

A morality tale along the lines of Howard Beale’s rise and fall in Network.

There’s my 21st story idea this month.

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
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20

Here are links to previous series:

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2017)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2018)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2019)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2020)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2021)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2022)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2023)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2024)

Note: The articles from 2010–2016 have corrupted URLs. I am in the process of cleaning those up.

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. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.