A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 28
This is the 12th 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: I secretly discovered hate-speech in my husband’s group chat.
I recently read my husband’s WhatsApp conversation with a group of 10 of his friends — which I realise was a complete breach of trust — and was horrified about what I read. They made nasty, homophobic comments about one of my siblings and my husband didn’t intervene. He has told me before that he knows his friends’ “banter” is extreme, and that I shouldn’t look at it if I don’t want to be offended. But it isn’t banter — it’s hate-speech about a member of our family. I haven’t told my husband I’ve seen the comments because I know I was wrong to look. I can’t tell anyone what I’ve read for fear of them disliking him. The theme of making horrible comments about my sibling has been ongoing and there have been other disturbing things happen in the group (eg sharing naked photos of women they are dating, without their consent). It’s making me question whether I really know him. We have been married for three years and he is kind, generous, protective and makes me feel loved. Our day-to-day life is happy, but this is a big issue for me.
What if you discovered your significant other was carrying on a secret life? Not your typical thing… an affair… addiction.
What if they were a member of a male organization with radical political views espousing violence against certain ethnic groups with an end goal of bringing down the United States government?
What if you discovered they are, in fact, a leader in this outfit. It is nationwide with growing chapters of militants numbering in the tens of thousands?
What if you learned that your husband did not marry you because he loved you, but rather because you are part of the public persona he has created. Loving husband and father. Solid citizen. Good neighbor. All part of his plan to shroud his illicit activities on behalf of the organization.
Worse, what if you have some sort of tie to the state government in which you live and your husband — without your knowledge or suspicion — is using you to obtain information to facilitate some of the organization’s activities?
Say, for example, you work for a banking regulatory entity which requires you to visit banks in your state? Audit their books. Maybe check out security systems. What if your husband tracked your movements and somehow gained access to your private work files to scope out banks which the organization would rob to finance their plans?
What if you suddenly discovered this… and went to the authorities… and the F.B.I. enlisted you to spy on your husband?
He’s keeping secrets for you. You’re keeping secrets from him. All the while, you go to your kid’s soccer games together. Eat meals together. Sleep together.
And oh yeah. The organization is planning a huge series of violent acts on April 19, the anniversary of Waco… Oklahoma City…
And now the start of a nationwide uprising.
There’s my 28th story idea of the month. What would you do with it?
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
Day 21
Day 22
Day 23
Day 24
Day 25
Day 26
Day 27
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.