A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 7

This is the 12th 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. Here’s another one:

The story idea is how everyone in Hollywood short-hands your script.

From the first moment your script enters into submission process, where it’s covered and at the very top there is a logline, through the marketing of your movie, where posters, newsprint, radio, TV spots, and web content all derive from it, your story idea is the touchstone for everything that happens.

So over time, I think it is fair to say that story ideas have become the lifeblood of Hollywood, what people traffic in all day long. The more you can think like that, play to the way Hollywood people interact with stories, the better your chances of success in the business.

Today’s story idea: Nuns sell out and move up.

This story flitted across my social media feed via the @brennajessie_ Twitter account. Interestingly, this is NOT the only “nuns with money and gambling” story. How about this one: Two California nuns accused of embezzling half a million from school for trips and gambling.

Two Catholic school nuns accused of embezzling about a half-million dollars in tuition, fees and donations from a school allegedly used some of the money to gamble in Las Vegas, according to officials cited in a news report.

I suppose you could go the drama route with a story setup like this: Desperate to get money to… pay for one of the sister’s cancer treatment… or save the nunnery… or fund an inner city youth program.

In my eyes, this has comedy written all over it. The key for me was this detail:

The nuns, led by 61-year-old Sister Anna, were last seen leaving Bruges in a convoy of two cars and an ambulance

The ambulance was for frail 93-year-old Sister Agnes, the oldest of the group.

Why sell a convent in boring Bruges and move to a chateau in the south of France? Sister Agnes and her “bucket list.” She has faithfully served the Lord for over 70 years. Now she has is dying. The other sisters intend to see to it their beloved friend has the time of her life… at the end of her life.

Here’s an interesting twist: What if Sister Anna, Sister Helena, and Sister Martha, each of whom is in their 60s and 70s, intend to see to it Sister Agnes’ final days are filled with excitement and fun. But they have to create a false narrative to get Sister Agnes on board. She is so devout, she would never agree to selling the convent and using the proceeds to party down on the Mediterranean coast of France.

Their false narrative? We are going on a spiritual pilgrimage. We will be visiting several holy sites.

It just so happens that the sites include a horse race track (“To honor Saint Eligius, patron saint of cattle and horses”), a casino (“To honor Saint Pantaleon, patron saint of making money”), and the Cannes Film Festival (“To honor St Blaise, patron saint of storytellers”).

This means the trio of nuns who spearhead this crazy junket not only have to worry about law enforcement attempting to track them down, they also have to fret about Sister Agnes discovering the truth. Combine that with the FOOW (Fish Out Of Water) dynamic and you’ve got the makings of a fun comedy.

There you go, my 7th story idea of the month. And it’s yours. Free! What would YOU do with it?

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

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.