A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 9

This is the 9th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Last week 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 news sites.

I’ve been demonstrating that in this series, every idea from a news article. While you can surely keep an eye out when reading the NY Times or LA Times, you’d better believe there are plenty of writers already eyeballing those pages. So troll smaller newspapers. Offbeat news sites. Have you ever checked out Weekly World News? I used to subscribe to the print version way back when and actually wrote a spec based on one of their articles: “Couple Adopts the Child From Hell.” Unfortunately the spec script “Problem Child” beat us by 2 weeks: same premise.

Today’s story: Kansas Scrambles To Change Rules After 6 Teens Enter Governor’s Race.

There are a lot of requirements if you want to vote in Kansas. You must be 18 years old. You need to show a photo ID at your polling place and show proof of U.S. citizenship when you register to vote. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says the state’s voter ID laws are among the strictest in the nation.

But when it comes to the rules about who can run for state office? There are no rules.

“Under Kansas law, there is no law governing the qualifications for governor, not one,” Bryan Caskey, director of elections at the Kansas secretary of state’s office, told The Kansas City Star last year. “So there’s seriously nothing on the books that lays out anything, no age, no residency, no experience. Nothing.”

So into the race jumped then 16-year-old Jack Bergeson. Calling himself an anti-establishment candidate, Bergeson is pursuing the Democratic nomination, advocating for a $12 minimum wage, legalization of medical marijuana, and high-speed rail for major cities in the region.

“I thought, you know, let’s give the people of Kansas a chance,” Bergeson told the Star in August. “Let’s try something new that has never really been tried anywhere else before.”

Three more teen boys, running as Republicans, soon entered the governor’s race — so many that they had their own candidates’ forum in a high school gym in Lawrence.

“This needs to be a government that represents everyone, not just 30 years old up,” said 17-year-old candidate Dominic Scavuzzo.

Two more teen boys threw hats in the ring, spurring Kansas lawmakers to try to put a stop to such youthful exuberance.

Remember the movie Election?

Probably. But you might not have seen the 1972 movie The Candidate:

Why not mix the two? A satirical comedy about a gubernatorial race in which some teenagers run against some old farts? Or go even broader. What if the candidate is this guy:

Of course, there’s a 1968 movie I’m sure NONE of you have seen called Wild in the Streets:

Tagline: This is the story of Max Frost, 24 years old… President of the United States… who created the world in his own image. To him, 30 is over the hill. 52% of the nation is under 25… and they’ve got the power. That’s how he became President.

With the current state of politics, why not let a 14 year-old take a shot at governance? It’s The Candidate meets Election.

There you go: My ninth story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free! Here are links for all the previous posts in this year’s series:

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

Each day this month, I invite you to click on RESPONSES and join me to do some further brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when you play around with it. These are all valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in comments. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.