Bungee. Today’s discussion is going to touch how I sometimes develop a story line. I will give a specific example from a story that readers felt was an unusual plot. The story is called Bungee.
Bungee was first created while I was attending Conduit, a writing convention in Utah. CJ Cherry was a guest. On her panel she gave a wonderful piece of advice. Come up with a story from one word.
Instantly my fertile mind touched upon the word Bungee. That is a sport that has always fascinated me. What better place to do some type of bungee jumping than in some space environment.
Well from that point on the panelists had to share their spotlight in my mind as I started plotting the story. I started walking down the path of a series of questions and answers that would need to be answered for why someone would need to be bungee jumping. And of course it will need to be dangerous.
I recall asking myself some questions and when answering them the story got created.
Topic: bungee jumping
Why? The jumper has to jump somewhere very dangerous and they have to get out very quickly. So they use bungee jumping as a quick entrance and exit strategy.
What? They have to get something that is so rare that they have to risk their lives to obtain it. The product is called digitt which is a mineral that is used in long space flights to help prevent the deterioration of body mass for space travelers. This mineral seems to only be available in high enough quantities’ that is available only on a certain planet.
Where? It has to be in a place that is lethal. How about a planet called Hades where a certain continent has a lot of volcanic activity and the land where the jumping takes place is littered with holes and ponds of acidic water where. And where else would be a perfect place for the valuable digitt than inside the water of those acidic ponds.
Who? Why not have a series of corporations who are occupy different areas of Hades to harvest their digitt. One company has come up with an idea that will replace scooping that the other companies do. Their way should not hurt the environment of the planet as much as their competitors so that are permitted to create a base of operations in a very lucrative spot on Hades on which to harvest. The company is being very well compensated for their idea. Number two company is NOT too happy with their success and decides to do something about it.
First scene: character, location and problem.
Now it’s your turn. Come up with three interesting words and then start plotting the Who, Where, What, And Why about it. If you would like to share your brainstorming with other visitors of this site, please restrict your plot to 300 words in your response. If you get excited and decide to write the story and want others to see it, please provide a link to said story. Or if you have a story you’ve already written that you’re pretty excited about, post the link.
