The 2012 Plotbunny Adoption Agency

[slipjig3]

As a writer (and I have to believe that I'm not alone in this), I am constantly stumbling over tidbits or details or hooks or ideas that make me go, "Ooooh! That would make an awesome story!" only to be followed closely by, "...but I don't have the time / lack the brain power / don't work in that genre / don't want to distract from the other thing I'm working on / just plain don't wanna." I find myself carrying these ideas around in my noodle, wishing I could somehow place them in good homes where they can grow and thrive, instead of crowding out other data like phone numbers and work schedules.

Enter the Plotbunny Adoption Agency.

Here's how it works:

1) If you have a great story / play / novel / novella / poem / song / whatever idea that you know you'll never use, write it in a comment to this post.
2) Whether you have an idea to donate or not, take a moment to peruse the comments. If you see a story idea that you'd like to take a stab at writing, say so in a reply to that comment.
3) If you do end up writing something based on someone else's idea and post it in your own LJ, link to it in another comment reply.
4) Please pimp the Agency out in your own LJ. The more people in the sand box, the more castles we'll build.

Enjoy!

Comments

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

I'll start!

I don't do horror, so I don't have the necessary brain to develop this, but the premise is this: A woman loves being pregnant (feeling feminine and powerful, sporting beautiful curves, etc.) but loathes childbirth. So she performs either a magical and/or medical intervention so that she can stay perpetually pregnant—her baby stops growing at five or so months, with no ill effects toward anyone. What she doesn't realize, though, is that although the fetus has stopped growing physically, it's still developing mentally, gathering distorted data from the womb and learning to think. What then?

…okay, I just creeped myself out again. Have at it.

[auntiegrizelda.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, I need the Plotbunny Adoption Agency so very badly. I've been trying to write something, anything, for days now. I've just...got nothing right now. But I love you for this (amongst other things, but that's not the point).

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

With a handle like Auntie Grizelda, I have a lovely idea for a place to think about writing topics. It's a little meta, but it should get the flywheel moving.

Remember the guru speaking to Peter Tork near the end of "Head"? He explains in gymnosophist terms the Socratic concept of knowing nothing and the cave theory from the Republic.

Peter tries to tell the rest of the band what he learned, but they're too caught up in the game of being Monkees. Next Davy merely reacts to the words as if he tasted poison and had to spit. He tears through as much of the facade as he can, but he cannot observe himself. Thus Davy fulfills the nothingness and brings the movie back to its opening act (thus the name of the flick). Davy fails Peter's test, but resolves the overarching condition by looping it and killing it at the same time.

The process of telling a story, be it written or filmed, spoken or photographed, sculpted or dances, is the process of distillation and dilution. The author decides what is necessary and what needs to be added to make it work. You add an explanation, you take out entire characters, you slur one word and over-enunciate another.

The audience cannot be forced to think a certain way about the result. Perhaps they get it, perhaps they get lost. You can edit until they think more the way you wanted, but you may lose the spirit of the story in process. Perhaps instead the audience is correct and the author just needs to start the next story.

Socrates proposed drumming the poets out of the Polis until they could tell moral tales. What if the point is that we have no idea which morals even exist? How does a character find a new moral and tell that to others?

[d-h.livejournal.com]

Two dramatic settings.
-The 1952 great smog of London killed an estimated 4000
(I suggest a google image search of great smog 1952 to get a sense of the event)

-The 1871 great fire of Chicago was by no means the worst fire of that night.
http://io9.com/5897629/october-8-1871-the-night-america-burned

[d-h.livejournal.com]

I also heartily endorse this Medical Journal of Australia article I was just reading as a source for plots
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/193/11/hidden-menace-non-equine-horses

[sariel-t.livejournal.com]

Awesome idea, though I have nothing to contribute at this point.

[shadowwolf13]

Hi! I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know that people were saying nice things about you.

http://shadowwolf13.livejournal.com/1074041.html?thread=7247993

Please feel free to stop by and read the comments, add your love to others, or spread the word to your friends. You might want to track your thread so you’ll know when new comments come in for you as this continues to grow. Help spread the word and let your friends know about the post too. The more love the more fun we’ll have!

Blessings,
Shadow