While I’m not really a fan of natural disasters they do have their place in the order of things. Periodically tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunami, volcanoes, floods, drought, politicians, etc., swoop down on us and wreak havoc with the normal day-to-day insanity we have created for ourselves and call life. But for writers, especially writers stuck between story ideas, these incidents can have a decidedly silver lining.
Consider the world, country, state, county, city in peril scenario. All of these can create some pretty vivid grist for the creative mill. Is there a story in the media surrounding Sandy (or pick the disaster you like best), that particularly resonates with you? Better yet, is there a story NOT in the media you happen to know about, that illustrates the precarious hold we have on basically, our lives and everything?
Remember it is these stories that reverberate. Mankind in jeopardy is fine, but it is the individual stories, achievements and relationships – often the reason for doing incredibly heroic things – that can create screenplay gold.
Natural disasters will always periodically occur. I remember being in Florida about a month after Hurricane Andrew hit. It looked like an atomic bomb had gone off. I was dumbfounded that nature could have caused such devastation. Square miles of blocks with no tree standing, no house undamaged nor a pane of glass unshattered. It effectively made one realize that we are, for all our vaunted accomplishments, nothing when it comes to a test with Mother Nature.
So think about the potential stories behind the headlines you read about. There are events of human endurance, triumph, heartache – life and death scenarios, literally at your beck and call.
Please do not misunderstand, I am not endorsing using someone’s individual, personal pain for your profit. But combing large-scale events, even disasters for a story idea is just doing due diligence. You never can tell when the muse will whisper in your ear.