Idea List #1

 

Ah, starting at the beginning.  There’re plenty of good ideas, so no need to rush!  As always, these ideas are in the “What if…” format – that is, add the phrase “what if” in front of every idea.  Enjoy!

 

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A cop was partnered with a robot, or vice-versa?  Don=t assume either is a male.

 

A genii was sent on a quest to find his own humanity?

 

A missile from a terrorist state was aimed at your hometown?

 

A mute artist could only communicate through his paintings?

 

All the women disappeared?

 

All the world=s businesses and corporations were finally put under the umbrella of one super-corporation, and you were the head of it?

 

An ex-girlfriend kidnapped your baby?

 

Beer turned out to a be a miracle cure?

 

CSA soldiers return home to a small Arkansas town after the Civil War.  There, they must face the problems of reconstruction, and the knowledge of their defeat.

 

Every picture you took was magical, in a positive or a sinister way?

 

If you did a study entitled AThe Nazi in Popular Culture@?

 

It became important to someone for a shuttle mission to have a fatal accident while in space?  How would the crew get out of it?

 

Mark Twain had been a secret agent?

 

Picture frames had a small built-in voice chip and a (one-time?) recorder so that small messages could be recorded with the picture?  (By the way, such things do exist now; my mother-in-law has one.)  What if an important message was on one such frame that you got at a garage sale?

 

Society dictated that the position and job you have in society be reflected by the style, color, fabric, and cut of clothes that you wear?  Who would wear what?  How would it be enforced?  What would "the rebels" dress like? 

 

Someone had a secret life, as in the old title, AThe Secret Life of ....@  Who in real life would be interesting?  What about fictional characters in mysteries (Fritz Brenner), Star Trek, comics, etc.?

 

Someone was trying to make sure you didn=t die?

 

Somewhere in man=s past we had been slaves to a superior race who lived on the earth?  How could we have broken that bondage, and what would have happened to humans next?  What if we discovered remains of that civilization today?  What if we needed these things (or their technology) to fight off an impending alien invasion?  How would we deal with the consequences - the cure might be worse than the disease.

 

You found the person you were renting a room from was a psycho, killer, agent, etc.?  What if it was the other way around?

 

The cheerleaders in a school came under the mind control of the Mysterious Sinestro, creating adventure in the high school?

 

The cheerleaders were vampires (or zombies, Nazis, or anything else)?

 

The killer was the caterer?

 

The Mask was after you?  Who is this sinister man of mystery, and what does he want?  What is he hiding behind that mask?

 

The stories about Vikings, Africans, and so on finding America first were true?  What kind of story would that be?

 

The sun began to quickly die?  What if we found it was about to go nova (or turn into a black hole)?  What would we do?  What could we do?

 

The Vatican recreates the militant orders as a special Catholic Apolice force@ to protect Catholics in 3^rd -world countries.

 

There really was a Alone ranger,@ who served as a vigilante law man in the West?

 

There was a magic pool that entrances those who look into it?

 

There was a power struggle in the White House?  Who would be part of it besides the president?  Who would win?  Who should win?

 

We discovered that the universe was full of intelligent life, they all came from planets that were habitable by each other, but that type of planet was totally uninhabitable by humans and vice versa?  In other words, an earth-type planet is a rarity.

 

Winston Churchill was being blackmailed by Nazi=s during WWII?

 

You broke into places to leave things, not take them out?  Why would people pay you to do that?  It could be invaluable in people trying to make a case for divorce, or some such thing.

 

You developed a Acomm system@ for hospitals?

 

You existed Afaster@ than everyone else?  What would you do with your time?  How would you interact with other people?  You could write to someone, I suppose, if you=re patient enough, taking a pencil and writing, then them writing, so on, so forth.  That could explain poltergeists and other unnatural phenomenon.  What if there was a whole culture of people who lived that way, and weird things were caused by those fast people who went insane?

 

You found out your best friend was an android?

 

You found out your birth certificate was a fake, or at least a forgery?  That would mean that you aren=t who you think you are.  Some people would have serious breakdowns over that.

 

You found the holy grail?  What would/could you do with it?  What odd-ball location would you have found it at, and how did it get there?

 

You had a magical pen, so that what you wrote happened?  Or, perhaps a magical pin?

 

You had a mental problem that would only allow you to communicate using numbers, such as assigned a concept to a certain number?  How would people be able to understand you?

 

You had a pet moose?

 

A well-known journalist was indicted on grounds of murder/espionage, etc?  What if it was an attempt to keep him from writing a certain story?

 

A writer was assigned to write a fiction book with such-and-such theme by such-and-such a date, but he didn=t want to (or he lacked the motivation or the story line or some such)?  What story could be told about that?

 

You had a secret identity?

 

You had an abnormally low body temperature? 

 

You had ink for blood?

 

You had some special ability, but only where you were drunk?  What if, knowing this, you tried to do good and ended up an alcoholic?  What if, following that, you really had to use this special ability?

 

You had the ability to totally break other people=s addictions?

 

You had the impossible task of corrupting an angel (literally or figuratively)?

You had twenty-four hours to design a new candy or you would loose your job?

 

You had x-ray vision - you could see through things, see down into things?  What if then you could see Abeyond@ things?

 

You lived backwards?  Would it be on a day to day basis, or a true reversal of the time stream?

 

You lived outside?

 

You ran a hotdog stand in New York?  What kind of stories could be generated about the people you meet?  It could even be some type of mystery.  Picture the stand owner as a Danny Aiello type.

 

You realized you were literally growing younger - that the aging process had reversed and you were physically becoming a teenager?  What would you do?

 

You slept for an entire month?  What if you slept for an entire year?

 

You turned into a pig, you know, a real pig with ham hocks and a curly tail?

 

You used some type of chemical mind alteration to Acreate@ people?

 

You were a famous person who after years of public scrutiny wanted to lead a normal life?

 

You were a sadist?  What if then you had total control over someone (via brain implant or something else)?  What would it be like from your point of view?  What would you have this person do?

 

You were a were-Labrador - during the full moon you turned into a true brown hound?

 

You were abducted?  By whom, and for what?  How would you get out of it?

 

You were afraid of nightfall?

 

You were Ala Giocconda,@ posed for da Vinci, and he told you an awful joke to make you smile?

 

You were assigned the task of terraforming Mars?

 

You were Astalking@ someone - leaving notes where this person could find them, stuff like that?  What would you be thinking?

 

You were having to deal with an irrational person on a day-to-day basis?  What if that person was in a position of power?

 

You were immune to fire, but you were still afraid of it?  How would this ability affect the people around you, and their expectations of you?  What about the fear?  How does that influence how you use this ability?

 

You were in a world long passed the postapocalyptic stage, and were a Ashaman@ in a clan, and you discovered information that would let you decipher English?  What would this do to your society?  Posit that some scientist had left a vast library of thought, science, and culture.  How could you reinvent the Western world?  Would you want to?

 

You were initiated into the Adeeper mysteries@ of some ancient society?  Why would you be there in the first place?  What happens to you if you don=t?

 

You were set up to kill someone who had supposedly poisoned you?

 

You were to write a cookbook of all your favorite foods?

 

You wrote a modern version of AI Dream of Genie@?

 

You wrote a new set of Sinbad stories?

 

You wrote a novel based on World War II operations in Egypt? 

 

You wrote a story about a congressional page who sees too much?  What if this story happened in Regency England, or earlier?

 

You wrote a story about identity theft, but set before the 198's, when such things became common-place.  The forties/fifties would be good, as would any time in the 18's.

 

You wrote a story from the perspective of Beast (as in Beauty and the Beast)?

 

You wrote about someone who viewed eating as an experience almost religious, or sexual?  What would their life be like?

 

You wrote, AA Day in the Life of an Angel@?

 

Your cat was trying to kill you?

 

Your credit card company offered you an unusual way to get out of debt?

 

Your doctor, during surgery, had put a bomb inside you?

 

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The Idea Lounge website and related links made by Brian S. Miller.  Last update: June 31, 2004