I post ideas about possible plot hooks inspired by news articles every now and then, in a series I (exceedingly optimistically) called Plot-a-Day. So far there are the following entries:
- Satanic Machinations (Posted on 2017-10-19)
- Planets of the Solar System: Mars (Posted on 2012-08-17)
- Not as advertised – Employment bait-and-switch (Posted on 2012-08-14)
- RMS Titanic (Posted on 2012-04-12)
- Buy Your Own Village (Posted on 2012-02-29)
- Power of the Atom (Posted on 2012-01-09)
- Genetic Engineering (Posted on 2011-08-29)
- Lost and Found (Posted on 2011-08-02)
- Ten Uses for Asteroids (Posted on 2011-07-15)
- The Evil of Eugenics (Posted on 2011-07-08)
- The Forbidden City (Posted on 2011-07-06)
- Lizard People under Los Angeles (Posted on 2010-06-30)
- “Alien” Squid Sighted at Deep-Sea Platform (Posted on 2008-11-27)
- The Ghost Baby (Posted on 2008-10-29)
- The Curse of Roppongi (Posted on 2008-08-02)
- Hiding a Stillborn Baby (Posted on 2008-07-16)
- Black Magic Serial Killer (Posted on 2008-07-11)
I will update this page whenever I post a new Plot-a-Day article.
Hi Nils,
I haven’t visited here for a while, and I don’t think I saw this before. I’m not much of a writer (or artist) but I once thought of a plot for a soft sci-fi novel or short story. It happens that I have several health issues which fall under the “fibromyalgia” category — a mysterious illness. What better setting for sci-fi than mysterious illness, right? I’m also interested in the life sciences, especially nature and the plant and animal sciences.
So my plot is around a female scientist (who has fibro.) who studies dolphins, their echo-location type of “hearing” and their “language” (the squeals and squeaks, etc.). One of her earliest discoveries is that her pain and other symptoms are temporarily relieved when she gets in the water with dolphins. In the end, she learns that one of the special “frequencies” of the dolphin language heals the damaged muscles in humans that are caused by the fibromyalgia. And of course there would have to be a few sub-plots and other characters to flesh it out. (like maybe someone discovers a previously unknown species that makes “super frequencies” of the same kind; or maybe the new species appears to enjoy healing the humans, and the pod returns to the same cove every day, where fibro. patients come to get in the water with them; or maybe the pod becomes endangered and needs to be rescued; or maybe the species is having some illness that needs to be cured; or maybe healing the humans is like medicine for the sick dolphins, so it become almost a symbiotic situation; etc, etc)
(OH! Or here’s another one — fibromyalgia research finally reveals that fibro is an evoluntionary stepping stone to human mental telephathy, which functions much like the dolphins echo-location; that the changes seen in the brains of fibro patients are suspected to be the precursors of the “echo telepathy” which will eventually allow humans to communicate non-verbally; or maybe when fibro. patients travel into space, they begin to be able to use the echo telepathy already, and there’s something about being in space that makes it happen…..colonies on the moon maybe? :-D)
And the more real science is included, the better the story. (I think that’s what makes all the Star Trek series so good, is that they’re a fictional extrapolation based on real scientific facts.)
Anyway, just thought I’d share. You’re welcome to do something more with that idea (or anyone) if you care to. I doubt if I’ll ever try to write a book or story, but I think it would make for nice reading, if it’s written well.
All best 🙂
Ah, thanks – that's a great one – I think i totally missed "mysetrious illness/experimental genetic alteration gives people superpowers" in the Genetic Engineering plot-a-day post (I really should rename them to "plot once in a blue moon" but oh well). 🙂