Story Ideas

You just discovered your friend’s biggest secret – every time when he says ‘clock’ he becomes older one year.

He is about to die!

What should you do?’

Tall Man is just one man, so he couldn’t possibly help you.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself.

But it’s true.

I’ll bet it’s true for every relationship, too.

And we’ve got to move on to the next important moment now: You’re still not all that sure what to do.

You’ve got your friend’s and his little brother’s word that he’s really, truly going to die – but can you be sure he is?

Sure, it’s true he’s not exactly a small child – and he doesn’t say anything about time passing to you.

I ‘m sure it’s true, it’s definitely true.

But you haven’t tried to find out.

Maybe it would be better to ask the Time Lord.

Unless he’s already going to die.

Time Travel

You find the Time Lord, the one who has been traveling from place to place in a portable time machine since before the beginning of time, you find him – as you thought – but he’s far, far away.

He’s only just discovered he has a medical problem – and as such he’s going to have to go in for emergency surgery.

You tell him you can’t just go to the hospital yourself, he doesn’t have his own personal transporter, he’s leaving straight away.

What should you do?

You say something like:

It’s true, we don’t have transport of our own.

But this isn’t the time to look for one, it’s a life – or – death situation!

Are you trying to tell me that you can’t help?

Well, you could have tried to call Doctor Who from your office phone, but you didn’t.

You could have picked up the phone and made an appointment, but you didn’t.

Now you’re just sitting in your office waiting for Doctor Who to get back so you can save his life.

What should you do?

Ask anyone in the office for a ride – they’ll all give you a lift!

I don’t think that’s possible.

There aren’t any cars in the office – we’ve never had one, I’ve never seen one, and there’s no such thing as automatic cars.

Well, if you’re desperate for a lift then I suppose you could wait in my office until I finish, but I can’t stay here all day.

I’m meeting with an important client and then I’m off.

I don’t think there’s any reason for you to go with me.

There’s no need for you to go with me, you don’t have anything to do with Doctor Who.

Please don’t go with me.

Just stay here.

You can take me to the hospital and meet with Doctor Who later.

Just stay here and wait, and Doctor Who will come back, he’ll fix it, he’ll fix everything.

If I can just just call Doctor Who now.

The first problem is that Doctor Who is going to have to stay in hospital for a while.

After all, emergency surgery has the danger of killing you.

The deadline for putting your job in is getting closer and you have writer’s block.

You have no clue how to complete the job.

So this is what I do.

I sit in my home and I write.

My heart beats fast and I concentrate.

I take my time and it works.

I think you might want to try it.

And I hope you are doing well.

When I was a boy I had a hard time understanding why things happen as they do.

I remember being unhappy about something when I was a child and telling my father I couldn’t understand why someone might do what they did.

I didn’t know the reason or the purpose for any of my misfortunes.

It wasn’t until much later in my life that I finally did understand.

I am sorry to say it took a long time for it to sink in.

I am not sure when or why it happened or why it took me so long.

But I finally figured out what makes the world go round.

Life is a puzzle.

It is a work of art.

It has infinite intricacy and it can only be viewed with wonder and amazement.

Each block is different, yet the same at the core.

Each one has a purpose that if you look closely you can understand.

Each one is different, yet made from the same thing that it was made from.

No matter how it is made, it does what it was supposed to do.

Life is complicated and so is the way we interpret it.

I think our lives as we grow older makes the puzzle harder to decipher.

We stop looking for the pieces that make it whole.

We focus on other things, in other people and it takes us away from the right path.

Maybe we don’t know how to find it because we forget what it looks like.

But when you start looking again, things start to fall into place.

It’s a slow process, but once you get it you realize that it was always there, waiting for you to come back.

It has all along been there waiting for you to find it.

I don’t know if my story had a happy ending.

It is hard to know that.

But I do know that my life has taken on a new meaning.

I have made choices that have helped me grow and that has allowed me to see things that I never imagined.

I am stronger now and I am more sure of myself than I have ever been in my life.

It took many years for me to do what I have and it took some time to come to realize that it was my path all along.

I have tried so hard to make sense of my life, but it took time to really figure out what was going on.

I do know that when things do not make sense it means that you are not paying attention and you are not taking in all the information.

It is an important point to remember.

Pay attention.

You are what makes this world go round.

There is an old saying.

It goes like this: the way to make something perfect is to have nothing to compare it to.

The advice is usually given to the young in life.

You sleep in a tent. Footsteps are heard at midnight. It turns out it’s your little sister. Her hair is all tangled, she is wearing the oldest shirt you have, and she has no water. You know you’re being punished. So, you sleep on the floor and cry.

Your Sunday ritual consists of scuffling to the shops to do grocery shopping, and spending the afternoon either eating or fighting with your parents. You spend all your pocket money on junk food. You spend half an hour hiding from the adults in the kitchen because they want a chat. They are trying to teach you life lessons, and you take every opportunity to play catch-up. There’s no way you can get away. So, you hide in your room and eat an entire box of Maltesers.

Someone’s getting married. Everyone is invited. But there’s only room for you. And you don’t know anyone. How can you be sure that they would accept you?

You are 13, your parents have decided you are too young for hormone blockers. You believe they are choosing to lose you.

Your only language is English, but your friends speak Spanish, Hebrew, German, Arabic, and Swahili. You don’t mind, they learn really fast.

Your ex-boyfriend is jealous because he has a new girlfriend, and you are only dating your younger brother.

Your two best friends are in a triangle relationship. One is your best friend in school, the other your best friend in the computer room.

Your parents want you to be able to go camping with your friends, but they don’t want to come too. You should go camping anyway. You go camping for the first time and only fall out with one friend. The new girl comes, and things get awkward.

You are talking to your friend about self harm, and you realise you are not the only one who hurts. You feel guilty, and hate yourself for it.

You listen to the same music as everyone else. You pay absolutely no attention to the lyrics.

You feel stupid for having a conversation about the President of the United States with your boyfriend.

You are always writing. The last things you have written have included: diary entries, homework, drawings, a book that’s actually finished (!) but you won’t show anyone.

You are fiddling around with your hand, because you have finally figured out how to do it. You are one of the few people who do it.

You have a photo of you and your grandpa, but you don’t know where it is.

You believe in Santa Claus.

You buy a pocket rocket and fill it with helium. You test it by holding it in the car airconditioning vent, and it barely moves. You keep it in your bedroom closet, out of the way, because you have lost your nerve and don’t know how to use it.

You understand how solar systems work, and you understand the life cycles of bees.

You decide to go on a solo trip around the world. Thousands of kilometers away you meet your mother. Suddenly she doesn’t recognize you. She thinks that you are a complete stranger. Your mother has a bad memory and gets lost very easily. What should you do?

Research:

1. Identify what is wrong with the way she thinks

2. Solve the problem

3. Help her regain her memory

4. Try and bring her back

5. Perhaps you should abandon her!

6. If you still insist, at least she will remember you.

7. If this is not enough, then…

How to convince your mother that you are her son

1. Take a statement in her face

2. Show her the photo of your face and your mother’s face

3. Ask her to say this phrase

4. Then ask her to say it again

5. After saying this 3 times, don’t believe her

6. Ask her once again

7. Then give her a “Sorry” letter

8. And give her 2 pills of feline tranquilizer, but don’t use it

9. You have to wait for 1 hour

You decide to go on a solo trip around the world. Thousands of kilometers away you meet your mother. You’re shocked! She’s broken, dirty and doesn’t recognize you anymore. How do you get her back to where she is supposed to be?

You can watch the whole story of kids exploring their subconscious through poetry, musics and visual art. The film is being screened in German and English.

The film is a team project led by director and composer Sven Brändström and animated by the surreal illustrator Niklas and the award-winning lyricist Lena Bork.

Sven Brändström was born in Piteå in northern Sweden. He has been fascinated by the subconscious since childhood and in 1998 he started a private school of creativity and art, Pääskool for Performing Arts. Since 1998 he’s been creating musical theatre, poetry plays and film. He is now working as a composer, voice actor and a writer.

He has lived in America, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden. He has toured extensively as a solo act and also with Bändrage. He has composed music for films by directors such as Ruben Östlund, Paul Morantz and Henrik Möller. Sven Brändström’s personal favorite film is Trance, directed by Ken Russell.

You’re working with your friends on a team project and locked in the school canteen by accident. It’s getting dark. You keep hearing the voices of the cowbells from the lunchroom and all of a sudden your teammates fall to the ground! We all know this story. Trust us; everyone knows this story. It’s not our place to say it’s not our problem. We’re simply waiting for you to make your move. I’m not going to overreact to your actions in a class meeting and I’m not going to walk out of here and go talk to someone at the newspaper. Instead, I’m going to whisper the details of your situation to a fellow classmate. Don’t miss a beat and don’t draw too much attention to yourself. Trust me, I’ll get away with this. If this happens to you at 1 in the morning when you need to get the story out, you might want to try the less discussed method of anonymously snitching. Make sure you can trust your informant. If you don’t know their name or if you don’t have a good reason to give them the address of the alleged crime, don’t do it. Even if your informant is a close friend and you trust them completely, you still need to remember to pay close attention to the circumstances of the situation. The point of this exercise is for you to pay close attention to the situation, your reactions and the circumstances around you. That means you need to make sure you pay close attention to all of the people and the situation around you. By doing so, you will be more prepared to write a good story for the next morning. If you look back on your source, it will make the situation easier to understand. By identifying your source in the room with you, you can ask them to explain themselves. The source might have an explanation or even an explanation that is not based on one. There are a few things to remember when interviewing sources: We take our cues from the audience. If you see someone in a video clip turn around, a camera may be turned on you. Be careful with how you sit or stand while you interview your source. Try to be cognizant of the cameras or reporters. If you suspect your sources have been lied to or threatened, it may be time to consider taking your source out of the equation. There are a few things to remember when interviewing sources:If you see someone in a video clip turn around, a camera may be turned on you. Be careful with how you sit or stand while you interview your source. Try to be cognizant of the cameras or reporters. If you suspect your sources have been lied to or threatened, it may be time to consider taking your source out of the equation. Once you have all of the information you need, take your sources through the reporter’s interview process. Ask them what they did, how they did it, and how you might go about pursuing the lead further.

You’re at an uncle’s birthday party you don’t like and accidentally break something. Try to cover it up. He’s really hot and now he’s pissed off. Also, it might not be too uncommon to damage something in the course of being social with people.

Tell him it’s the space between his two cupcakes. It’s like a campfire story or whatever. And he’ll probably figure out you were just kidding and give you the red gift bag.

For all of you who have ever thought the phrase “bucket list” was something people write on their Facebook profile: No such luck. It’s a stupid phrase.

Your boyfriend sends you an e-mail:

I haven’t called in a week. Any advice on this ? I’m drinking a little but not bad. Will you please call me.?

Chances are you’re not drinking a lot, you just want to be left alone with your secrets.

So here’s an e-mail that you can actually use.

First off, it makes it sound like you care. It makes it sound like you are trying to help him. It makes it sound like you don’t just want to talk to him to get revenge for him not calling. But more importantly, it gives him an opening to talk to you about something he wants to talk about. If your boyfriend is a college senior, he might be busy with all that homework they have to do to graduate. If your boyfriend is in college and really interested in getting laid, he might not have time for anything like this.

Here are your e-mail:

I see you haven’t called in a week. Any advice on this ? I’m drinking a little but not bad. Will you please call me.?

And he might give you a brief reply like this:

I’m drinking a little, but I’m okay. Sorry about that. See you soon.

Now you could give him the slightest shit about this, but chances are he is telling you the truth. He just has too much homework and you just don’ve been his only contact for the last week.

Remember the rules.

Follow these guidelines and you will be fine. In fact, if you have enough confidence and you care about other people, the stuff you write will probably win them over. Don’t underestimate the power of a friendly, if slightly flirty, message.

You are on a bus when a young woman takes a seat next to you, looking into your eyes says “It happened again”. What do you do? What do you say? That’s how we played it. All right so there is a difference here. If you are a new student on the first day of school, this situation is quite acceptable. But if you happen to be of age and have experienced this particular situation before, then saying something like “The next time you go to the bar, I am walking behind you” or “Just watch me” might not be a good idea. By the way, what would you say if someone, even an elder, insulted your mother that way? Will you be ok with that? Does it not hurt your feelings? Would you rather have her say “Shut up, you fucking little bitch!” That would definitely hurt your feelings. But the offensive behavior is the responsibility of that young lady. We wanted to have this on our license plate because it talks about what good young men and women, well-behaved and not ugly, citizens our country should be. “Poland is Beautiful, Our Women are Beautiful!” This is good for both women and men, and a good life for both. When you think of this plate, think of this nice guy who has a beautiful wife, wonderful children, a good job, and is respected by everyone. That is how he would feel. What we are doing is fulfilling our national duties as citizens of Poland.”

To put it another way: Polish people are beautiful, but if you live here, you should stop being ugly. And then let us know what you would say.

You are on a bus when a woman takes the seat next to you and says “It happened again.” You can’t resist and ask her, “What happened again?”

She tells you a story about her neighbor, who gave her an unwanted “kiss” on the mouth when he wanted more wine. She is shocked and embarrassed. You are shocked and fascinated and you ask her “Do you want to tell me about it?”

Instead of saying the magic words, “I don’t want to tell you” you say “I don’t want to offend you” and you walk away. Of course, you don’t offend her. Because as a single, independent, sexually empowered woman who likes to have casual sex, your choice of words is a gesture of respect. You are showing the woman in question that you are capable of having sex without sex.

Women who find that is all they need to do to make a difference, are mistaken. That not what they really want. They want to be respected and appreciated for who they are as an individual. They want to know that you respect their choices and their personalities.

They want to be told that they can make a positive difference in the world and that you will follow them and encourage them. They don’t want to be told that they can’t make a difference.

All of this is easier said than done.

Sexually active women will rarely tell you about all of the emotional and sexual experiences they have had. They are afraid that you won’t understand and they are afraid that you will find them boring. I know, because that happens to me all the time.

They don’t want to talk about it or ask for advice about it. They don’t want advice or prodding. They just want to be told that they are great people and that you want them to do well. When they tell you that they had a great time and didn’t want to end it, it doesn’t mean that they want to sleep with you.

Lusty women are women who like sex and desire other women. In fact, they like sex so much that they don’t even mind if the sex is casual. That means that sometimes, you are getting sex that is not on the service of a long-term relationship.

It was the hardest day at work. In a while, it will be 24 hours since you are awake.

I will never forget the day I was alone, wandering in and out of the last moments of your life.

I was scared, sad, unsure of what I was doing.

Even so, I knew if I didn’t find you, there would be no one to bring you home and put you to rest.

I had an overwhelming urge to get to you before the sun rose.

You weren’t breathing when I found you.

You were cold and still and not looking at all like you did when I laid you on the stretcher.

I asked if you had been alive the whole time I was gone.

You had, but you looked like you were dead.

I felt the same way.

There was nothing left of you.

No sign of life.

I put you in a pillowcase and took you home.

It was supposed to be a quick trip.

Not long enough for you to die.

You were alive then.

Somewhere.

And now I can tell you again: “I wish I could have been with you.

I love you, baby, “before you went to sleep.

This time, though, I won’t be able to say goodnight to you.

I won’t get to kiss your forehead and thank you for being alive.

I won’t get to kiss you when you wake up.

I won’t hear your soft, relaxed breath and see you smile when I come into the room.

I will no longer get to keep you company while you sleep.

I will no longer get to carry you.

I will no longer get to see you healthy and whole.

I will no longer get to teach you, and I will never get to see you get married and have babies of your own.

I will never get to experience the many milestones of your life.

But I will never ever forget you.

Or who you were.

I hope and pray and wish that you will one day be healed by God.

That He will use you in amazing ways.

It was the hardest day at work. In a while, it will be 24 hours since you are awake. You’re on your way home.

Your eyes feel as if you should have them closed. A phone call from your boss makes it all worse.

“You better get on the airplane immediately. They’ve found your son.”

For several long minutes, your wife is in shock. You put on your best face, but know you’ll break down.

Then the lights go out. You’re blindfolded and taken somewhere you don’t want to go.

In a second, you realize you’re the only one awake. You can’t hear anything. Your head feels as if it’s about to burst. You lose track of time. Finally, your blindfold is removed. The last thing you hear is one of the doctors calling your name.

“We did everything we could for him. He’s gone.”

“I can’t get the words out, ” you hear yourself say.

“I’m so sorry. He’s in a better place.”

For the rest of the day and into the night, it’s hell. What could be more horrible?

“Why did they let you go back?” you ask.

“He looked fine. There was no reason for us to worry.”

They are lying. They knew it. A small smile crosses their lips. You know better.

“We’re not done.”

Who can blame them? It was a horrifying day.

The next day, when you wake up, you realize you can”t remember anything that happened that day.

Friends invited you to the casino. Nobody knows you are a professional fraudster. You win. Everyone buys you drinks and buys dinner and you fly away home feeling like a million bucks.”

“Any chance you would fly out and help me out?” In the end, most of the scripts he sent me featured a man pretending to be a high-ranking corporate executive asking me for help. Even though I knew he wasn’t who he said he was, I also knew he’d never been exposed.

My journey to his doorstep took some creative planning. His homes were not easy to find. I looked online and found his name, address and telephone number, and called. “Hello?”

“Mr. Jordan? This is Rick Singer,” I said.

“It’s Jack,” he said, a little too excitedly.

“You’re Rick?”

“Yes, I am Rick.”

“I have something I need to talk to you about, and I can come to see you?”

“Okay, let’s do it.” He had me hooked.

My role

As a ghostwriter, the real author is completely forgotten. I had no intention of going to the meeting. My intention was to come along and type his scripts. But, on the night of the meeting, he told me he wasn’t ready to sign the contract.

When I told him that wasn’t a good idea, he said I needed to go because his work wasn’t done yet.

“You’re sitting down? How is it even possible to have six great scripts to show me,” he asked, trying to play off his deception as a nice surprise.

“Six isn’t a lot,” I said. “It’s not as if you’re trying to make a billion dollars.”

“It’s enough to take a vacation,” he said.

“Then you don’t need to see them.” I should have called it a night. I was beginning to sense that the fraud was unraveling. He didn’t want me to leave. “Please don’t leave. I need you to take them with you,” he said.

I could see he was making a final effort to hide his ruse. There was no more money, no sign of a market, and I had now seen him in person. He had no desire to pull off a heist on me, but instead, had begun to extend me a helping hand.

“I think you’re very talented,” he said. “And, it would make me happy to find you a job with us.”

“A job?” I thought about it. “A real job with real money. And I’d need to travel.”

“Well, it’s my job to find you a job.” He put his hand on my shoulder.

“You know,” he said, “the next one is a lot closer than you think.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Really? You’re going to bring me to California? To Silicon Valley? I haven’t lived there in decades! And, what, there’s an opening at a consulting firm that’s looking to hire a guy who’s only twenty years old?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” I said. “Sure, let’s do it.” I tried to look like a solid friend, not a fearful and skeptical colleague who had already seen too much.

When I got home, I forwarded his address and phone number to my closest friends. I told them not to judge me until I’d seen what he was like in person.

I have a rule. If I can’t see it with my own two eyes, I don’t trust it. So, at the appointed time, I got in the car and made the long, uncomfortable journey across the country.

It was just a regular day at school when she came inside. I’ve never liked her. She was the odd one. The only girl and the only redhead. And she knew how to aggravate the hell out of me. Once she came into school in a cheerleading uniform. Nobody called her any name, I think she just copied me from the last day she did the uniform. She was the one who would always annoy me. So I was waiting for the day to ruin her day. I was so bored that day that I wanted to hear her name on the news.

So what was her name? The one that always tormented me at school. The name that also torments me all the time now.Virile.She might be just a regular chick but she was interesting for me. Her huge breasts and her tanned skin. That broad shouldered body of hers. And her long blonde hair, and that incredibly long nails that always scrawled her name on my notebooks. And I hated her, I hated her like no other.

And I was waiting for the day when I’d meet her again, hoping for her to make her acquaintance. It was a Friday. The end of the school term. As usual, my mind was doing loop tricks. Especially for her. So much so that I could’ve probably written a complete story if you let me get this chance to write about her. It was Friday. And like every other day, she was at the bus stop. When she saw me looking at her, she turned and walked towards the small building that housed our toilets. She looked at me and said my name. I stared at her, expecting her to be in pain. I was so used to be associated with her name that she made me make every day interesting for me.

So I ran after her, I called her name and she turned around and said my name again. She held her books against her chest. I walked past her and followed her into the building. There was a line in the ladies bathroom, and when she stood in front of me, I noticed her nipples sticking out of her t-shirt. I went and asked her if she was going to use the bathroom. She said yes and turned around. I said I would wait for her. I watched her as she sat down in the toilet. She made it look so easy. Her arms spread wide, her hair covering her face, and she made no move to cover her body up. I could see her nipples through the t-shirt. She had nice legs.