Finding Inspiration - In the News!

So lets start off with something that surrounds us daily, the news! All the time we have presenters and papers practically screaming new story lines on us if only we can learn to interpret them in a way that will make them enthralling enough to capture an audience. Being a new young writer myself I don't hold back in saying I find this task particularly hard, trying to turn one head line into a novel is a challenge for anyone, no matter how juicy the story! However, I've often looked for stories that can provide different elements I can include in my current work - if only to spice it up a bit. It's a great method if ever you find your plot running a little dry, scan through a paper, reading the smaller sub-titles as well as the main ones splashed across the pages and  you might be surprised at the things you'll find!

Here's a couple I found in the paper last week that I think could add an interesting element into a grounded plot.


The North/South Divide - By Dean Poulter.
Okay, so admittedly this article is about the wedding celebration plans (or lack of if you're in the North) for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. However, it was the "North/South Divide" title and the statistics next to it that actually caught my attention. It brings to mind an oldish country, or possibly something more futuristic but impoverished, currently caught in the middle of a civil split - or as the Daily Mail referred to it "The Royalists" and "The Roundheads"...I hope you know your history enough to understand what it means!
As basic as that might seem if that helps you create a vivid setting for your plot or theme for it to revolve around then you're half way to knowing what you want and being able to write something decent. You don't have to pay any necessary attention to the events happening in the article / who it concerns, just be aware of the themes. But just for good measure, all the best to Will and Kate!

Fukushima heroes expect to die - Daily Mail.
This was a really touching story that immediately caught my eye! It's about 300 Japanese men who are repeatedly exposing themselves to lethal levels of radiation as they try to restore vital cooling systems after the Tsunami on March 11th. It goes without saying that these men are expecting to die, if not from radiation sickness then probably cancer or some other horrifying disease. This is a really touching story that has a lot to offer any novelist, it could give you a tragic scenario for your characters, self sacrifice of some form that is absolutely necessary, the theme of knowing what it is to be waiting for death, being trapped somewhere after a disaster has happened, natural or otherwise or the destruction of a disaster and the affects that has. There's a lot more to be taken from this story, this is just the first few obvious things that come to mind, but finding a theme or happening of some sort really can be as quick as that.
And God Bless those incredible men!

The day the earth moved in Blackpool - Daily Mail. 
Again, this is just another idea of how you can shake your plot up a bit...literally! Even if you just take some of the description from it about how the people described walls moving and the ground shaking. It's all realistic!


So there you go, it took me about an hour to read through the paper and there were a lot of really good articles that I felt could easily help move a plot along, spice things up or create a solid yet absorbing location for a story, all you have to do is grab your highlighter (and if you're like me, scissors, glue, paper, pen and folder) and get reading...and fear not those of you who cannot be bothered to trawl through or buy papers, there's no excuse now the news papers have gone wireless too, get browsing those newspaper sites!



References: http://www.dailymail.co.uk | The Daily Mail - Saturday - April 2 - 2011.