Story Ideas on the Street

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I've been walking down Walnut Street from Broad Street most mornings to get to work--it's about a thirty minute walk and I listen to music and avoid the same two homeless white men with cardboard signs every day. I keep my eyes peeled for potential story ideas or oddities, and here are three I've seen in the last week or so. Not sure if I would ever really write about them, but I like the idea of getting writing prompts from what you're observing on a normal day.

This one is my favorite. The "what if" of the ad is what if this were your boyfriend and he were plastered all over town in this suggestive ad? Also, what if he were a terrible boyfriend and so you especially hated the posters for being a misrepresentation of his personality? And what if that character made it her mission to go around defacing all of the ads she could find on subways and street corners and billboards? And just as an aside, what is this even an ad FOR?

I took this on Wharton street in South Philly--a giant Virgin Mary in the window, perhaps placed there to deflect Catholic theives. But what if you were the 13 year old boy next door who develops a weird crush on the statues? Mary Gaitskill has a disturbing story about an adolescent boy's relationship with his sister's Barbie doll that one could model after.

Werner Herzog is a filmmaker who does mostly documentaries like Grizzly Man. I don't have a story idea for this one--an art student who can't even stand not to let the world know about his latest obsession? How much do you have to believe in WH to buy a can of spray paint and proclaim this on the side of the building? 
That's all I have for now, but I'll keep my eyes peeled today.

Comments

Tom said…
Saw that "I Believe In Werner Herzog" from the bus the other day and meant to get back and take a picture. Glad I'm not the only one intrigued/amused by it!
4:41 PM
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