Story Start?

There are all kinds of resources available to help struggling writers get a jump start on their ideas. I was browsing in the bookstore at the Guthrie Theater on Saturday and came across one that was kind of unique. This one was made up of three panels: top, middle, and bottom. Each section was separate and you could flip to different selections in each one.

In the one I looked at

• Top was a situation
• Middle was a person
• Bottom was something happened.

I didn't flip or anything, I just opened it where each section kind of fell to. So here's the story idea it gave me:

While writing his autobiography the Elvis impersonator changed his identity.

I stopped a second, furrowed my brow for another second and then broke into laughter. What a neat idea; what an ironic twist of a story; the double meaning (or even a possible double entendre) could go a number of places. Some would be serious; others with a comedic bend in the road; still another might explore what identity really is. It could be fun.

I don't know if it will go anywhere, but it might be interesting to see where a short story goes with that.

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Couldn't resist adding this, inspired by thinking of "double entendre" above. I originally heard this on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion joke show at least 10 years ago. I love it.

A woman walked into a bar and asked the bartender for a double entendre. So he gave it to her.