Ideas for books
People often give me ideas for books. They're not always serious, but sometimes they are. The ideas aren't always feasible ones, but again, sometimes they are. I wasn't sure what kind of thing to write on a blog, so my wife suggested I talk about the ideas people suggest. So here's the first one: I once went to H&R Block to get my taxes done, and when I told the consultant I was a writer, he suggested I write a novel about a man who reveals to his tax consultant that he owns more than two dozen large snakes. The tax consultant has to decide whether or not to alert the police; in the end, he decides not to. Perhaps this would work better as a short story.
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About Brian
I was raised in the suburbs of Kansas City (on the Kansas side) and went to college at the University of Kansas. Afterwards I got my MFA from the University of Iowa, and spent several years teaching high school and college English in Boston. In 2005 I...
Snakes on a 1040!
I like the idea of the snakes...metaphor for the serpentine coils of the tax code? Definitely a short-story idea, anyway.
Tax codes and snakes
Is it illegal to keep large snakes? Hmm. As a Tax Consultant I think the idea of a book about one sounds good maybe with out the snakes though.
Quantity Not Quality
Brian, I think it might be illegal to keep A LOT of really big snakes! :-0
Schindlers List is a rare example
As a literary escort I sometimes have to pull people away from a beleagured author to suggest that they might want to try writing up the story they're trying to "give" my author themselves. The power of a story is in how you tell it, not in the raw material. Besides, most writers have enough trouble getting their own ideas onto paper.
I know of only one great book that came about because someone gave his story away.
Apparently Thomas Kenneally was shopping in a Hollywood luggage store when the owner told him a tale he shared with anyone who would listen. This man was desperate to let the world know of the German munitions maker who had rescued him from the Nazis. Instead of making his purchase and rushing away, Kenneally stayed and listened. And out of that conversation came Schindler's List.
Have you heard of any other stories like this?