stories I'd like to read

[Zombie]

Loads of threads are posted asking "where can I find the story I read years ago about..."

This thread is different, it's about ideas / outlines you'd like to be written up as a story.

So post your scenarios / story ideas and if you pitch 'em right maybe a GA writer - or several - will pick 'em up and write that story you'd like to read

The only request is for writers to agree that any stories they write using ideas from this thread will be posted on GA for everyone to read and should not be posted as premium.

 

To kick things off here's the first outline idea

Scenario 1. Competitive college sport where the little guy calls the shots with the bigger guys

The Boat Race takes place between Oxford and Cambridge universities every March / April on a challenging, twisty and tidal 4 mile stretch of the River Thames in London with notoriously strong currents, watched by tens of thousands lining the river bank, and on TV since 1938. If the weather's very bad and the water is very rough then boats can even sink.

It's a race where the only thing that matters is winning. It tests the muscles and physical endurance of each eight-man rowing crew to the max. And in charge of each grunting, sweating, testosterone-filled, supremely fit crew is the little guy at the back of the boat - the cox.

But the race is just the culmination of an intense twelve month preparation involving crew selection, gruelling training and - most importantly and most interestingly for dramatic purposes - bonding between each of the eight rowers, their cox and their coach. This is the ultimate team work but many teams have had serious disagreements and dissension - see resource links below. If just one individual fails to meld into the 100% team effort on the day then all those months of monumental effort will be in jeopardy. And once in the boat it's the little guy steering at the back who calls the shots and has a major role in whether the team win or lose - in some cases even shouting obscenities at the crew to get every last effort from them

So what's the reward for winning? The winning crew get the trophy, and the cox... gets thrown into The Thames by his big muscley crew

Oxford and Cambridge are elite universities but, interestingly for story characters, students come from all over the world - especially North America - and, like in the US, include some students from poorer families who can qualify for grants and scholarships. Unlike in the US, however, British universities do not have sporting scholarships. All the crew will have been accepted on academic merit.

Here are the two coxes from the 2014 race (the smaller guys in the middle )
 

 

 

And here are some resources:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-04-06/the-boat-race-its-the-coxes-who-make-the-big-calls
http://www.firstandthird.org/frames/rowing/coxjob.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxswain_%28rowing%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Race
http://theboatrace.org/men/squad-list

Edited April 28, 2014 by Zombie

[Marzipan]

Sounds like a pretty great set up for a story! **wide grin** Now, who will write it?

[Aditus]

I like this thread, what a great idea. I would absolutely read your story Z, but I could never write it, too much research too little time.

[joann414]

Great idea Zombie!

[K.C.]

Big guys bossed around by hot little guys! Oh yeah, count me in!! I don't think I could write it with my current schedule, but I would love to read it. Go for it Mr. Z

[Slytherin]

  What a great idea, Zombie,  you obviously have some brain left (for a zombie) Just kidding I am looking forward to read this story

[Irritable1]

Some ten years ago, a friend of mine mentioned that his grandparents met in prison. "They were both Communist agitators," he explained casually.

 

Something about this single line has always made me giggle like a lunatic, probably because I'm imagining 1930s Romanian Marxists enacting California courtship rituals... but it struck me today that surely Occupy must've generated some couples? How about a nice romance among the demonstrators?

[Astro]

This is an awesome idea! Well done Zombie!

 

I am planning a superhero story right now but I would love to see more out there! I know WrathofMagneto has this as a specialty (he is awesome), but you can never have too many!

 

Maybe a story surrounding a new superhero or two up and coming ones who meet and fall in love. Their secret identities are what they are most careful of letting go of. But they may or may not know each other already. Or maybe they compete against each other in real life and help each other as heroes.

 

Kind of like Arrow if anyone watches the TV show.

 

Anyways, just throwing another idea out there! I love this thread!!!! 

 

Edited May 11, 2014 by Astro

[davbar68]

I think stories about true first time experiences are always fun to read.