OPINION

Kelley: Stumped for NaNoWriMo? We have some ideas

Annie J. Kelley
Battle Creek Enquirer

A blank page can be intimidating. Believe me, I've spent the past five minutes trying to figure out how to jump-start this column.

That's why there's National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo to the cool kids. It's a month-long marathon session; the goal is to hit 50,000 words by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30. The idea is a race to fill the word-count will help the writer from overthinking that blank page. Those 50,000 words don't have to be pretty, since that's what revision is for.

Willard Library is offering cubicles for writers throughout November. The website says there will be designated quiet spots with an outlet for laptops, along with research materials for any writer looking to publish.

As the final countdown begins this week, there's one very important item you'll need to prepare for NaNoWriMo: An idea.

Luckily for you, the newspaper is littered with story ideas, just waiting for you to pick them up and recycle them into a bestselling novel. Just ask Megan Abbott, who wrote "The Fever" after reading about an outbreak of mysterious seizures in New York.

With help from the Associated Press, here are some true-life stories to spur the imagination:

Parachuting beavers: Boise State Public Radio reports a video from the 1950s has been recovered that documents the Idaho Department of Fish and Game airlifting beavers into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Apparently, this was the solution to a problem with beaver overpopulation. The rodents were put into special boxes with parachutes and dropped out of airplanes. The video even provides a great book title: "Fur for the Future."

Identical triplets: The evil identical twin is a mainstay in plot twists, but what if there were — pause for dramatic effect — identical triplets? Dun, dun, dunnnnnn. A mother beat the odds and gave birth to identical triplets at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center on Oct. 6.

Corpse robbers: There have been some books recently about the ancient Chinese practice of ghost weddings. Dying before ever marrying was considered bad luck, so post-life marriage ceremonies were conducted to help souls in the afterlife. The practice can still be found in rural areas of China. The Xinhua News Agency reported three people were recently detained by police as suspects in a plot to steal a woman's corpse and sell it to someone looking for a "ghost bride." The main suspect was aged 72.

Family issues: You think your family gatherings are awkward? A couple weeks ago a woman's attempt to sue her 12-year-old nephew fell through. At his 8th-birthday party he surprised her with a flying greeting — she tried to catch him, tumbled to the ground and broke her wrist. The jury ruled that the boy, now 12, wasn't liable. He attended court with his father; his mother died last year.

Society for Creative Anachronism fights crime: The Indianapolis Star reports a woman turned the tables on a home intruder earlier this month. The intruder, high on an unknown substance, was subdued with punches and a Japanese sword. The woman said she used moves she learned from her involvement with the Society for Creative Anachronism, which re-creates life in the Middle Ages.

Love connection: A text message sent to a wrong number led to marriage in St. Louis. The bride and groom, who have a 30-year age difference, began talking after her mistaken message. The couple found they had a lot in common and three years later tied the knot, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Hidden treasure: Last month, two explorers claimed they found a lost Nazi train that has only existed in legend. In an area where Adolf Hitler was building secret tunnels, rumors say a train laden with gold and booby traps went underground near the end of World War II and was never seen again. The Polish military were deployed to check it out. There haven't been any concrete findings announced so far.

The old bed-sheet ruse: Two inmates of a jail in Louisville, Ky., tied their bed-sheets together as a means to escape. Authorities suspect the plot was facilitated by a course in knot-tying. Unfortunately for one of them, the course wasn't as thorough as he hoped, and one of the knots came loose as he was climbing down the makeshift rope, dropping him 20 feet.

Reporter as detective: A reporter for the Centre Daily Times was sent to cover the reported disappearance of two boys in central Pennsylvania. What he found was more than a story — he was at a playground when he heard some noise from a nearby blueberry bush, and found the brothers, ages 7 and 9. They were skipping school.