Current Events in Fiction

Story ideas are plentiful. A bit of conversation, an unusual act of kindness, a child’s innocent question—these and a thousand other things may spark stories in our imagination.

Current events also can be fertile ground for stories because we already share these experiences with our readers. We know the frustration and sorrow of a pandemic. We share the pain of war victims. We feel the despair of illegal aliens fleeing violence in their home countries. Any of these events could grow into meaningful stories of faith.

Think about how you might use a current event as the seed of a story. Suppose a family is divided by war. The mother and children make their way to a safe haven while the father stays behind to fight. You could tell about the trials and triumphs of the refugees, the heartache of the father, or the anguish of a young couple separated by the demands of patriotism.

How about a college freshman who contracts Covid 19 just before classes begin? Since she can’t attend class for the first two weeks, ­she loses her scholarship. Now she has the stress of being out of sync with her friends and having to pay several thousand dollars of tuition by herself. What might she learn about God’s provision through such an experience?

Many more ideas emerge from each day’s headlines, but they come with risks. The source of your story idea may disappear before your story can appear, which could make it obsolete. The pain associated with some events could make readers avoid them. Escapist readers want to read about anything but traumatic true happenings.

Yet there are good reasons to write a story based on current events. Your characters can demonstrate how to cope with problems that seem too difficult to handle. Your heroine can discover a meaningful, life-changing relationship with God. Your protagonists can realize that God is always with them, despite unexpected turns their lives may take.

Watch the evening news with a notepad. List the problems that threaten people in the news. How might God enable them to cope with these problems? That could be the start of your next novel.

Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. His most recent book is Hard Times (Warner Press: 2019). He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth.

Reality: A Good Source for Fiction

News can be a wonderful source for ideas about fiction. Even without capitalizing on the actual people in a particular event and thus opening yourself to litigation. If you merely ask a few simple questions, you can unearth multiple story ideas in any genre, to use as the main part or the backdrop. How do you go about it?

While news reports of a tragedy may seem the logical choice, tucked between ads for insurance and mortuaries can be other thought provoking items. (Read the story in the photo above.) Here I used a headline without connection to death – at least one that no one realizes... Bwhaha...(Cozy Murder Mystery)

Women’s Fiction/Contemporary

Had this woman made someone angry? Was the wrong address recognized/posted by the angry party who decided to use it as an excuse to upset/ harm her, even steal her kitten? If so, what was the original grievance? Was it legitimate? What if this woman was an up-and-coming personality? Was it an act of cruelty or revenge or jealousy? Was it a prank? How does the woman deal with it? Or, how does the perpetrator change and grow through the consequences of this deed?

Romantic Suspense:

Does a police investigator become emotionally involved with the victim? To what lengths will he go to retrieve the missing items, especially when she reveals that they include a journal with notations of a highly critical matter? Does an old boyfriend that she’s afraid of still possess a key? Has the locksmith she’s hired to replace the locks kept a copy of the key? What about that hunky neighbor or boss or faithful old friend whose been in love with her and now has a chance to finally show it as he helps her though this difficulty?

Science Fiction:

Will some secret government agency become involved in tracking down the missing kitty because it really is an information gathering robot that was tracking a terrorist cell? Or, maybe the kitten is an extraterrestrial intelligence who knew that the new DVD this woman bought actually contained the plans to overtake the earth.

Young Adult

Does a ten-year-old child return the kitten, only to discover that the owner looks like an older version of herself and is actually the sister that she was separated from when the Department of Child Services took them away from their family? How do they get together again? What secrets ripped the family apart? 

Or…maybe the kitten is a werewolf/ shape-shifter…

Most of these are well-used, but you get the idea. 

What recent news item do you think would make a really good diving board into the pool of fiction?

Mary Allen has authored many articles and two books of poems, “Journey to Christmas” and “Ten Days to an Empty Tomb”.  She was named La Porte County Poet Laureate 2010 and currently is Poetry Chair for Arts in the Park La Porte, but that doesn't stop her from writing fiction.