Marcus V. Calvert's Blog, page 45
May 27, 2018
Four Little Movie Prompts - #1
Step 1: Take 4 movies you've seen and list them (no matter how bad). What's important is that you remember them.
For example:
1. Zoolander
2. Big
3. The Mummy Returns
4. The Book Of Eli
Step 2: String together a crude plot by connecting one facet from each movie. Adapt to your needs as necessary.
For example:
1. Zoolander— An idiot gets brainwashed.
2. Big— Into thinking he's grown-up trapped in a kid's body.
3. The Mummy Returns— He gets psychically-trained in all things occult & violent, with the sacred quest of fighting the evils of this world.
4. The Book Of Eli—His first adventure's to play "keep-away" with a lost text. If destroyed, something awful's gonna happen.
Step 3: Clean it up. Then wonder if this puppy's different/interesting enough to write out as a short story, comic, RPG, etc.
For example:
An idiot kid (say, a teen) gets kidnapped and brainwashed by a shadowy order of do-gooders. He's young enough to blend in but has the mindset of a seasoned badass/occult scholar and the skills to prove it. When they're done with him, he's willing to die to protect humanity from the darkness around it. His first mission's to retrieve a lost relic—a book with unspeakable power. Its continued existence is vital to the world. Interested parties wish to destroy it.
There. Done. Whaddya think?
https://www.patreon.com/IVillain
For example:
1. Zoolander
2. Big
3. The Mummy Returns
4. The Book Of Eli
Step 2: String together a crude plot by connecting one facet from each movie. Adapt to your needs as necessary.
For example:
1. Zoolander— An idiot gets brainwashed.
2. Big— Into thinking he's grown-up trapped in a kid's body.
3. The Mummy Returns— He gets psychically-trained in all things occult & violent, with the sacred quest of fighting the evils of this world.
4. The Book Of Eli—His first adventure's to play "keep-away" with a lost text. If destroyed, something awful's gonna happen.
Step 3: Clean it up. Then wonder if this puppy's different/interesting enough to write out as a short story, comic, RPG, etc.
For example:
An idiot kid (say, a teen) gets kidnapped and brainwashed by a shadowy order of do-gooders. He's young enough to blend in but has the mindset of a seasoned badass/occult scholar and the skills to prove it. When they're done with him, he's willing to die to protect humanity from the darkness around it. His first mission's to retrieve a lost relic—a book with unspeakable power. Its continued existence is vital to the world. Interested parties wish to destroy it.
There. Done. Whaddya think?
https://www.patreon.com/IVillain
Published on May 27, 2018 01:03
January 9, 2017
Writing Prompt #65--The Hopeless
You’re a police negotiator on psych leave after a case-gone-bloody, during which a young child dies. As you mope in your apartment, you get a call from the FBI, begging you to show up at a crime scene. Apparently, a terrorist is demanding that you step in because it was his grandson you failed to save in that case. The terrorist is a bioweapons designer, who retired when his grandson was born. The little nipper gave him hope that the world could be a better place. Now, that hope is gone. The terrorist jump-started his old network and planted nerve gas bombs throughout L.A. There are 6 bombs. He’ll give you their location, one bomb at a time. Each bomb will literally arm the second you arrive on scene, with a one-hour countdown. But here’s the odd: he leaves them with pre-selected people who don’t wanna live and HATE society (for various reasons). The bombs are too complex to disarm in under an hour--period. But, each of his “bomb handlers” knows the abort code to their particular bomb. They’ll only talk to you and no one else. If you can’t talk each handler into giving you the code, in under an hour, a nerve gas bomb will go off with a six-figure body count.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 09, 2017 22:35
•
Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 8, 2017
Writing Prompt #64--Slightly Used
You’re a foreign spy [insert name here] who’s tired of the life. Brutal, brilliant, and wanted (dead) throughout the world, you’re like an evil James Bond. One day, you want to retire—even though your bosses would kill you for trying. Once in, never out. Besides, you know too many secrets. But you leave anyway. Along the way, you have your memories permanently wiped. The hope’s that your old bosses will figure that you’re harmless, throw up their hands, and let you go. Instead, they send their best kill teams. Your pre-amnesia evac plan gets ruined and your money lost in the gunfire. Once you figure out who you were, you run to the last place you should go: America. While you can’t even remember your old codename, your skills (especially with your hands) are still sharp. You turn yourself in, begging for help. Amused, Langley offers to protect you—sort of. In certain venues, your face is still feared/trusted/respected, thus making you useful. In return, you have to assist with X number of high-risk ops while being retrained.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 08, 2017 14:20
•
Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 7, 2017
Writing Prompt #63--Dadgummit
You and your brother are idiots looking to make money hunting down outlaws in the Old West. The silver lining here is that your brother’s an ace tracker and you’re awesome with any gun. But, the first batch of outlaws you go after [insert gang title here] just took out a cattleman’s bank. The reward’s huge. You’re lucky enough to be in the area. Your brother’s good enough to lead you right to them. You pick ‘em off with a rifle. And that’s that. You load the bodies and ride back into town, bragging about your first big bounty. There are, however, two problems. One, you idiots left the money behind [LOL]!! So the cattleman/villain threatens to kill you both if it isn’t returned in a day. Second, when you rush back to retrieve the cash, you find it in the hands of the head outlaw’s dad (the one you killed). This guy has an even bigger gang and a reputation as the fastest draw in the Territory. Shit.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 07, 2017 19:37
•
Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 6, 2017
Writing Prompt #62--The Rising Deep
A father and son go deep sea fishing and come across a damsel in the water. She’s near death, very cute, and . . . has gills in her neck. Other than her twin hearts and slightly too-large eyes, she could pass for human. They save her and get her conscious. Her mother was taken by one of Them and she was born a half-breed. Her English is weak but she basically came here to warn us that They were coming. That all twelve of the great city-realms would rise from the deep and burn humanity away, once and for all. Just as she’s starting to calm down, something big comes out of the waves. A massive tsunami harmlessly runs past the boat, some miles away. A floating city emerges, surrounded by sleek airships bristling with cannons. All she can repeatedly scream is: “The Zodium are here!” As in the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Apparently, each sign represented one of these floating cities. This one’s about 400 stories high and large enough to stuff Los Angeles in it . . . ten times over. The city and its attack fleet hover toward the nearest shoreline.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 06, 2017 18:11
•
Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 5, 2017
Writing Prompt #61--The Wives Of Smith & Wesson
You’re a wanted fugitive who does the occasional hit to pay the bills. This year’s mark is some divorced socialite-turned-reality star. The fee’s quadrupled if you whack her while she’s on set. Pull off the high-profile job and that’s enough “f*ck you” money to leave the country and never look back. So you pack your tools and cleanly kill the 50-something with the fake boob, hair, nose, and so forth. The feds are clueless and your fee’s paid without incident as you flee the hemisphere. What you don’t know is that the surviving show stars pool their sizeable wealth to hire mercs, who track you down and bring you back. You expect to be handed off to the feds but the ladies have something worse in mind. They had a new reality show in mind. And you’re the star . . . until you die, anyway.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 05, 2017 16:03
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Tags:
murdersaucesquare
Writing Prompt #60--Comatose
You’re a cop investigating organized crime. The latest case involves an out-of-town crew coming in and buying up buildings with business tenants. Once owned, they either demand protection money from the tenants or make them front their product [insert contraband here]. While investigating the murder of a shop owner who wouldn’t cooperate, you get the attention of the mob. They try to buy you, threaten you, and then try really hard to kill you. That last one put you on life support with crap odds of ever waking up. Yet, you’ve been sitting at your own bedside (looking down at your body) for the last three days, waiting for the plug to be pulled—but your family won’t do it. Then you realize that you’re not a helpless quasi-ghost. Oh no. You’re astrally projecting your mind somehow. And, if you focus really hard, you can touch/hit people. Maybe there’s a shot at justice here.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 05, 2017 02:14
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Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 3, 2017
Writing Prompt #59--The Disciples' Way
The story’s in a parallel world in an bustling Asian-style country—at some point in the near-future. You were one of the orphaned disciples for a kung fu badass [insert name] who worked like a hi-tech Robin Hood. He taught you all how to fight, infiltrate, and create gadgets for the field. Much like the Merry Men, you and your pals tagged along and helped steal from the oppressors to give to the oppressed. Insert tyrannical bad guy regime and its mobster-style pawns. Anyway, one of you betrays everyone else. With his secret identity compromised, your master gets ambushed and dies in a truly heroic fashion. The traitor steps forward and gets money and power, while the rest of you are marked for death. On the run, but very interested in settling the score, the loyal disciples meet up in a warehouse to discuss payback.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 03, 2017 17:27
•
Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 2, 2017
Writing Prompt #53--Poker Night
You’re working nights in a small warehouse in a big city. Your immature, hard-drinking co-workers ignore you (being the innocent, born-again type). Then, one day, you shove one of them out of the way of an oncoming truck. The grateful co-worker invites you to the weekly poker game. You show up with chips and beer . . . only to get bitten. See, this five-person group of co-workers are vampires. A drained corpses (a.k.a., snacks) are freshly rotting in the corner. Anyway, by saving one of them from getting smeared, you’ve earned a shot at immortality. They’re going to sit down and play four hands of poker, giving you a decent head start. Then they’ll hunt you. Last ‘til dawn and you’re a vampire. If not, then they’ll drink blood (yours) to your memory.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 02, 2017 16:53
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Tags:
murdersaucesquare
January 1, 2017
Writing Prompt #43--The Time Slot
In the not-so-distant future, wars have changed. Why send soldiers (who we actually care about) when we can send disposable mercs instead? Overpaid and better-trained, they go into the fight with more gadgets than most super spies. They hit the bad guys and kill with extreme prejudice. All of these military heroics/war crimes are filmed via body cams, satellites, etc. So basically, our wars have become a reality show with one merc firm [insert name] getting all the glory. Has been for years. The faces change but their dominance stays the same . . . until a new war and a new competitor come out of no where. These new mercs are clean-cut, noble and yet appeal to the jaded audience by reminding them what valor in battle’s supposed to be like. The Department of Defense’s Media Division only has funding for one of these two firms. Whichever one wins this next war next gets the contract.
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
What happens next?
https://squareup.com/store/TANSOM
Published on January 01, 2017 19:06
•
Tags:
murdersaucesquare