Has anybody thought of using one of these as the basis for a short story? It seems like most of the plot outline is already finished. A set of new characters and a new location, a few tweeks here and there to enhance the experience and voila!
Posted by NewsBys (Member # 1950) on :
Are you suggesting an urban legend re-write? Fascinating. Posted by goatboy (Member # 2062) on :
Actually, I've just about finished with a 1k flash piece (1st draft anyway), based on an email Joke found on the Snopes site.
I'm just wondering how kosher it is to do that.
Posted by NewsBys (Member # 1950) on :
I think they are pretty much in public domain, I don't think they belong to anyone. Besides, you changed some things right?
The only problem I can see is that people familiar with the legend would guess the ending and not pay as much attention to the story. If however you had good characters and interesting environments, then they might not notice it was UL inspired.
Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :
Sounds like an interesting challenge to me! Shall I add it to the list for the Rewrite Challenge? A pick-your-won urban legend rewrite?
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Do UFO's count as urban legends? I think there is some good material there if given an orginal twist.
Posted by goatboy (Member # 2062) on :
Gee, Dakota, if you do that I've already got mine almost done. Idea just came drifting out this morning and went on paper in a couple hours.
Posted by MichelleAnn (Member # 2375) on :
LOL, it's not like "A friend of a friend" can sue you! 'Chelle Ann
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
This is something that many writers already do, but the usual thing is to a) have a character "acknowledge" the urban legend (Oh @#$%! This is just like that story about the woman who ate too many truffles!) and b) have a different ending (sometimes one where it turns out that the urban legend itself is the cause of the story, like a mystery where the criminal tries to cover the crime using a ghost story/urban legend).
Most urban legends are popular and passed along because they are so implausible or cliche that they couldn't be made into good stories without substantially changing them. They survive mostly on the humor of anyone believing them or because a "true story" so bizarre just has to be shared.
There are a few notable exceptions. But there is another very good reason most stories based on urban legends follow the two rules I mentioned. If anyone figures out your story is based on an urban legend very long before you acknowledge that it resembles an urban legend, then you'll lose that reader's interst. And, once you've told the reader that your story resembles an existing story, it is essential that you make your story different in some meaningful fashion. So the second rule tends to be a logical consequence of the first, and the first is a logical consequence of the fact that if you've heard that story, probably everyone else in the world has heard it by the time you get a story written about it.
Posted by MichelleAnn (Member # 2375) on :
It would be a great opening line - to acknowledge that the story resembles a UL; perhaps with a caveat that it ends in a new and surprising way. ("Which means that if you heard the story before you think you got it all figured out - think again!")
If you like urban legends (I love them!) you could do a whole series on someone that travels trying to research them. Maybe they're out to prove them - maybe they're out to disprove them ... that all depends on the character. You could have a Mulder type, positive that the proof is out there. You could have a Scully type, determined to bring logic to the proceedings. You could have a college student that gets more than he/she was bargaining for. 'Chelle Ann
Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :
Sounds like a job for Mythbusters. I love that show.
I say do it, but give it a new spin. Maybe take an old one and modernize it or something to that effect. Perhaps a first person accounting of it to make it seem more real. Or totally blow it out of proportion to make it funny.
Posted by NewsBys (Member # 1950) on :
I like the idea of a story about a person researching to find the origin of the UL. The origin could end up being even more strange than the actual tale.
