People ask me from where do I get my story ideas. Let me give you an example.
I was reading this AP story in today’s Chicago Tribune about how D-Day witnesses are dying one by one. You can (and should) read the story, about a World War II and D-Day vet who died this month at the age of 98, Bernard Dargols. He was in the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division, who came ashore at D-Day + 2 (or June 8), one of 73,000 U.S. personnel who took part in the invasion.
Obviously, I never knew Mr. Dargols, but it occurs to me that when he passed, he took with him all his memories of that time with him.
So the natural question is, what if were possible to keep his mind, his personality – and thus his memories – alive somehow.
It juxtaposes with stuff I’ve read about the singularity, which is (in its basest form) is a merger of human and machine intelligence. In other words, it might become possible in decades to “download” the essence of a human into a computer, which would then hypothetically keep that person “alive” indefinitely.
Like Mr. Dargols, for example.
There’s more to my idea, of course, and I will be fleshing this out in the coming week, but that’s how fast it happens.
My point is, for writers who are starting out, READ. Read especially newspapers and magazines. That’s where I get my best ideas. For example, this weekend I bought Popular Science and Philosophy Now magazines, along with a book about the geographical history of the Native Americans. These pubs are right with ideas.
Dig deep, and always ask, “What if…” You’ll find that’s where the magic happens.
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