A movie about someone who funds cancer research with the proceeds made from selling fake replicas of Hitler’s missing testicle on the dark web. The title: “Ball in Your Court”
I was also thinking of going with “The Nut Job” or “Mind the Bollack”. There’s plenty of time to decide while Warner Brothers and Disney battle over the rights.
I believe that I intuited this in the big story I'm working on. Plus I used lots of other broad ideas from you. No short stories in 2025. I have to finish this thing and sell it. Then I'll write the script and get an amateurish film made, poorly financed by some upstart video streaming service.
Question: Do you use any sort of visual aid to sort out the horizontal? I am not a planner at all, but feel that I need to create a visual to hold the plot in my mind, and smooth it out. I can't do it chapter by chapter, well, maybe, but very inefficiently.
There’s a museum in the UK that’s centered around containing and displaying macabre objects and things such as artwork by serial killers, articles of clothing worn by the serial killers, the personal belongings of serial killers, etc. There’s a documentary on the museum and it’s owner and I remember one sequence in particular where the owner has just purchased what he believes to be a tie worn by Fred West that was used to strangle one of his victims. He shows a photo of West which shows him wearing what appears to be the same tie, though as to whether or not it’s the actual tie or some kind of forgery is never confirmed.
Another rather memorable sequence from the documentary is where it shows one particular exhibit in the museum that’s a mini-diorama of the holocaust made from Barbie/action man dolls that depicts Nazi officers molesting prisoners.
Rose doesn't share a pad. My friend saw her across the canteen alarmingly flanked by a lot of young girls. Rose is something of a celebrity there. She apparently won the prison version of Bake Off.
I would consider using an AI art generator. ChatGPT has the ability to make a two column chart. your original text description of a plot point and a AI generated pic to fit. This technique is getting traction with pitching scripts.
the website Curious Refuge is the center of AI filmmaking. They have a weekly youtube newscast with current tools to help writers and creators. (I do not like or advocate AI creating stories. Just to organize information.)
Slightly adjacent - I think the podcast Freakonomics interviewed someone working for the government (I think it was someone in the FBI) that said something like approximately 1% of people with jobs that require a degree or certificate have fake ones. I always think of this when i go to the doctor and they look up answers to my questions on webmd.com, right in front of me.
Seems pretty easy to me to know how to use a stethoscope but whatever works…
The scam of cremating humans and animals also interests me. It seems relatively easy for crematoriums to cremate someone correctly - as it appears to be a pretty straightforward process, but intriguing for example that instead of burning one at a time they would burn multiple together, giving customers not only their Aunt Helda in an urn, but also Gary the pederast, and that kid that died getting an MRI (of course after an oxygen tank was magnetically pulled into the machine and fractured his skull) - an unfortunate pairing…
Helda always did like decent gossip though, so that’ll keep her busy for a while…
The feeling that came over me, reading about a "give your bodies to science" lab doing Frankenstein builds for fun, after I fought to give my dad's body to science. You just can't win them all.
This comes at a perfect time....adding it to a spiral bound notebook I have that has the words "Consider this, too" written on the front of it in sharpie. Very useful little guito making something I was already working on better. Thank you.
Man. I have a dear friend that has a massive collection of serial killer art, letters and personal effects. I’ve been to a gallery showing of their collection and another’s in the same location. I’ve been face to face with artwork from Manson, BTK, Dahmer, Gacy and many others. The buzz in the gallery was disturbing to say the least. Reading their letters, holding some in my hands— their energy is really there, still. My watch even stopped working. I felt like I lost a very innocent piece of myself that day after leaving the gallery. It was ALOT.
I'm a big believer in objects still carrying the energy of the people who once held them. Just bad juju. Ditto for if you have a tattoo artist who's a shitty bastard, sometimes that tattoo holds that energy. Always a reminder to keep your guard and shields up around people -- or objects -- that set off the ol' Spidey senses!
Or when actors land that “juicy” roll to portray serial killers so they can become the framed and mounted “art of” themselves. No one cares about the victims or the families that had to receive that trauma. Actors and art collectors can suck it! Fricken givin’ me those flamey thoughts.
Man, I hope that teacher has a decent-sized crawl space. I’ve got a day of manual labor ahead of me tomorrow, but I’ll start working on something asap. Happy New Year, everyone!
The scam falls apart when the children start creating baroque art instead of the Gacy-esque clown pieces, so the teacher starts to do the painting herself. But she’s terrible at it so she gets called out by a Gacy groupie. But by now, the teacher’s been seduced by the Gacy mythos and she starts plotting how she can lure and dispose of the groupie who exposed her.
A movie about someone who funds cancer research with the proceeds made from selling fake replicas of Hitler’s missing testicle on the dark web. The title: “Ball in Your Court”
You got the idea. I'd run with the title "Foul Ball."
I was also thinking of going with “The Nut Job” or “Mind the Bollack”. There’s plenty of time to decide while Warner Brothers and Disney battle over the rights.
Movie trailer voice: “Coming this summer . . . You’ll see people go mad over a gonad”
Points for "gonad" and rhyme.
Apparently, Hitler having only one testicle is a dubious claim. I looked it up. Apparently one just never dropped.
Sorry lol
If I ever made a fortune from a studio pitch, I’d hire you to edit my books.
Oh dear. I'd be better at cleaning toilets.
Okay, okay what about standing over my shoulder while I write and tsk-tsk-ing at all the crap I’m writing? No advice, just that. Then the toilets.
This seems like a "careful what you wish for" type of situation
True, but I get to tsk-tak his toilet cleaning.
You know damn well there's not going to be anything to tsk. That toilet is going to be clean enough to eat a four course meal off of.
Then I will give the task to my obsessive compulsive ex-wife. She’ll find something to complain about.
I believe that I intuited this in the big story I'm working on. Plus I used lots of other broad ideas from you. No short stories in 2025. I have to finish this thing and sell it. Then I'll write the script and get an amateurish film made, poorly financed by some upstart video streaming service.
Question: Do you use any sort of visual aid to sort out the horizontal? I am not a planner at all, but feel that I need to create a visual to hold the plot in my mind, and smooth it out. I can't do it chapter by chapter, well, maybe, but very inefficiently.
I know you asked Chuck, but I use a whiteboard. Maybe that’ll help.
I've got index cards already. Definitely doing this. Just wondering if he does anything like that.
There’s a museum in the UK that’s centered around containing and displaying macabre objects and things such as artwork by serial killers, articles of clothing worn by the serial killers, the personal belongings of serial killers, etc. There’s a documentary on the museum and it’s owner and I remember one sequence in particular where the owner has just purchased what he believes to be a tie worn by Fred West that was used to strangle one of his victims. He shows a photo of West which shows him wearing what appears to be the same tie, though as to whether or not it’s the actual tie or some kind of forgery is never confirmed.
Another rather memorable sequence from the documentary is where it shows one particular exhibit in the museum that’s a mini-diorama of the holocaust made from Barbie/action man dolls that depicts Nazi officers molesting prisoners.
Is that Littledean Jail? I went there with a friend who delighted in telling complete strangers that she was briefly in prison with Rose West.
It is! And as far as unfortunate cellmates go - yeesh
Rose doesn't share a pad. My friend saw her across the canteen alarmingly flanked by a lot of young girls. Rose is something of a celebrity there. She apparently won the prison version of Bake Off.
My brain isn’t quite comprehending that last sentence
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15006859/rose-west-bake-off-good-life-prison-fred-cafe/
I would consider using an AI art generator. ChatGPT has the ability to make a two column chart. your original text description of a plot point and a AI generated pic to fit. This technique is getting traction with pitching scripts.
the website Curious Refuge is the center of AI filmmaking. They have a weekly youtube newscast with current tools to help writers and creators. (I do not like or advocate AI creating stories. Just to organize information.)
Slightly adjacent - I think the podcast Freakonomics interviewed someone working for the government (I think it was someone in the FBI) that said something like approximately 1% of people with jobs that require a degree or certificate have fake ones. I always think of this when i go to the doctor and they look up answers to my questions on webmd.com, right in front of me.
Seems pretty easy to me to know how to use a stethoscope but whatever works…
The scam of cremating humans and animals also interests me. It seems relatively easy for crematoriums to cremate someone correctly - as it appears to be a pretty straightforward process, but intriguing for example that instead of burning one at a time they would burn multiple together, giving customers not only their Aunt Helda in an urn, but also Gary the pederast, and that kid that died getting an MRI (of course after an oxygen tank was magnetically pulled into the machine and fractured his skull) - an unfortunate pairing…
Helda always did like decent gossip though, so that’ll keep her busy for a while…
The feeling that came over me, reading about a "give your bodies to science" lab doing Frankenstein builds for fun, after I fought to give my dad's body to science. You just can't win them all.
I've read materials on how con artists pick their targets and the phrase that's used is something like it's always easier to cheat a cheat
A person sells fake blessed by the Pope rosaries and then donates the money to the Satanic Temple to build more abortion clinics.
Too subtle.
lolol. Ok. I'll go harder...lol
This comes at a perfect time....adding it to a spiral bound notebook I have that has the words "Consider this, too" written on the front of it in sharpie. Very useful little guito making something I was already working on better. Thank you.
That is an excellent idea which I am going to copy.
Man. I have a dear friend that has a massive collection of serial killer art, letters and personal effects. I’ve been to a gallery showing of their collection and another’s in the same location. I’ve been face to face with artwork from Manson, BTK, Dahmer, Gacy and many others. The buzz in the gallery was disturbing to say the least. Reading their letters, holding some in my hands— their energy is really there, still. My watch even stopped working. I felt like I lost a very innocent piece of myself that day after leaving the gallery. It was ALOT.
That's very disturbing - at least to me.
I'm a big believer in objects still carrying the energy of the people who once held them. Just bad juju. Ditto for if you have a tattoo artist who's a shitty bastard, sometimes that tattoo holds that energy. Always a reminder to keep your guard and shields up around people -- or objects -- that set off the ol' Spidey senses!
... hope you don't have one of those very long bookmarks I've made and sent for the past twenty-two years.
If I made a fortune off my script - I’d pay you a big consultant fee for being the writing teacher we all need but no school has.
This is brilliant!
Or when actors land that “juicy” roll to portray serial killers so they can become the framed and mounted “art of” themselves. No one cares about the victims or the families that had to receive that trauma. Actors and art collectors can suck it! Fricken givin’ me those flamey thoughts.
Man, I hope that teacher has a decent-sized crawl space. I’ve got a day of manual labor ahead of me tomorrow, but I’ll start working on something asap. Happy New Year, everyone!
The scam falls apart when the children start creating baroque art instead of the Gacy-esque clown pieces, so the teacher starts to do the painting herself. But she’s terrible at it so she gets called out by a Gacy groupie. But by now, the teacher’s been seduced by the Gacy mythos and she starts plotting how she can lure and dispose of the groupie who exposed her.
Heads on pikes for Halloween deco, but they're all real.