For the most part spam emails are just a nuisance. But this morning I received an intriguing email from a Terrance Dittmar, whom I don't know. There was a file attached so I didn't open it, but, oh, the urge to do so was great. Why? The subject line was something you don't see everyday. "You should kill your ex after this photo".
Oh the story ideas at play in that subject line. Is Dittmar a PI who snapped a picture that enraged him so much that he'd encourage his client to murder? Or perhaps a hit man offering his services? And what could be so devastating in a photo that your would want to murder your ex? Or could it possibly be a police sting? Or a jealous lover looking to fan the flames of divorce? And then of course, there's the amateur detective who does open the email and starts to investigate. As I said the ideas are endless. And who'd have thought such a great story idea would pop up in my spam folder?
8 comments:
I love when inspiration strikes from unusual places.
I'm often surprised where stories ideas pop up, David. I had inspiration strike from your Twitter feed once :) The story went from a flash piece, to full blown story.
Enjoyed this. Thanks. It happens to me, too, and I often wonder that this habit of processing incoming information is so strong.
I think what makes the incoming information strong for me, Ron, is when it tickles my funny bone or I wind up scratching my head at the things people do. The ideas are there and I think writers tend to process all of this on an entirely different level than ordinary readers.
Writers are possibly the only people on earth who see anything good about spam.
Nigerian scammers often pose as bankers or the director of the FBI, but I got spam recently from "Pope Benedict XVI." Little old me! I'm still trying to work that one into a story.
Pope Benedict? You are certainly a blessed man, Al :) Might be interesting to have Diana "get together" with the pope.
She's certainly met many men of the cloth!
And many men out of the cloth! :)
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