HEADLINE NEWS

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

“All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that’s an alibi for my ignorance. ” —Will Rogers

I am reminded how easily ideas sprout like wildflowers in the oddest of places. In reading the newspaper headlines this morning, I found my own inventive stories popping into my mind long before I knew the details of what really happened. For those who love mysteries—whether as writer or reader—I’m not alone in playing the What If? game. Below are a few that made me think of interesting slants that might have happened if I were not reporting, but writing the stories.

See if some of these headlines pique your imagination with ideas:

• Rifle-wielding man near Georgetown shot dead
• Michigan man killed in Oklahoma drag boat race
• 47-year-old drowns in Oklahoma lake
• Las Cruces gets ready for 9-acre corn maze
• Probe continues after plane crashes into house

“A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” —Will Rogers

The true stories involved a man in an altercation with his wife, a boat crashing during a race’s qualifying lap, a man trying to cool off on a hot summer’s day, a plan to cut a 9-acre cornfield into a Disney character and a small aircraft plummeting into a suburban home.

My stories went somewhere else. Not quite the Twilight Zone, but definitely out there. Humble beginnings of several short stories meandering through our minds and sprouting into something considerably wild if we so choose.

“If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing.” —Will Rogers