Story Ideas about Houses and More...
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1) After your character moves out of his/her house, s/he realizes that s/he left something valuable hidden in the basement. Other people are living there now, and your character fears that if s/he tells the new tenants about the treasure, they will keep it for themselves. How will your character get it back?
2) Your character's ex's parents die and leave a house to your character and to his/her ex --on the condition that they both live there together. Your character hates his/her ex, but really needs a house...
3) Your character inherits a dollhouse. Sometimes when s/he looks at it, the dolls are not where s/he left them, but have been moved and posed in different scenarios. Is someone moving them? If so, who? Your character lives alone...
4) After your character moves into a new house, strange people keep stopping by, looking urgently for someone named Steve...
5) Your character's house is chosen to be a movie set. Your character has an enormous crush on one of the actors who will be working there...
6) House-hunting, your character visits a house that fills him/her with a strong sense of déjà vû. The feeling is so powerful that your character rents the house to try to find out what's behind it. This house must have something to do with your character's forgotten past...
7) Your teenage character's parents buy a house and move the family to a new neighborhood. Your character hates it and wants the family to move out. So s/he decides to convince his/her parents that the house is haunted. Then things start to get weird...
8) Your character buys a houseboat, saying s/he "wants get away from it all". When his/her house gets carried off in a storm, the phrase takes on a literal meaning...
9) When your character gets married, s/he moves into his/her spouse's family home, the home that his/her spouse grew up in. The spouse's attitude toward the home is very strange -- s/he won't permit anything there to be moved or changed. Everything has to be exactly as his/her parents had it. What is the root of the spouse's obsessive behavior, and will your character's marriage survive it?
10) Your character's neighbor across the street is suspected of being a dangerous criminal. The police ask to use your character's house to conduct surveillance on the neighbor. Your character starts to get involved in the investigation....
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Story ideas about jobs
1) Your character is a marriage counselor. A couple comes to your character's office, wanting him/her to save their marriage. But your character is intensely attracted to one of them and decides, for selfish reasons, to try to break them apart...
2) Your character is a new employee at a small zoo. Proud of his/her new job, your character brings a friend to the zoo at night when no one else is there. Your character's not supposed to be there at night, but s/he has gotten hold of a key and knows the security code. His/Her plan is to show the friend and leave. Unfortunately, things get out of control while they're there, and your character accidentally lets a dangerous animal escape from its cage. Your character has to catch the animal himself/herself before anyone finds out... or gets hurt...
3) Your character is a babysitter, who develops an intense emotional attachment to the children s/he's taking care of, and feels that s/he would be a much more suitable parent to them than their actual parents. Then one day, abruptly, the parents fire your character. But your character isn't going to let go of the children without a fight...
4) Your character is a writer, who discovers that whatever s/he writes seems to come true...
5) Your character is a long-distance truck driver. One night, on a cross-country trip, your character nearly has an accident when a black Mercedes suddenly swerves in front of him/her. About an hour later, your character has another near-miss with the same black Mercedes. Shaken by the two incidents, your character stops at a truck stop for a cup of coffee. But when your character gets back on the road, s/he sees the black Mercedes again, just ahead. Is it your character's imagination, or is that car deliberately targeting your character, trying to provoke an accident?
6) Your character is an actor who is playing the role of a psychopath. As always, when your character takes on a role, s/he tries to understand and get inside the head of the person s/he is supposed to play. In this case, however, your character may be connecting too much with the role. Your character's family and friends start complaining that your character is frightening them with strange and sinister behavior...
7) Your character is a detective, who falls in love with someone s/he has been hired to follow...
8) Your character is a scientist who has invented a revolutionary new type of vitamin pill. However, s/he is unable to get approval to test the safety of the pill in a laboratory. Unwilling to give up on his/her invention, your character decides to test the pill on himself or herself. The results are surprising, even amazing. It's as if your character is developing superpowers. But there's also an unexpected side effect...
Story ideas about neighbors
) Your character has an enormous crush on their attractive new neighbor, but can't think of an excuse to strike up a conversation. All your character can manage to do is watch the neighbor longingly from behind their curtain. Then, one night, they realize that they're not the only one watching this neighbor. Someone is skulking around the neighbor's yard, peering first into one window and then another...
2) Your character is a child with an unhappy home. He's completely miserable until he starts going over to the neighbors' house. The neighbors have a warm, happy family life and seem glad to include your character in it. Your character starts spending all his free time at the neighbors' home, which your character thinks of as his real home. Everything seems to be going well until your character learns that the neighbors are planning to move out of town. Your character is determined to go with them...
3) Two neighbors enter a gardening contest. As the competition heats up, their rivalry intensifies, leading them to take increasingly extreme measures to try to win...
4) Your character goes into their neighbor's yard to pet a cat on the neighbors' windowsill. Glancing into the neighbors' window, your character is shocked to recognize a silver candlestick that, weeks ago, had mysteriously gone missing from your character'sown home...
5) Your character's new neighbors seem odd. They have put up a tall fence around their small property, and their curtains are always drawn. A car with tinted windows sometimes drives in and out of the property late at night. As for the neighbors themselves, your character has never caught a glimpse of them. But one day, your character's parakeet escapes, and your character sees it perched on a tree behind the neighbors' fence...
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