Capturing a Story from the Headlines!

By Debby Giusti

Newspaper articles and nightly news reports provide story fodder. Some headlines inspire an entire manuscript. Others add interesting plot points or human interest angles to our writing. Today, let’s consider a headline that grabbed my attention.

WHEN?

Saturday, July 8. My daughter saw the first messages on Facebook and called the next morning to tell me what had happened. I did a google search, read an article that had appeared in a local paper and knew it was headline news waiting to be developed into a full-length manuscript.

WHERE?

What better place to brainstorm an idea than on Seekerville. That’s what I’m encouraging us to do today. Brainstorm the “rest of the story,” so to speak, or in other words, we’ll use the news article as a springboard that will lead us to our own story, a fictional tale worthy of an editor’s attention.

WHY?

Why did this particular event catch my attention and wouldn’t let go? 

Hubby and I had taken our family to Panama City Beach for a weeklong vacation over the Fourth of July.  Synchronizing schedules and getting our three adult children and their families, including four grandchildren, together can be a challenge. I wanted to ensure our week was perfect so I covered it with prayer.

God heard me and responded. Our oceanfront condo was lovely and spacious. The water was crystal clear, and the weather each day was sunny and bright. Storms had been predicted but never materialized. We splashed, we swam, we tubed and paddle boarded, and when we weren’t in the water, we made sand castles, collected seashells and took walks on the beach.

Saturday, as we were checking out, the sky darkened. Thunder rumbled overhead and strong winds gusted, blowing beach chairs and umbrellas across the sand as storms rolled into the area.  We left in torrential rain, rejoicing that our week in the sun had been picture perfect and fun, fun, fun.

WHAT?

So what about the news report?

At about 6:30 PM on Saturday, the day we left, a family was enjoying the water just as we had done. The mother had come in to shore, heard screams and turned to see her two sons, ages 8 and 11, caught in a rip current. Mom, dad, a nephew and grandmother raced into the water to save the boys and were caught in the current as well. Four additional people were also swept up in the riptide for a total of nine folks literally in over their heads and struggling to stay afloat.

HOW?

About this same time, a couple, who had decided to stop at the nearby pier for dinner, took a walk along the beach. The woman, an avid swimmer, salvaged a boogie board from one of the trash cans and then noticed a crowd gathered at the water’s edge. Thinking someone had spotted a shark, she and her husband approached the gathering only to see nine people flailing in the ocean, unable to swim back to shore.

Beach patrol arrived on the scene but refused to enter the water until backup arrived. Thankfully the woman took matters into her own hands. Knowing the victims were in imminent danger of drowning, she grabbed the boogie board and paddled toward the struggling family. Her husband quickly organized the people on shore into an 80-person human chain that stretched far into the water.  

Working together, the Good Samaritan couple got the children onto the boogie board first and swam them to the waiting arms of the closest person in the chain. That person handed off the children to the next person in line and the next and the next until the boys eventually made it back to shore.

The grandmother suffered a serious heart attack while in the water. The father and nephew kept her head above water until the boogie board team transported her to the waiting chain of hands that got her to shore as well. Paramedics stabilized the grandmother and then raced her to the nearest hospital. 

Within an hour, all nine people had been saved by the quick thinking couple and the human chain of Saturday beachgoers, who were willing to get involved.

Here’s a video  by Inside Addition that shows the human chain.

Click HERE to read one of the many article about the amazing rescue that appeared in numerous papers in the Southeast and was featured Monday on national news. (I’ve tried to include the most accurate information in this blog post, although details differ slightly from article to article.)

I find this story amazing on many levels. The woman found the boogie board only a short time before she realized people were thrashing about in the water. She was an accomplished swimmer and willing to risk her own life to save those in danger. Her husband had the wherewithal and organizational skills to encourage weekend beachgoers—folks who didn’t know one another and who had no connection to the victims--to work together to save nine strangers caught in the riptide.

I’m a sucker for a happy ending and this one certainly ended well, if not a bit miraculously.

Let’s see how a story—or many stories—can be created using this one news headline as inspiration. In my opinion, the rescue reads like the exciting climax of a story, yet the rescue could be the opening, inciting incident that hooks the reader and makes her want to turn the page.

List of Characters

We’ll use fictitious names as we plot our tale.

Disclaimer: We’re making up a story to surround this beach rescue incident. The characters are fictional and the story created is totally made up. Anything we mention has nothing to do with the actual people involved in this rescue. 

The story doesn’t need to involve as many people or a family. As mentioned above, we’re using the news article as a springboard that will lead us to our own story.

The Samsons are trapped in the rip current.

Mom – Susan Samson

Dad – Carl Samson

Grandma – Grace Hodges

Nephew – Dan Samson

Youngest Son, age 8 – Tommy Samson

Eldest Son, age 11 -- Billie Samson

Lady with the boogie board – Ann Carlisle

Husband of the lady with the boogie board – Jason Carlisle

Brainstorming Questions to Ponder

Who’s the protagonist?

       The woman with the boogie board?

Perhaps her husband?

A man on a surf board was mentioned as having joined in the rescue effort. Could he be the hero?

Is this a romance?

Who’s the love interest?

What’s the backstory of the hero and heroine’s
relationship? 

Explain the hero and heroine’s GMC?

Goal—what he/she needs (something tangible)

Motivation – reason he/she needs it

Conflict – what stands in his/her way

Don’t forget internal conflict?

A deep-seated wound or belief or misconception that holds the character back from living an authentic life.

What’s his/her greatest fear?

Fear of water?

Fear of deep water?

Fear of drowning?

Fear of rip currents, and if so, why?

Do any secondary characters have their own stories to tell?

Does someone in the human chain need to prove
himself?

Did someone fail to get involved in a previous life and death situation that turned deadly? Has she carried that guilt for years, maybe since her youth?

Is there someone who was never good enough or strong enough or liked enough to be part of a team? Will that person join the chain?

What about the beach patrol?

Were they ordered to remain on shore?

Or was that a decision they made?

Are there secrets that need to be revealed?

Why did the Samsons come to the beach?

Why’s grandma with them?

What made the Carlisles stop at this particular pier?

How’s their relationship?

What about the Samsons?

Is their marriage strong or on the rocks?

Now it’s your turn. Start adding details to this amazing true-life rescue scenario. You don’t have to provide an entire story line, just throw a few ideas into the mix, and we’ll see what develops. By the way, everything is up for grabs so you can use anything we discuss today in your own stories.

Leaving the beach is always hard, but we'll be back next summer.

Two creative commenters will receive a copy of my Publishers Weekly bestseller, AMISH REFUGE, the first book in my Amish Protectors series, as well as a coloring book and colored pencils, along with a copy of The Writer's Prayer and The Reader's Prayer. I’ll also include a coupon for $1 off your next Love Inspired book purchase.

To fuel our creativity, I’ve stocked the breakfast bar with muffins, bagels, fruit, sausage and grits. The coffee’s hot. So is the tea. Pour a cup, fill your plate and start brainstorming.

I'll be attending the Romance Writers of America National Conference next week in Disney World. Let me know, if you’ll be there.

Wishing you abundant blessings,

Debby Giusti

www.DebbyGiusti.com

www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com

AMISH REFUGE

By Debby Giusti

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

Miriam Miller barely escapes the ruthless attacker that killed her mother and kidnapped her sister. Running deeper into the woods, she’s running out of hope…until she falls into the arms of an unlikely bodyguard—a peaceful Amish farmer. Something about Abram Zook inspires her trust, but even in bucolic Willkommen, Georgia, Miriam faces danger. Both from the men pursuing her and from her growing feelings for the caring—though guarded— widower who protects her. Because if she falls for Abram she’ll have to embrace his Amish faith as her own—or lose him. With each minute, her abductor creeps closer, pushing Miriam to an inevitable choice: stay and risk her heart…or leave and risk her life.

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COVER REVEAL
Undercover Amish

By Debby Giusti
October 2017

After Hannah Miller’s mother is murdered and her sisters go missing, someone comes after her. Now the only way she can survive is to entrench herself in an Amish community…and rely on Lucas Grant, a former police officer who is planning to join the Amish faith, for protection. But finding refuge for Hannah— disguised as Plain at a secluded inn—pulls Lucas back into his old life. And when Lucas discovers the criminals after them may be the people who killed his partner, the mission to take them down becomes personal. With the assailants closing in, though, can Lucas stop them…and finally put his past behind him to start an Amish life with Hannah?

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