Here’s a way to come up with story ideas: retell a classic story, with a twist or two. Or merely use an extant story for inspiration.

Finding inspiration in other stories is a long-held tradition in every medium, including film, television, and prose. Walt Disney is the obvious example, having made umpteen animated features out of fairy tales and historical accounts. In general, films are frequently made out of stories original published as novels or originally told as history… or originally released as earlier films.

Michelle Hickman does something similar with her Fractured Fairy Tales, which are nothing like the Fractured Fairy Tales they used to air on Rocky and Bullwinkle (because those were animated, and these are not).

I myself have been wanting to try my hand at Biblical fiction, retelling some of the old Bible stories in a modern style, filling in historical details and character motivations, giving the stories my own distinct feel. And last week, I actually did so, in miniature.