Monday, January 2, 2017

More Writing Inspiration From 1969...


A few days ago I blogged about how excited I was finding an old magazine from 1969, but there was one page specifically, a collection of interesting scientific worldwide stories compiled by John F. Pearson, that made me realize just how much writing inspiration could be found from this one publication. After I found that one page, so much in the rest of the magazine seemed to become a potential writing topic.


Here's the topics on that page:

New way to prevent cavities is with a laser beam

Omega, called the world's first global, all-weather navigation system

A rare weed that proves a threat to western ranges is under study by the Department of Agriculture scientists

"Moon mud" may be the next cure-all peddled by quacks once our Apollo astronauts return from a lunar landing

Quick recognition of friendly ground troops is a problem for combat pilots

For the first time a pulsar has been put on film

The "pill" is still a controversial method of contraception

Each one of these topics made me think of some really good short stories. I realized as I looked through the pages that the magazine was printed during the Vietnam War. Its mentioned throughout, but not sensationalized or highlighted, only that it's happening.


Some of my favorite topics--the runaway rare weed infecting the west, the potential Moon Mud scandals (especially since this was printed two months before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon...), and the first global navigation system. Now, a global system seems so ordinary, but back then, it was revolutionary. Those were the ones I would choose, if given a choice.

I don't know if I will ever write some of these short stories, but I loved that this old magazine got the ideas flowing.

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