Monday, December 12, 2005

The Anarchist on the Train

I had this brilliant idea for a story once. It came to me as I was travelling to work on the train. There was an anarchist sitting facing me on the other side of the carriage. At first I was just observing him, not really thinking much of it, and then it struck me – an anarchist on a train.

‘The Anarchist on the Train.’

Trains are all about rules and doing what you’re told and penalties if you don’t. They’re about timetables and, hey, railway tracks! I mean it would be a story about a guy who some people would say was “off the rails”, on the rails.

Instead of just staring at the guy outright I started to observe his reflection in my window. He would never catch on.

Well, once I got off the train I forgot about my idea for a while. It wasn’t until a few days later when I was talking to a friend that the thought re-entered my head. I told my friend about my idea. Yeah sure, partly I was trying to sound creative and cool, but he liked my concept.

Over the next few days part of my mind was writing the story. I’d gotten to the bit about the leather jacket and the nose ring when I had a slightly deflating thought. The title, “The Anarchist on the Train”, it had to have been done before.

So I did some research and found I wasn’t the first person to put those words together in a sentence. Okay, so I gave up. But who really wants to hear a story about an Anarchist on a train?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I do. Your version will be clever AND creative. Don't lose it. Stay on track. Whoever stole your idea will never be able to run with it.
Just keep it going if the end isn't in sight. Or maybe it was?