Great stories often have a surprise. Something unexpected. A plot twist you didn’t see coming.
Sometimes it’s just as simple as finding lost treasure beneath a bed.
I saw a post on Facebook a few years ago about a local group that had found old films documenting rural life in Virginia in the 1920s and ‘30s and showing the films. A woman literally found this treasure of old films moldering away underneath a bed. I was intrigued.
I thought it would be a great freelance story. So I did some digging to learn more about the background of the group, who made the films, and other details.
In my research I discovered that the filmmaker, James Wharton, graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1920. “Alumni magazine,” I thought.
I pitched the story to the Johns Hopkins alumni magazine’s editor, playing on the connection of the filmmaker to Johns Hopkins University, the uniqueness of the films, and how meaningful they are to people in the Northern Neck region of Virginia and beyond.
I got a contract to write the story. At the time, I was getting my Master’s in Communications from Purdue University, so a little extra money was nice. But the best part was how much fun I had researching and writing the story, titled “Documenting the Northern Neck.”