Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-36772767-20180902231010/@comment-33488654-20180903024607

DrBobSmith wrote: Ocpunk 714,

I have done several pastas that were based on events in my life. They were actually the most difficult pastas to get to good quality. It's really, really hard to separate your knowledge of what actually happened and what makes a good story. It's hard when people are criticizing the story as unbelievable, even though you were there.

Unfortunately, life is more insane than anything we can imagine.

https://www.stamfordfire.com/history/firefighter-of-the-year-honor-roll/

See the entry for 1996. Either this is the guy and he is dead or it isn't the same guy and ... well you have to be careful about being sued these days.

Is this the case you were inspired by?

https://fox61.com/2018/05/17/connecticut-firefighter-arrested-for-arson-now-faces-child-porn-charges/

Now, to the story. You need a LOT of work. This isn't ready for prime time. I think this can turn into something really creepy and awful, so it is worth doing. I suggest you research arsonist firemen. Also I suggest researching arson techniques. A Molotov cocktail is incredibly obvious. This guy isn't getting away with it if he is that crude. He isn't getting away with it for long.

If there is a fireman arsonist, anything and anybody can light up. He could be going after old enemies, old girlfriends, etc. as well as the glory and the rush. You miss having any of that. Basically, it's a news report of the event with cannibalism tossed in. I think you could develop it to be even more horrible without the cannibalism by tracking the victims and the carnage. I agree with ya there mate.