Due to the fact that I've been spending the year in Israel I thought that my experiences here would make a true vivid setting. I could even base characters off people in the street. And because i live here it would be pretty believable. I thought I could do the whole "It happened in one night" movie thing and have my characters go all around jerusalem. Sounds pretty awesome right?

Except I have no point. No reason for my characters to be running around, to do, to go. I don't know where I'm going with my awesome setting that I don't want to give up.

So why would you be running around Jerusalem at 3AM?

Well... there's always the Israeli/Palestinian conflict going on over there. You might be able to incorporate that? You'd need to do some research, I'm sure...

But you could have your main Israeli nationalists pitting themselves against the Palestinians or something.

Meh. It's a thought. lol

OR.

You could go with something supernatural, a la "Dogma" or "Constantine," and use Jerusalem as the setting, since that's the birthplace of the Abrahamic religions.

Words: 11,512 (38,488 to go) || Chapters: 9 || MCs: 1 || Freak-Outs: 2 || Sanity Level: 89%

I definitely want to incorporate some political views, but I don't want it to be the main premise.

thanks for the ideas though!

"Write what you like, there is no other rule." -O. Henry "I got caught up in between my pride and my promise, between my lies and how the truth gets in the way." -In Between

Well, I hope my ideas helped a little! Good luck!

Words: 11,512 (38,488 to go) || Chapters: 9 || MCs: 1 || Freak-Outs: 2 || Sanity Level: 89%

Who are your characters? And why specifically 3 am? Why not 3 pm? Answer those two questions are I have a feeling you'll find your story.

Some things to think about: Are they native to Jerusalem? Are they Jewish kids on a trip back to find out about their heritage? Maybe they're out looking for a party? Or a lost friend? Or maybe they are a bunch of people on their way somewhere else with a night's layover there, and now they're looking to explore? Did they wander away from their tour group? Did zombies attack?

Don't give up on your setting! Hope that helped!

Thanks Natalia! Those questions really helped and made me think.

lol hmm... zombies in jerusalem, think of the possibilities! lol

"Write what you like, there is no other rule." -O. Henry "I got caught up in between my pride and my promise, between my lies and how the truth gets in the way." -In Between

Just think of the theological implications!

Watch two films by Fellini: ROMA and AND THE SHIP SAILED ON. Theyll give you more ideas than you could possibly imagine.

Insomnia

Or it could be something wacky and totally inane - an Israeli version of "Harold and Kumar," if you will.

Or your characters could uncover a plot to blow up the Wailing Wall. Suspense!

Simple. They believe God them to. Should be fun. :)

OOOOO, that's a bit hard. Jerusalem in a place where basically anything can happen (well, it is an interesting location anyway). When i was there (i lived in Jerusalem for a month), people were filming movies. i actually got caught in one. I sometimes saw people running away from others, not really sure why though.
Hope that helps you think of something.

--AJ

You could go all New Wave/Art Cinema and just leave the reason as ambiguous. It's really only in Hollywood narrative that there's a specific *reason* for everything. (I'm in a Film History class... we've watched a lot of weird things, none of which gave much backstory or cause-and-effect logic.)

Maybe it could be a stupid bar bet. They get drunk and someone bets the other that they "can't visit all the holy sites in 24 hours..." and off you go.

When my friends and I get bored in our town we go on scavenger hunts. Ours are generally very silly--we get a camera, a car, and a group of three or four and split up, looking for the things on our list. Our lists have included: a lawn gnome, a person with a mohawk, a cardboard cutout, and (the best one) and sneak picture of the other team. Of course, the idea of a scavenger hunt could definitely be changed to suit your purposes and your setting. It's a race against time and whoever wins gets an awesome prize, or alternatively, the world doesn't end. It could be silly or it could be completely serious, depnding on what you want.

Toutists whose transportation was delayed and found their late-arrival reservations wouldn't be honored - so they have no place until the morrow?