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- Feb 12, 2014
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I'm writing a noir story about an investigative journalist dealing with a really nasty corporation, and I'm hitting a wall on basic plotting early in the story. This is outside of my area of expertise.
The situation:
Linda is an activist/journalist watchdog who goes after Big Pharma, exposing various crimes and corruptions.
1. Linda gets an email from a whistleblower that Company is doing a bad thing. Maybe falsifying drug data, or giving doctors kickbacks for good reviews/ignoring adverse effects, something.
2. ?
3. ?
4. Linda gets into contact with a doctor who is willing to give her the proof she needs.
Of course there are complications with the doctor, and it gets worse from there, but I simply have no idea what the steps she takes to get to 4.
It needs to be more complicated than Whistleblower giving her Doctor's name; Linda needs to actually do some chasing. During step 2 or 3, she does something that tips the company off she's digging around, and they bug her phone/car in order to find out what she knows and who rats on them. This way they get to the doctor before/as she does.
Hell, I may need to add an extra event between Whistleblower and Doctor, just to give the company time to find out she's sniffing around, bug her, and get useful information. But once more, I simply am at a loss for the types of things that would lead from one step to the next.
The situation:
Linda is an activist/journalist watchdog who goes after Big Pharma, exposing various crimes and corruptions.
1. Linda gets an email from a whistleblower that Company is doing a bad thing. Maybe falsifying drug data, or giving doctors kickbacks for good reviews/ignoring adverse effects, something.
2. ?
3. ?
4. Linda gets into contact with a doctor who is willing to give her the proof she needs.
Of course there are complications with the doctor, and it gets worse from there, but I simply have no idea what the steps she takes to get to 4.
It needs to be more complicated than Whistleblower giving her Doctor's name; Linda needs to actually do some chasing. During step 2 or 3, she does something that tips the company off she's digging around, and they bug her phone/car in order to find out what she knows and who rats on them. This way they get to the doctor before/as she does.
Hell, I may need to add an extra event between Whistleblower and Doctor, just to give the company time to find out she's sniffing around, bug her, and get useful information. But once more, I simply am at a loss for the types of things that would lead from one step to the next.
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