One of the top questions I get
asked by readers is, “Where do you get your inspiration for stories?” The
easier question to answer is, “Where DON’T I find inspiration?”
Everything I see, I wonder what the story behind it is, like these shoes in the image. It’s all about asking a
few questions and then making up the answers.
Say you’re walking down the
street of your small Midwestern town and notice that the large clock atop the
town hall has stopped working. You ask yourself when and why did it stop?
A writer might (and one did) wonder if it had been struck by lightning. Hence
the time it had been struck was preserved for future generations to cogitate
about. That begs the question, if someone were to travel back in time and
needed to harness a huge amount of energy, they would know what time the clock
was struck and arrange to be there when the lightning struck. Hence with a few
questions and a little imagination, you could have written Back to the
Future. And you would have made a little bit of money doing so, too.
So far none of my imaginationings
have brought me fame and fortune. But that hasn't stopped me from looking
everywhere for a good story.
The other morning I went walking
along the shore. The sand had been smoothed by the previous night’s hard rain.
I expected to be the first set of prints at 4:49 in the morning, but I wasn’t A
single track lead down to the water’s edge—but not back again. There wasn't anyone
swimming. Heck, the sun wasn’t even up yet. So what’s the story? Did the
person get on a sailboard or SUP (that’s beach lingo for a Stand Up
Paddleboard) and float away? Did the person walk in the water for a good
distance then cross back across the sand a few miles north? Or (and here’s the
mystery writer in me) did the person meet up with someone on a rib boat, who
knocked him upside the head with a sack full of pennies then pushed him out to
sea where he became shark hors d’oeuvres? Okay, kind of gruesome, I know. But
as a writer we must examine all possibilities.
On another early morning walk on
another day, I spotted a holiday wreath still hanging on a door, long after the
holiday season had ended. Has something happened to the person and they are
unable to un-deck the halls? Or is there a special memory tied to it that they
want to be reminded of throughout the year? Is there a story there?
With a day job as a realtor (let’s
be honest…that’s more like a 24/7 job sometimes) I see a LOT of weird stuff in
people’s houses. Once I found a 6’square cement block “safe room” in the middle
of a garage. Complete with instructions, “Enter structure. Bolt door.” The rest
of the day, my buyer and I played “What is that homeowner afraid of?” Hurricanes?
Vengeful drug dealers? Alien invasion? Hmm…it occurred to me that, if nothing
else, it would be a good spot to hide a dead body! That idea became the basis
for my story “It’s Wine o’Clock Somewhere” in Virginia is for Mysteries,
Volume II.
There's also a gazillion images on line that BEG to write a story. We are inundated with them constantly, thanks to social media. Take the image posted at the top of the post. What's the story there? I have some ideas...
As a writer I don’t’ come up with
ideas for stories, they come to me. I notice things that are around me and
question why they are that way and the story is thus built. It’s not as hard as
it looks.
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