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.
