We have returned from our week of travel to visit my husband's two brothers and wives in IL. I would encourage all to make family visits more often. Lots of talk of old times, growing-up years, and what all our children and grandchildren are doing. Family time is to be treasured, and more so as we all get older. It had been four years since we had been together. The visit was short but the benefits were priceless.
We stayed in hotels while traveling and while on the family visit. Story ideas were in great number. The people I observed gave me ideas for characters, and the places where we stayed or ate offered multiple story ideas. Watching my husband and his two brothers interact also offered story ideas.
Wherever you go, story ideas abound. You have two choices. Either ignore them or take advantage of what is right before you and use them in your writing projects. If you choose the second option, a small notebook to jot notes would be helpful.
As writer's we need to train ourselves to be observant and to develop a writer's eye. Not only of people, but places and scenery and situations. Overheard conversations in restaurants or airports or the grocery store can give you story ideas. Again, we must be tuned in to reap the benefit.
We stayed in a major city and also small towns on our trip. Both places offered story ideas. So did some of the many emails, photos, and texts i received on my phone during those six days. We drove in city traffic (Ken did, not me!) and in many rural areas. The first hour of the trip and the last brought us through the Flint Hills of Kansas, where beauty abounds everywhere the eye can see. Can you get a story idea from looking at prairie grass and rolling hills? Sure you can. Use your imagination and see a rancher on a horse out to check his cattle. What about the spot where a school bus stops and several children get on or off? Imagine the prairie on a stormy day, or one where the sun beats down makes life uncomfortable.
Ideas for poems come to us when we see something beautiful, impressive, or heartrending. It's August, and summer flowers are still blooming profusely. They inspire many poems, as do those lazy days of summer when we go fishing or swimming or sit on the porch with a book.
When I use the term 'story idea.' I am not only referring to fiction, but other kinds of writing, including personal essays and poetry. It's all there for us, but it's up to us to detect the ideas and make use of them. Not everything we observe will be the basis of a story, but a good deal can help us in our writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment