A Writing Exercise Using Many Windows

 Can you use a still photo for inspiration to write? Sure you can. The photo posted today has no people in it, no cars, buses, or taxis, no street signs. Nothing but three buildings butted together. How can that inspire you to write a story? 

Look at the windows. There's a story behind each and every one. People are inside the buildings and behind the windows. Who are they? What are they doing? What is happening in their lives? Do the stories behind several windows overlap? Are they all adults? Families? Children deserted by distraught parents? Think about sensory details of the people behind those windows. What can be seen, heard, felt, tasted, smelled? 

You can create all kinds of stories that happen behind each one of those windows. Another story might be why all those tiny lights are across the buildings. Who put them there? For what purpose? Do the people behind the windows like them or hate them? 

When you want a photo to inspire you, the important thing to do is to study the photo, then ask yourself questions. Not one, but many. The more questions you ask, the more clear the story that is waiting becomes. 

Most often, we use photos like this as a beginning of a freewrite exercise. You can do the exercise with this photo, too. Do it after you study the photo and ask yourself the questions. Let your mind be free and let your fingers hit the keyboard without stopping. You might be surprised at what comes from this exercise. 

What I particularly like about this photo is the possibility of a new story behind each and every one of those many windows and the two doorways. A treasure trove for you if you're willing to be creative and use your imagination to the fullest extent. 

Save the photo and write the stories, one window at a time. 

Writers and Imagination

 

Albert Einstein's quote seems to fit our writing world in one way but not the other. I would expect the first part to be attributed to him--"Logic will get you from A to B." The second part seemed more like a right-brain person. He said, "Imagination will take you everywhere." Then again, he was a brilliant man who probably looked at all sides of a situation.

We writers probably use imagination more than logic in most instances. Imagination and creativity are close cousins. Isn't 'everywhere' just where we'd like to be on our writing journey? We're not a one-stop kind of situation. We'd love to 'go everywhere with our writing.

We want to use our creativity, or imagination, to take us into the land of fiction, then skip on to poetry, move to nonfiction, and more. It's up to us to make our moves, not stay stuck in one kind of writing all the time.

We do find the niche where we excel, and it's fine to concentrate in that area. But please don't close the door to other kinds of writing. Experiment a little. Dabble in this kind or another. You might find something new that attracts you even more than the original.

I started out thinking I wanted to write for middle-grade kids. But as time went on, I moved into other kinds of writing and found that the personal essay and short memoir were exciting to me and was my stronger type of writing. That didn't mean giving up writing for kids. I did continue and still do write in that genre off and on. I moved into poetry, too, letting my imagination lead me. It's not my main thrust but is still something I enjoy writing now and then. 

I've heard writers say they could never write this or that, but how do they know unless they try? Expand your horizons. Puff up your imagination and try it out on different paths. Not once but many times. You'll know when it's time to say that 'this kind of writing is definitely not for me.' The important thing is that you made the effort to find out. Those who remain in their original comfort zone could be missing out.

We all need a bit of that logic to get us from A to B, as the renowned Einstein said, but I like very much that he added the part about imagination. Use it to the nth degree on your writing journey!