Most, if not all, writers have heard the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" The asking of that question is always a mystery to me. Story ideas are everywhere because people and their lives are everywhere. I'm currently on a road trip, and I drove through a state and a half yesterday. Part of the way through Arkansas, I wondered how many people I'd passed during the day -- not just on the road but in all the towns and cities through which I'd traveled. Each of them has a story -- dreams, desires, hurts, secrets, faults. Each has some aspect of his or her life that could spark a tale of fiction.
Now, I don't suggest lifting someone's life story wholesale, but just think of all the people you know or the people you see on the news or read about in the papers or magazines. A handful of those jumping off points might be the couple who adopts a little girl from China, the singleton who is enjoying her life until a tragic accident leaves her responsible for her nieces and nephews, the man who comes back from military service overseas to find his girlfriend hasn't waited for him. There are stories literally everywhere, and those of us who write have the wonderful job of taking a piece from there, a tidbit from there, and mixing in our own imaginations to create a completely new story, one we hope readers will enjoy. Seriously, what could be better than being paid to make up stories, something we've probably been doing since we were little kids.
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2 comments:
I've always had an overactive imagination and I'm very familiar with seeing people in the mall or restaurant and wondering what their story is or making one up for them. So far I've never written any of those stories. I have too many others that are dying to get out first. LOL.
I absolutely agree... sometimes it just takes on thing, a gesture, an action, a picture or whatever to get a whole exciting story started.
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