Inspirations
for stories often come at the oddest moments and in the most unusual places. While
John Steinbeck worked as a migrant worker in California, he witnessed a
farmhand kill the boss that fired the farmhand’s friend. This single incident later
served as inspiration for Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men.
Last
year, I watched an interesting interaction between a woman and her two sons at
a bank. We stood in line. The boys were twins and didn’t appear to be more than
five years old. One of them bounced a tiny rubber ball.
“Stop it,” the
woman said.
The boy stopped,
but the moment her attention moved away he started again. Carpet covered the
floor. He struggled to control the ball and had to chase it around the other
customers standing in line.
“I said stop it,”
the woman said again, her tone snippy.
This stop/start tug-of-war
played out a couple more times until she bent and yanked him by the arm. “Wait
til we get home.” The warning in her eyes was clear.
He looked
crushed.
The teller
motioned the woman up to the counter. The boys followed. The other twin, who up
to this point had been as quiet as a mouse, snatched the ball from his brother’s
hand. After noticing his mom was busy with the teller, he bounced the ball. It
rolled into a nearby office. A customer talking with a banker rose and picked
it up. He walked out to the lobby.
“Does this
belong to anyone?” he asked.
Everyone turned
his way.
When the woman
saw the ball, anger shone in her eyes. She stared at the boys.
They pointed at
each other and said in unison, “It was him.”
So
be sure to visit the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers blog in February to learn more
about my story and read an excerpt.
So true, Pam. I drive my dh nuts because I'll hear a bit of conversation or see something and start plotting. I also rewrite tv shows and movies and tell him what didn't ring true or a twist that would've been better.
Good luck on the new release.
Great post, Pam. All my books are inspired by events that happened to people I know. When I'm traveling and waiting for an airplane at the gate, I enjoy watching the passengers. So many ideas can spark from their attitudes and intercations.
Autumn, searching for my next story ideas is ingrained deeply in me now. I look for them everywhere, even while I'm doing something as boring as standing in a bank line.
Mona, people watching in an airport is so enlightening. I am a very private person, but some folks let all their baggage hang out. LOL. You can gets lots of ideas listening to some of the conversations.
Isn't it amazing where inspiration for our stories pops up? I often see some little scene and there my imagination goes, turning it into a plot. I'm excited about the Gilded Dragonfly Books antbology.
LOL. So true -- inspiration is all around us. I'm always saying 'what if?' about something I see. Too bad there's not enough time to write all the stories!!
Looking forward to the anthology. :)
Scarlet, no matter where my inspiration comes from, my stories are always character driven.
Barbara, I know what you mean. I have so many stories rolling around in my head, I'll never have time to write them all. :)
Pam, Scarlet and I discussed doing some coordinated promoting of the anthology in February around the release date. You beat us to the draw. Pam's story is wonderful, folks!
Excellent post Pam, and so true for me as well.