Tag Archive for: story ideas

People Watching Opportunities

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by Sparkle Abbey

As writers we love watching people. Sitting back and looking for something that might spark an idea for a character or storyline. The clothes someone is wearing, a subtle hand gesture or facial expression, a speech pattern, any and all of that can inspire our characters. And conversations, too. Not that we’d ever eavesdrop…

At their core, people are fascinating. And when they get together, whether it’s a political caucus, a run on supplies at the hardware store, or a packed sports arena, those places they gather become prime people-watching territory. Here the political candidates, their staff, and the news media have all moved on. But now we’ve got a swim event with top-ranked Olympic swimmers in town and high-school basketball tournaments are in full swing. Hotels are packed, parking is at a premium, and we find ourselves with even more opportunities to observe and make notes.

There were the patient ones who waited in long lines, chatting quietly or on their cell phones. The elderly woman who grabbed the last hand sanitizer off the shelf looked like she’d just won the lottery. The guy who attempted to pay to get out of the parking garage with a credit card but was in the cash-only line was not feeling so lucky.

Over the past few weeks, we have definitely refilled our pool of creative ideas. And it isn’t even time for the Downtown Farmer’s Market or the Iowa State Fair, which takes people watching to a whole other level. We can’t wait!

What about you? Where do you people watch?

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee
Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets
cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get
together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 
They
love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest,
their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get
updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

What’s Today’s Celebration?

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by Paula
Gail Benson
From: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-soft-ice-cream-day-august-19/
Did
you know that today, August 19, is National Soft Ice Cream Day? Shari Randall, you should take note of this commemoration!

According to
the National Day Calendar website,
while no one has been clearly identified as organizing the special designation,
soft serve ice cream began around Memorial Day in 1934 when an enterprising
salesman with a flat tire pulled into a parking lot and knew he had to get rid
of a load of melting ice cream quickly. Later, he patented a machine and
developed a secret formula. The product’s popularity caused a decrease in
business for hard ice cream and the Minnesota legislature briefly required that
it had to be pre-packaged instead of sold from a machine. The site suggests
that people observe the holiday by getting a dipped cone or sundae.
The
site boasts of over 1,500 national days. It also lists some international ones.
For instance, today also is International Bow Day, a tradition started by Claire’s.
August
20, tomorrow, is National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day. Not to be confused with
National Pecan Pie Day (observed July 12) or National Pecan Torte Day (August
22) or National Pecan Month (April).
You
can check out the recognitions that share your birthday. For example, my
birthday, on September 13, is National Celiac Disease Awareness Day (based on a
2005 unanimous resolution passed by the United States Senate) and Uncle Sam Day
(because New York meat packer Sam Wilson, born on September 13, 1766, supplied
meat to soldiers during the War of 1812 in containers stamped “U.S.” and they
called it Uncle Sam’s grub).
The
website allows you to register a national day, shop for merchandise, search for
recipes, and play National Day trivia.
What
does this site have to do with writing? (Please note that World Calligraphy Day
is celebrated August 14.)
Occasionally,
writers are asked to submit a holiday story for a collection. You can imagine
that well-known holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentines Day will
have numerous stories, but going with something like Talk Like a Pirate Day
(September 19), as Cathy Wiley did with her “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” published
in Homicidal Holidays (Wildside
Press), an anthology organized by the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, could
be unique. Barb Goffman currently is editing a collection of time travel
stories to be released on December 8, Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day.
So
consider taking a look at the National Day Calendar website, for a story idea
or just to celebrate a slice of life. Happy holidays!

Where Do We Get Our Ideas?

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by Sparkle Abbey

People often ask authors where their ideas for particular books come from. And though it’s quite different from author to author, one thing we’ve discovered from hanging out with other authors is that most have no problem coming up with ideas for stories. In fact, most of us have far more ideas than we’ll ever have the time to write. Story ideas are everywhere.

Writers are innately curious and so a news story, a magazine article, even an obituary can spark a thought that turns into a possibility. The writer imagination is off and running and wondering what if. The news of the day may be a big fire at a local business. It could have been faulty electrical wiring, but the writer wonders what if it wasn’t. What if there’s more to the story? What if the fire was actually a cover-up?

Also writers are by nature observers. Yes, that’s us sitting quietly in the corner of the room or the park. That couple holding hands while their body language says there’s something else going on. What’s their story? The three girls in a whispered conversation whose foreheads are almost touching. What secrets are they sharing? The elderly woman with her purse clutched tightly on her lap who keeps checking her watch. Who is she waiting for? And the guy in a dark suit that looks oddly out of place. He’s too quiet. Is he an undercover cop? Perhaps a spy?

Or wait maybe the elderly woman is the spy. Would that be a great twist? The guy in the dark suit could be headed to a job interview. We imagine the three teen-aged girls in ten years. Will they still be friends? Still sharing secrets? What if they lose touch with each other? What if they don’t?

See how it works? There is drama everywhere, and secrets, and stories. As writers we are sponges for the bit and pieces that are story sparks. We get to bring those stories to life and give them twists and change them around. Ideas are everywhere. 

Now that you know how it works, the only thing to remember is when you’re having a conversation with a writer, and they get that far-away look, that there is a good chance they have spotted a potential story across the room and they’re already coming up with ideas. Or the other possibility is that something you’ve said has been the spark, and you’re the story idea.

Writers, is this how it works for you? Have you come across an interesting story spark that you’ve yet to write? Readers, how about you? Have you come across an idea that you thought would make a great story?

Do tell…


Sparkle
Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write
the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends
as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder.
(But don’t tell the neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found
on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. 


Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.


Also, if you want to make sure you
get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

How To Come Up With Story Ideas

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by Paffi S. Flood


I
attended a writer’s retreat last month, and on the first night, we
played Jenga with a twist. Instead of wooden blocks, the pieces were
cardboard boxes, and the tower itself stood almost eight feet high. It
survived much longer than any of us expected, and after about twenty
minutes or so, it came crashing down.


With
the heap still there the next morning, we were asked to choose a box
and our assignment for the week was to write our story ideas on it. Regardless of how illegible or how fancy our writing, we were told to just jot it down.


How do we come up with story ideas? We brainstorm. At this point in the project, everything works. Go crazy. I usually start by asking myself, “What if?” For example:

  • What if a blind guy pet his cat and noticed it was really furry?
  • What if the cat turned out to be an escaped tiger?
  • What if the tiger escaped because its handler had been killed?



Another way to tackle this is to fill in the blanks for “_______ meets ________.” For example:

  • “Wuthering Heights” meets “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
  • “Star Trek” meets “The Bachelor.”
  • “Sweet Valley High” meets “Escape From Alcatraz.”



Yes,
the examples are nonsensical, but that’s the “idea.” Start with
something way over the top and use that as inspiration to get to the ones that work.


On
the last night of the retreat, we carried our boxes to a gathering
around a bonfire. There, to the horror of everyone, we were told to
pitch them into the blaze. As we watched each one go up in flames, we
realized the thing with ideas is they’re disposable. Just as
quickly as we come up with them, they can be gone. And just as quickly
as they’re gone, we can come up with more.


Don’t be afraid to throw away your ideas and start over, because once they turn into a novel and that novel needs revision, this is where you’ll be. Again.

________________________________________________


Paffi S. Flood is the author of A Killing Strikes Home. You can also find her on twitter and facebook.