Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos
One of the great things about getting out and about during the spring and summer months is this can give you plenty of inspiration for your writing. You don’t have to go far from home necessarily either. How come?
Partly the reason is you are doing something different. That in itself can inspire you to think differently and be more open to creative ideas. Even just walking the dog gets me out and about, gives me screen breaks, and it gives me opportunities to spot things I might get to use in stories later.
I have used, for example, a striking colour I’ve seen someone wear but put it on a different garment for my character. I wouldn’t have spotted that striking colour unless I had left my desk. This kind of thing works even better when I already have in mind a character in development and think yes, that is just the kind of colour they would wear and then I figure out why and what this might say about their personality. That can spark further ideas, all of which I welcome.
I share below some tips to encourage this along (as that is never a bad thing!).
A Kind of To Do List
Photos
Whenever I’m out and about, minus the dog, I take more photos. (When I have the dog with me I just use my powers of observation and jot down notes as soon as I can on getting home again).
But it is useful to have images. I can use those images to inspire ideas. For example, if I take landscape shots, I can use those to help me visualise where my characters might live. I can also use them to work out what kind of being my characters are (I don’t always write human ones!) and why they need that landscape to survive. Story ideas here are already beginning to spark. This kind of idea is a variant on the picture prompt, the difference being you’re the one taking the pictures.
Postcards
I usually pick up postcards to send home but why not pick up a couple of extra ones and create a story to fit on those cards? It will be flash fiction. You won’t have room for more than a hundred words or thereabouts, less if your handwriting is large. Plus you could use the picture on the cards to give you a theme to write about. Flash fiction has been known as postcard fiction in its time too.
People Watching Opportunities
You often end up meeting more people than you might usually do. Cafes in visitor centres etc can be great venues for people watching (discreetly naturally). Sometimes I’ve seen things like a hat I like which I might then bestow on a fictional character of mine but I did have to see that hat. I have occasionally overheard an intriguing piece of conversation I can put my own spin on and get my characters to have their take with this.
It is difficult not to overhear conversations on the train, say. Of course most of the time we block these things out but sometimes, just sometimes, you do hear something you can twist to suit the purposes of your characters. Nearly always here I’ve got the glimmer of a story in mind already but hearing this conversation gives me a spark to fire it to life. Or you can think my character would never say that in this way, they would say it this way instead, and again that can spark a story idea.
Guide Books
When visiting somewhere specific, I will usually pick up a copy of the guide book. As well as reading more about the place in question, I have found non-fiction works like these can trigger story ideas. How? Simply because if, say, I read a historical fact about a place or a person, I could ask myself what would my character have done differently to that of the historical figure I’m reading about or what they would make of the place in question.
Having a Break? Read More!
Naturally I get to read more when I’m taking a break. Reading the works of others always inspires. It is my love of the written word which led me to want to write plenty of my own in the first place of course. We do build on what has gone before here as I was mentioning last week.
Seeing Things as a Tourist Would
You see things differently when you visit somewhere and this can be true of visiting somewhere on your own doorstep. Do see it as a tourist would. It is an irony I come from London initially but guess when I got to visit the Tower and Kew Gardens? That’s right. Long after I left the capital and headed south!
Now I know this happens to most people in most places but why not try and get out to somewhere local (or relatively so) which you’ve been meaning to go to at some point? Later, why not jot down in a notebook your impressions etc. Those notes could well come in useful for character and scene creation later.
Another take on this is, of course, to go back to a place you meant to visit but didn’t when you were living in the vicinity. Again you’ll see it as a tourist would but here you can bring in your memories of the area. If you have good memories (and I hope they are), you can then use these as a basis for creating good memories for your characters. Characters shouldn’t be two dimensional and one way to avoid that is to show some of what they care about, remember etc. It will make them more realistic to your readers even if the characters live in Fairyland.
Coffee Shops
Explore the joys of the coffee shop! Again it gives you opportunities for discreet observation but think about the smells and tastes in places like these. Would they appeal to your characters? Which foods and cakes would be their favourites? You are beginning to find out more about your characters here and that is always useful.
Reasons For The Visit
Think about why you have gone to visit a place. Then think about where your characters would like to visit in their setting and which they would be keen to avoid. Why would this be? The reasons may well be enough to give you an outline for a tale or two. Give some thought too as to what your characters might need to take a break from and how they would achieve that break.
Changing Routines
Having any kind of break will change your normal routine of course but there are story ideas even with this thought. How? Simply because some people, and therefore characters as well, will accept changes to routine readily and others struggle with the concept. There will be reasons for that struggle and that is where good story ideas could be found.
How, say, would a character reluctant to change any of their routines handle a situation when they must do so? You can draw on how you would feel about this but having the break gives you an opportunity to think along these lines precisely because you are changing your own routine a bit and then naturally apply this to a character you’re developing.
Transport Systems
Think about transport too. How are you getting to where you want to be? How would your characters do this? Are they forced to use a system of transport they loathe (and what’s behind that)? Again, there are story ideas here.
Conclusion
Inspiration and ideas then can come from getting out and about yourself, whether it is a holiday, a one day outing, or changing the route you use to walk your dog. I hope you find plenty of inspiration which translates into story ideas!
Happy writing.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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