Latching onto
inspiration in an unexpected moment or place is an art of creative awareness.
To begin drawing inspiration from your everyday experiences, you need only be
armed with an instinct for storytelling and a pen and paper (or the
technological equivalent).
Finding
inspiration in the unexpected is often the exact opposite of what you may think
of as exciting or surprising. It is an active search to overturn the boulders,
stones and pebbles of your life; searching for the interesting tidbits that
have been left in the shadows.
The Office
Even if your
office is relatively drama-free, keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of
conflict or romance. If there’s a lack of both, you can usually churn out some
comedic dialogue or character sketches using your co-workers as a reference.
Comic relief is an essential part of fiction that is very often overlooked by
creative writing instructors.
Every office
has a villain, but the heroes are often so much harder to identify. Consider
how you respond to other people and what dynamics are in play. The political
dynamics of an office can be rife with unspoken tension, fears, insecurities
and agendas.
Delving into
the facts of what’s actually happening in your office may prove dangerous, so
proceed with caution. Use your imagination to fill in the blanks of your
suspicions and take measures to transform real-life people into fictional
characters. You don’t want to be sued for libel.
Idea: Write a poem about a mundane task you perform. Use
hyperbolic and reverent language to make it as melodramatic as possible. Share
it with your co-workers for a laugh.
Public Transportation / Public Places
When I
travel, I find that my best writing comes from observing others in their
day-to-day lives. There is something about public transportation that always
lends the feeling of tourism, even on the subway ride home. For the writer,
public transportation is a potential goldmine of inspiration. It illuminates
the very essence of coincidence.
Imagine, in
each subway car, individuals who are starkly alienated from one another come
together in a brief moment of loose community. Where are they going? Where have
they been? What small, barely perceptible dynamics are driving the social interaction?
The same questions can be asked when observing people in public places.
Idea: Write a series of character sketches based on the strangers
you encounter during your day.
Restaurants
One of my
favorite “games” to play while at restaurants and cafes is to study the body
language of the people around me.
Restaurants and cafes merge the intimate with the public, allowing
complete strangers to observe relationships and overhear conversations. Here,
couples and friends join together, making for a great opportunity to observe
dialogue and mini-dramas of social interplay. Perhaps even more interesting is
the study of a single individual. Loners are much more mysterious than groups,
and the clues we gather from them are much more important.
Idea: Study a loner and develop a flash fiction piece based on
his (or her) behavior.
--
Author bio:
Katheryn
Rivas is a freelance writer and resident blogger at www.onlineuniversities.com, a site
dedicated to distance higher education.
During
college, my professors drilled a single concept into my brain. “Write what you
know,” they said.
Well, I knew
a lot about literary theory and Russian and American literature – but I didn’t
know it in my bones. I couldn’t write about it on instinct.
I realized I
just simply wasn’t paying attention to my everyday life. Today, my world is
filled with unexpected surprises. Some beneficial, some tragic – but the
unexpected is almost always good material for a story.
She welcomes
your comments at katherynrivas87@gmail.com.
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