Writing Wednesday

Where do you get your inspiration to write what you write?

They say to write what you know, which is a good suggestion.
Some people live a very interesting life and get ideas from their experiences.

If I did that, my stories would be very boring. So, what I did for one of my stories was to write about what I wished would have happened to me when I was young. In my opinion, it is one of my best stories I have written. That story, The Family Secret, is the one that I am now trying so hard to get published.

Another favorite method, especially in children's stories, is the what if method.

What if the scarecrow attracted the crows instead of scaring them away.
What if you discovered the house next door to you was haunted.
What if you had a dinosaur as your class mascot.
What if someone had a pet skunk and brought it to school for Show and Tell.

If you use your imagination, good stories can develop from those what if situations. 

Some people get ideas from reading the newspaper.

Another challenge would be to pick up a book that you have been reading and take the first line of it and start your own story. That is where I got my idea for Lucy of Tupper's Hollow. The book next to me was Christy, by Catherine Marshall. I love, love, love that book! I first read it in Junior High School and have read it many times since. It takes place in the early 1900s,  which happens to be the time period my grandparents lived in. I fictionalized my grandparents early years of marriage. I took facts from their life and wove them into a fictional  story. Of course, if this story ever gets into print, I do not know how my family members will react to it. They just have to remember that it is fiction.

Over at Clara Gillow Clark's site, she posted about a book that was inspired from a photo. If you like historical fiction, go over and check it out.

Also, Joanne at Whole Latte Life uses pictures to inspire her blog posts. I have been inspired by her and have started using pictures, too, for inspiration. It really works!  Pictures are very helpful. A few posts back, I wrote a poem that was inspired by a photo of an old barn.

What has inspired your stories to come to life?

If you are not a writer, but would like to become one, I hope some of these ideas will inspire you.

Happy writing!