Inspiration strikes in strange and unexpected ways. But when it doesnāt strike, there are lots of tricksĀ to juice it along. Here are three that might surprise you.
StoryCorpsĀ creates an archive of oral interviews for future generations. It began in 2003 with a StoryBooth set up in Grand Central Terminal forĀ family members to record their interviews with their elders; the results wereĀ archived for the rest of us to hear. These days, StoryCorps encourages theĀ interviews to happen at family dinner tables after Thanksgiving, orĀ anytime, anywhere, thanks toĀ itsĀ free smartphoneĀ app. The best part of the program is that we get to hear these stories of experiences had all over the world, in past times and present, with themes that are sentimental, traumatic, humorous,Ā poignant, wild, fanciful ā and parts of them may even true. (The telling is based upon the tellersā memories, with the potential for false-positives, of course.)
Stories are told that may even be true: StoryCorps.org
āGreat Escapes,ā Episode 436, is a typical podcast: Itās a mix of tales that will amuse you, horrify you, bring you to tears. Listen to enough of them and youāll feel their emotions, find shapesĀ for your characters, come up with interesting events for your own stories. Go to the StoryCorps websiteĀ to hear more, or download the StoryCorps podcast and listen asĀ the ideas begin to flow.
Have you ever browsed the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog? If not, settle back with a hot cuppa joe and let the slide show begin. Sometimes there are photographs whose stories are begging to be imagined and told, like this oneĀ made in 1943Ā by Ansel Adams in his Photographs ofĀ Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar; and this 1909 color image from the Russian Empire inĀ The Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection; and thisĀ 2010 Havana image of Cuban band members from The Carol M. Highsmith Archive.
Editor Roy Takeno at Manzanar War Relocation Center, 1943 by Ansel Adams (Library of Congress)
Three young women at their izba, near Kirillov by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, 1909 (Library of Congress)
Cuban band at Plaza de la Cathedral, Havana by Carol M. Highsmith 2010 (Library of Congress)
Photographs above by Ansel Adams (1943), Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii (1909), Carol M. Highsmith (2010), Library of Congress
Visual learners beware: You might get lost in the Prints and Photographs Online CatalogĀ for weeks, perusing both historic and contemporary prints and pictures. But there are worse ways to go.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog
Ever read the Obituaries? They can make for some fascinating reading, brilliant character studies all. Nobodyās ever a villain in an obituary. And thereās the beauty of them for ideasĀ āĀ because they offer the perfect opportunity for yourĀ what if scenarios to emerge. And why limit yourself to current obituaries? Older ones are oftenĀ more colorful, even embellished, and offer insights into past eras. At the New York Times Times Machine, for example, a random obituary from 1860 turned up the death of Old Lizzie Gray āat the advanced age of 127,ā along with a sketch of the sadness of her youth: āShe was imported from Africa during the Revolution, after having borne four children in that country . . . sheĀ was a prisoner on board a British ship.ā You never know what youāre going to find.
Obituary: Old Lizzie Gray, age 127, New York Times, 09/20/1860
Your hometown newspaper makes for a quick scan ā but thereās no need to limit yourself there. At Legacy.com, you can search obituaries by city and state for the entire country. To get to the real stories, use the link to the decedentās hometown funeral home. You can find some surprising biographical details about ordinary folks to stoke your imagination. But donāt stop there. Armed with the funeral homeās details on the burial site, keep on going to FindAGrave.com. Thereās often a goldmine of information to be found at this searchable database of cemeteries and obituaries. The links to the family members make it easy to conjure a family tree, with more complete details from local papers and sources.
Bam White, 1879, Tintype at age 14
Bam White in āThe Plow That Broke The Plains,ā 1935 movie
Bam Whiteās gravestone, Dalhart, Texas 1865 ā 1938
SometimesĀ the tributesĀ at FindAGrave.com include photographs of the deceased; more often, itās justĀ the grave marker that appears.Ā So when I find a tintype of a fourteen-year-old boy like this one with such solemn, almost fearful,Ā eyes, and itās juxtaposed next to a photo of him in his farm field and his tombstone, complete with a full biographical sketch and links to siblings and parents who predeceased him, my curiosity is aroused. Think itāsĀ morbid to look for ideas amongĀ the ashes? Consider that whatever inspiration comes will pay tribute to a stranger you never had the pleasure of knowing.
And getting to the real charactersĀ is what fiction is all about.Ā ā£
When Iām not poking around graves, Iām writing:
Read an excerpt fromĀ A Habit of Hiding
ThereāsĀ more on the art of writingĀ HERE.
Popular Pairings ::Ā Your Free Creativity Digest
Three Surprising Sources for Writers ISO Ideas http://wp.me/pD107-oy7 Inspiration strikes in strange and unexpected ways. But when it doesn't strike, there are lots of tricksĀ to juice it along.
