My Story Starter Fairy has been kind again….
I popped back to my car in the car park one lunchtime last week, and this was parked beside me: a wee red car, its back seat chock-a-block with a sparkly red drum kit.
Is it an early Christmas present? Is the driver on his way to a gig? A busker? A one-man band, percussion only?
A mum or dad who’s had enough and is on their way to the city dump – oh, sorry, recycling centre?
A student on his way to university halls?
A late thought – why was it parked in a multi-storey car park? Someone plucking up the courage to go home? After collecting it from the second-hand shop. Or maybe it’s on the way to the pawn shop….
It does make you wonder, doesn’t it? Thank you, kind Story Starter Fairy.
Off At A Tangent
But while you could write a story literally about a drum kit in any or none of these scenarios, sometimes it’s better fun to think tangentially.
What does a drum kit make you think of? Crash bang wallop. Noise. Drum solos, always interminable….like the person next to you on the bus/in the queue, going on and on and on…. Too fond of the sound of their own voice, or lonely, or with a drum to bang about some cause?
Music. Gigs. The Fifties or the Sixties.
Inappropriate gifts. Or absolutely appropriate gifts. Perhaps it’s about saving up. Making someone happy at the expense of your own peace of mind. A husband or wife buying it for their partner…Greater love hath no woman….
Talent. Musical ambition and dreams.
Maybe it’s the all-crammed-in aspect, like sardines in a tin, a quart into a pint pot. I particularly like the fact that the drum kit matches the car: both red.
Anyway, that’s my stream of consciousness musing. You’ll have your own and it’ll be totally different from mine. Let’s get writing!
Be inspired by more of Shirley’s Story Starters.
Shirley Blair Fiction Ed Shirley’s been with the “Friend” since 2007 and calls it her dream job because she gets to read fiction all day every day. Hobbies? Well, that would be reading! She also enjoys writing fiction when she has time, long walks, travel, and watching Scandi thrillers on TV.
