I’ve posted quite a few Story Starter pictures to offer inspiration over the last few weeks. But what if you’ve looked at those pictures and thought, “Very pretty – but now what?” No bubbling inspiration, just a sense of helplessness.
I want to refer you to the blog of one of our regular writers, Wendy Clarke, who will often post about what inspired a story she’s written for “The People’s Friend” and how she developed the initial idea. There’s an example here, and it’s a very good illustration of how a story idea doesn’t often present itself fully-formed, but is the drawing together of a number of different thoughts and influences, sights and sounds. Wendy talks about Greek islands she’s visited, a piece in her guidebook, a question she asked herself….all recalled and interwoven to make one really interesting and engaging story which we happily included in Special 122, on sale last month. Browse her blog: she’s written a lot of other posts about this, too.
My dandelion clock picture kind of represents that for me: all those seeds, just waiting to scatter at the first breath of wind, to land who knows where?
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.
