Sunday 14th January 2018 - Struggling for Inspiration?

#sixwords #sixwordstory #sixwordprompt

Struggling for inspiration? writer's bloc? Try a six word prompt to set off a chain of thought.

Some suggestions:

Capture philosophical thoughts before they evaporate

When your subconscious suddenly throws out a profound thought, grab it immediately. We've all had them, usually at times when the mind is left to wander - more often than not mine appear magically and without effort just before sleep. It's a chore to rise and record it at this time but well worth the effort. Maybe I won't use it straight away but I won't lose it. They are rarely retrievable when you wake despite that mental note you make to remember it.

Write the script that never was

Ever watched a movie or read a book & thought you knew where the story was going. You might have been surprised or disappointed with the direction it took. Why not rewrite it? If you thought it could have been executed better or differently, then surely so will others. It's not plagiarism - everything that has ever been said, written, discovered or made in human history has borrowed from one source or another.

Make strangers a source of inspiartion

Have you ever tried people watching? Most of us see but don't look as we go about our daily lives. Stop gawping at your mobile device. Next time you're sat in the car waiting to pick the kids up from school or for your partner to run an errand. Or you're sat in the park on your lunch break; or pausing at a beauty spot or on the promenade to take in the view, try looking beyond the physical landscape & start noticing the humans within it.

Find one that looks interesting to you. How are they dressed? Why are they there? What's their occupation? What are their physical characteristics? What's their life story? Do they remind you of anyone? What are their life views? Questions beget questions and soon you have a complete profile. Your creative juices have been stirred & maybe you have a new character for that book or at least a thought or two to commit to the page.

Correspondence & comments are very welcome, if you have the time. Thank you for reading.