Ideas are something I have no shortage of, and I write that with nothing but gratitude in my heart. I have two books published and a polished screenplay I have been actively working on producing. In my queue sits The Magickal Sisterhood, a new novel about three witch sisters who made their first appearance in my debut novel Secrets of the Jeweled Flask. I am also working on a new screenplay that examines the Italian American mafia culture through unique lenses. After that I do have about four more projects waiting in the wings.
But my idea box was empty at one time too. I am 56 years old, which in other eras would be considered quite a feat of life. So, how did I get blessed with all these ideas? I began to look around.
While my work isn’t memoir, there is inspiration everywhere I look. For example, Secrets of the Jeweled Flask was originally titled Adventures of a Colorblind Paint Salesman, and I got that idea while tending bar at lunchtime on a random Tuesday.
We were dead, like always, and these three guys came walking in. It was March and they asked me to put on the Illini game. I did as they asked and then took their drink order. As I was giving them menus I asked, “Did you three go to U of I?”
“I didn’t,” one of the guys said. Then he pointed to his friends. “They did. That’s why he’s an engineer,” he said, gesturing to one friend. “He’s an accountant,” he added, pointing to the other. “And I’m a paint salesman.”
I laughed and went to the tappers to pour their beer. When I came back to take their lunch order the three of them were arguing about the color of a car they saw run into a bank.
“That car was green,” the engineer said.
“It was,” the accountant agreed.
“I’m telling you!” The paint salesman insisted. “That car was gray!”
My smart-ass mouth never misses a beat and I chimed in, “Are you kidding me? You’re a colorblind paint salesman?”
The only laughter I heard was my own, which is fine. That’s not the first joke of mine that didn’t land and it won’t be the last.
But I did spend the next few hours of a dead shift contemplating the absurdity of a colorblind paint salesman and what that would mean and look like.
Many years later, I have a debut novel.
So, look around your life for the unusual, absurd, or completely normal. The important thing is that you pick something. Head to your local park and do some people watching. Pay attention to the people at work, school, or home. Find something in a person that interests you and give that trait to a new character. Then give that character another. Then, take that character and throw them into a situation that will make them completely uncomfortable and make them fight their way out.
Once you have a character with a couple traits, you’ll be surprised at how well rounded they can become.
There’s your writing prompt for this week. Feel free to leave me a comment below. Did this post help you? Is it old hat and you’ve heard this before? My goal with this blog is to give readers and people searching to be creative a space where they find actionable content and support.
Thank you for reading
