Writing Tip: Recognize Stories around You

You can’t look to your left and say there isn’t something going on right now. You can’t look at your right and say it either. In fact, everywhere you look, there’s almost something going on. 

Look at your ceiling, what do you see? Do you see a fluorescent light? Who do you think oversaw the production of that particular light? On that day, was he/she having problems at home? Did he/she want to stay at home and sleep instead of going to work? Did he/she made her workmates laugh, or was she hated in his/her office?

Look below you, do you see a cigarette butt someone carelessly threw away? What kind of person do you think threw it? Does it have a lipstick mark?

Of course you won’t know the exact answers to the questions posed, but you can make something up.  Remember, you are the author of the story, so invent stories and be relentless in doing so. Make your characters ridiculous if you want to.

You can make the fluorescent light-maker above a lady, who had just lost a son but needs to go to work because her cruel boss demands that she report that day. From there you can make the lady insane with rage and grief, leading to the boss’s murder and a subsequent trial.

You can make the person who threw the cigarette butt a hired killer who was being chased by the police after the last assassination attempt caught the attention of the authorities. It’s up to you. The ball is in your hands!

The world is full of stories and everything has a story behind them. Uncover them and tell it to the world. Or make something up.