The Christmas Pine Tree
Okay, so it's a little early for discussions of Christmas, but this really has nothing to do with that. I have recently noticed that there are some strange little creatures poking around in my big Christmas pine tree. What's a Christmas pine tree? Well, it is a tree that came to our home as a sprig in a small paper cup (as a restaurant promotion), when my wife was a little girl. It always held a bit of magic for her, as she grew up. The tree is now a story taller than our 2-story house! So, the way I figure it, there are at least 3 good stories in its branches somewhere...
So, the big question is... how do you get your story ideas?
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4 comments:
A long time ago I heard Doctor Seuss speak and he told the audience that every year he took his Cuckoo clock to get cleaned in a little Swiss town called Gletch. And then while he was waiting to get his clock back he would take the train up to Ubergletch and that was where he got his ideas.
I figure about the same for me…. Ideas are tucked everywhere if you know how to look for them.
M
I agree that story ideas are everywhere. I think that finding them is the same as learning something new. We are surrounded by information for our whole lives, but we never absorb it until we are ready. The ideas are out there, ready to use. All we have to do is open ourselves to the idea of absorbing and processing them.
Accepting this premise, story ideas can come from absolutely anywhere. A new story idea about the adventures of a worm, living in a modern city, inside a head of cabbage could be reached by thinking about the atomic structure of a clump of dirty string, as long as we are ready to bring that idea in. Hmmmm... A ball of dirty string...
My teacher once told me that nothing is original anymore. They just take one original idea and mix it with another. He also told me that the best stories come from real life, from our own experiences and observations, and I believe that to be true. I also believe good story ideas come from great characters. By taking this character and putting them in a strange situation out of their element, that already brainstorms a bunch of ideas on how they will resolve it. That's why I usually make up characters and see if they can tell me a story. :)
From my kids & their friends - I listen to my kids as much as I can & to their friends at school when I work in their classrooms. Great imaginations!
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