Well, I was on my way to work (didn't actually get there though) when I blew a tyre out on the motorway and the nearest place I could pull over was on an little section between the motorway and where people entered it.
You don't know how creative you get until you're stranded somewhere, feeling the car vibrate as cars (on both sides) rocket past at 110+ Km (68miles). Waiting the hour for a tow truck - and that's how long it takes for them to get to an emergency situation - my mind liked to wander, and not to pretty places either...
What if a car didn't see me and hits me at full on speed? What if the tow truck driver was some demented maniac (wouldn't you trust someone who's supposed to help you)? Like I said, not a pretty place I needed to be at the time, but has started to give me ideas for future stories/characters.
Needn't fear, I'm now safe at home (of course I didn't make it to work). After all the string of bad luck, I still managed to get that to turn around. The tow truck driver dropped me off at a petrol station, and after attempting to change the tyre one-handed (hey, I was on the phone with my parents at the time, trying to figure out where my car was hiding the jak) two nice cops pulled up and started to change it for me. So a little scare, a lot of grease (and I mean a lot, for some reason my face was covered in it) and a chance encounter gave me a lot of ideas to write about.
So, here's a question. Are there any situations that at the time seemed like a bad thing, but gave you some kind of inspiration? Do you find story ideas from real life and people you meet?
Celebrate the Small Things 22-11-24
2 days ago
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3 comments:
One bad thing I got inspiration from was tonight as I was writing downtown at William's with two friends (though they were just doing homework). We went to transfer over to Starbucks at night, with our laptops. Suddenly, this man comes up to us as we are walking to Starbucks and tells me specifically that he's always wanted to try out a mac to see how heavy it was. So he's motioning for me to hand it to him whereas I say no and turn to walk away. He grabbed my computer bag and yanked it open. Luckily, I'd been carrying my computer. I grabbed my bag and we ran the rest of the way home. The good thing? He became one of the main antagonists in my novel. Except he's weirdly morphed and has charcoal wings.
It's always good to try to see a positive light with any bad experience (hey, you get great character/scenes from it).
I've been in that car, with the traffic flying by. Terrifying. And yes, I think real life provides the basis for the best stories.
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