Break From Reality. Daily.
In my previous two pieces on this subject, I suggested that 1) story ideas could sprout from just about anywhere (including a mental image, or an observed moment), and then 2) pointed to news stories as being a rich source. This time I’ll go into a little more detail about observation. It could be circumstantial:…
In a previous piece, I wondered where stories came from, suggesting that it could be from anywhere, and that the important thing was to at least find a seed of an idea that could be subsequently nurtured into a story. One of the examples I gave was Spanish film director Luis García Berlanga’s black comedy…
The champagne was flowing, the coach had been soaked in it, chants of “Champions! Champions!” were being sung in the showers; United had the league title in their grasp. They had one game left, at home to the bottom club, and after today’s win they just needed one point to clinch top spot. Getting at…
Do you suffer from ‘writer’s block’? Are there degrees of block? What is it for you? Is it being not particularly inspired? Is it being unable to write a passage as you’d really like, or not knowing how best to attack it? Or is it being unable to come up with a story at all?…
Aman thought herself very lucky. She had known Kazim since they were children and had always liked him. Now that the time for getting married was nigh, she only had eyes for him, and he for her. Their families were relatively progressive, and neither Aman nor Kazim’s parents insisted on a different husband/wife for them….
Helen blamed herself. She’d always wanted the best for Joana, and that’s what she’d given her: the best toys, the best schools, top designer clothes, a top-of-the-range smartphone. She was, in short, the doting mother. In recent weeks, though, she’d started to look at her daughter afresh, and she didn’t entirely like what she saw. The…
After six years of blissful marriage, Mark died in a car accident, leaving his wife Susan to grieve her heart out. She was inconsolable and couldn’t bear to be alone in their apartment, which held such fond memories for her but which was now bereft of Mark’s presence. She locked up, gave a set of…
Now, if I just ease the syringe out … softly … softly … catchee … monkey … there. Let’s see if they’ll be able to notice anything. Over here by the window where the light’s better. No. That looks intact. You’d need a microscope. So that’s that, then. One bottle of Chateau d’Yquem, ready for…
We moved the heavy stuff weeks ago and were just hanging around until now, really. Minty has been wanting to leave since then – we haven’t had beds or a sofa or anything to make the place comfortable. But I didn’t want to leave; how could I? It would be like leaving a piece of…
Trevor sat up like an eager puppy. “I’ll go!” Aproned and floured up to her elbows, Sarah considered the offer. There was no way she could get into town, buy the twins’ present and get back in time to finish off the mince pies, stuff the turkey and do all the other jobs that a…
Some people say there’s no life after death. They’re wrong, and I’m living proof of that. Or should I say dead proof? Anyway, here I am. And here they are: ‘my’ family, all gathered round the table preparing to tuck into what I must say looks a wonderful spread. Mr and Mrs Gibson, who run…
Washington, Dad – remember? You drilled that story into me from as soon as I could understand language. You know, the one about the cherry tree and “I cannot tell a lie”. I lived that motto. And do you know what? I lived it utterly. You may not think I did, but I did. I…
Make no mistake: despite everything, I do still love my husband. I’ve loved him ever since I met him at a college party 26 years ago. The first thing that attracted me to him were his hands. I’ve always liked an elegant hand, and his were then and still are, with their long, slender fingers,…
Some people are impressionable by nature. They find it difficult to have a thought or opinion of their own, so soak up unfiltered ideas from those around them, or increasingly from anonymous on-line voices. And in the absence of their own mark, they’re the sort of people that others look through, rather than at. Ron…
