Monday Motivation - Think about what you see . . .

Monday Motivation - Think about what you see . . .

Well, I told you I would reveal the secret location of last week’s writing prompt photo this Monday. I took the picture next to the historic site of Tom Walker’s Grist Mill, now known as the Parshallville Cider Mill, at the millpond. Parshallville is a little town tucked between Hartland and Fenton, Michigan. If you blink, you might miss it! Here’s another photo I took, looking in the other direction the same day. 

Stories can spring from what may seem the most mundane things. I picked up a catalog I’d received from L.L. Bean the other day. On the cover, a couple sat on the back end of a pick up truck in an idyllic autumn scene. With a lake and evergreen trees in the background, as well as crisp brown leaves around their feet, they looked like the perfect couple to star in a contemporary romance novel. I started to think what conflict could come into play to start things out right.

What if they were being watched and an SUV speeds into view. The intruders kidnap the guy at gunpoint and knock the woman out. But why? What had he been involved in? What did he know? Was he in the witness protection program? And how would she ever find him again? Voila! My imagination was off and running with the beginning of a romantic suspense novel. (Either that, or  I've been watching too many Castle episodes lately.) I’m going to keep that catalog cover with a few lines about my ideas, tucked away for possible future use. Sparking the imagination is always good
exercise for the creative side of the brain!

Writers: Your challenge this week is to keep an eye out for pictures that inspire your creativity. Write down your ideas. Save the pictures.

Has a picture ever inspired you to write a story? Please share your thoughts about this week’s post or about creative inspiration in general. Or follow to be entered in this week’s drawing for a chance to win a paperback edition of Brave New Century, which includes my debut novella, The Pocket Watch, and a package of assorted Lindt Lindor Truffles.

Happy Thanksgiving!