can't help telling stories
How many languages do your chracters comfortably speak or read? Imagine it’s only one. What happens when that character lands in a country where no one understands that language?
For some Central American immigrants to the US, it’s true today.
How does your character respond?
Language Barriers Pose Challenges For Mayan Migrant Children : Code Switch : NPR
In my Writers as Readers book club, there are a few folks who write fiction and have said they don’t care to read non-fiction. I like to read both — going so far as to read things like the NASA report about the flawed Hubble telescope and court filings in some hacker cases. Geeky, I know. But I get a lot of story ideas from the non-fiction I read. (And the info made great conversation-starters when I met Cliff Stoll and Bruce Sterling.) Here’s one take on some of this year’s best non-fiction.
The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2014 So Far – Flavorwire
http://flavorwire.com/464711/the-10-best-nonfiction-books-of-2014-so-far
Is fantasy or science fiction your genre? Do you think it might be? Then you may be looking for a creature or a race to populate your world. Here are a few oldies you might want to adapt. A friend of mine, E.R. Barr, melded the Piasa legend with Celtic mythology in his award-winning debut novel, Roan: The Tales of Conor Archer.
Ten Mythological Creatures in Ancient Folklore | Ancient Origins
http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/ten-mythological-creatures-ancient-folklore-001805
People die. Or they don’t. This article from Harvard Business Review is about succession planning for businesses, but I find Zara’s story intriguing as a plot line. She’s reacting to a perceived “deadline,” in the most literal sense. With some tweaks, her story could lend itself to a variety of interpretations or genres — mystery, thriller, magical realism, main stream fiction. And imagine the points of view — Zora’s, her husband’s, her children’s, her father’s, the list goes on.
Try it for 1,000 words and see where it takes you.
Executives Must Face Their Own Mortality – Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries – Harvard Business Review
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/03/executives-must-face-their-own-mortality/
Really.
I can’t take credit for finding these puctures. Mystery writer Dana Stabenow posted this link on her Facebook page with a comment about the first shot.
But as soon as I saw them, I realized the photos are a trove of writing prompts. More than two dozen.
What a great antibiotic for writer’s block. Take one today. Write 1,000 words. Repeat.
2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest, Part II – In Focus – The Atlantic
sharon p. lynn 