More Story Prompts to Inspire Your Inner Muse
Shopping for Inspiration at Your Local Antique Shop
Aug 4, 2009
Antique shops are filled with castoff momentos from people's lives. Many of these trinkets and memorabilia once had great personal significance to their owners. That significance is now lost to the mists of time, but you can become inspired by these bits of history. Here are some ways how.
Get character ideas from antique photos:
There is something magical about an old photograph. Even if you don't know the person in the photo - especially if you don't know the person in the photo - it can take your imagination on a journey to unexpected places.
Try to imagine what the person was thinking at the time their photo was taken. Were they excitedly anticipating this event? Perhaps they were having their photo taken to send to a loved one who lived far away, or maybe they were planning to give it to someone embarking on a voyage, emigrating to another country or leaving for war. Maybe they had never before had their photograph taken. Maybe they were uncomfortable or even frightened. There are stories inside every photograph. Your imagination is your only limit.
Tell the story of a well-worn piece of furniture:
If only walls could talk. Well, what about furniture? Imagine the stories that old treddle sewing machine could tell. Or the RCA Victor phonograph. Or the beloved heirloom china cabinet that came from the family home in England and now sits pushed into a corner, undusted and forgotten.
A hundred years ago, buying furniture wasn't as easy as a quick trip to IKEA. Families bought a few cherished pieces and passed them down from generation to generation. Imagine how the life of that sewing machine has changed. At first, working hours a day, it sewed the clothes for a large farming family. Later, as the family grew up and moved away, it was used less and less. Finally, closed up, it sat collecting ornaments, until finally its owner passed away. Use your writing to recreate any one of these moments.
Old postcards are windows into the past:
Postcards were once a "fast" form of communication. At the turn of the twentieth century, they were the equivalent of today's text messenging. Individuals wanting to stay in touch with a sister, a child or a lover might send out a postcard every day, just a quick note keeping them posted.
The front and back of a postcard are often both interesting. The front of a postcard gives insight into the pop culture of the time, and can be inspirational to the inner muse. Look past the colloquial language and the outdated sentiments. Use the greeting as a prompt. Many postcards picture historic sites. Maybe you'll find an earlier version of a tourist attraction you have seen yourself. Perhaps it has changed. What about writing a travel article focusing on that change?
The back of a postcard can be even more inspiring than the front. The back of a postcard tells part of a story. Even the most mundane message tells us something about the person who wrote it. Use that message as the opening line for a story or weave it into your prose. Either way it will make a great story.
Newspapers and magazines contain a host of story ideas:
It's not the big headlines that are interesting. Look to the small human interest pieces for inspiration: a son comes home wounded from the war, a drifter is arrested and jailed for vagrancy, a man applies for divorce and custody of a four-year-old son, a 14-year-old boy is arrested for theft. It is the little tragedies in life that make the greatest stories, and behind each of these apparently minor occurrences, there is a story.
There are many sources of inspiration for writing stories. These are just a few.
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