There are some moments that are just ripe with good ideas. Last night I had two of them – they were identical, except for the fact that one I took advantage of, and one I didn’t.
On my way downtown, I got stopped at the railroad tracks. The train took almost five minutes to pass by, and I turned up the radio and stared at my phone.
I went on to my meeting. A few hours later, after I’d stopped for ice cream, I got back in my car to make my way home. I was stopped again at the railroad. And this time when I drove away, my mind was reeling.
I called my brother – there are very few other people I can talk to when I’m just starting to form a story idea. He listens, provides feedback, allows me to talk through the jumble of thoughts in my head until they form something coherent. And by the time I got off the phone, I almost had a plot. A plot centered around a railroad and a small town and the citizens who want to protect it. It was exhilarating.
And never in a million years would I have thought that something as simple as a railroad would have sparked such a full and interesting idea as the one I ended up with. I’m happy to say that I didn’t sleep much last night – for the first time in a long time, I stayed up writing, capitalizing on the rush of energy that comes with a new story.
So don’t forget that there are story ideas everywhere. Ideas don’t just appear out of thin air – they’re usually precipitated by something. It might be something small, but it’s something, and if you don’t pay attention – let you mind wander and gather threads – you might just miss it.