I finished the portfolio of five poems for the 2015 Manchester Writing Competition yesterday. Now I am searching for inspiration for a short story. The brief states that it can be on any subject but must be the entrant’s own original writing, and should not have appeared in print or on a website, including blogs and social networking, or have been broadcast. There is no minimum wordcount but it has a maximum length of 2,500 words. I was thinking of resuscitating an old story and reworking it, but a new story would be fresher and, of course, more original. At the moment, at six thirty in the morning, listening to my husband’s early morning radio show, I have no idea. He went to a gig last night and had to stay over, so I slept badly – I always do when he’s not here. I am even contemplating going back to bed for a nap at eight! I don’t know how much sleep I’ll get when he’s in the States in September.
As short stories are snapshots rather than whole pictures, it would be useful to start with a physical or emotional event, theme or topic. I’m not usually lost for inspiration but this time I need a kick start. As Jack London said, ‘You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.’ One of the obvious places to hunt down an idea for a story is WordPress, from fellow bloggers. I’m going to spend some time perusing blogs today and, when the newspaper arrives, I’ll read that too, as well as Facebook, Twitter and the news feeds. If all else fails, I’ll use the photograph of me on my tricycle.
writing in north norfolk 