Write About What?

I suspect that every person who has ever written a book, or a short story, or even an essay, has either developed a burning desire inside to say something and put that something down on paper.

Or, and this is often the case as well, they have the desire to write, but can't think of anything to write about. "I think I could be a good writer if I could only think of something to write about." Well, I don't know about the prospects of that dream. But who am I to second guess someone's intent?

I've been to both places. Fortunately, I've spent a lot more time living in the first place. That one being, I have something I want to say, and I just need to sit down and put it on paper. Or today, on the screen of my laptop.

But it's interesting what little things can often, out of the blue trigger story ideas. Those have come to me perhaps all of my remembering life. That does not mean a story has always resulted from those ideas. In fact, only a few times has it happened that an idea got followed through on.

But the fact is, the potential is there. And I'm always going to be alert to the possibility.

A walk through an antique store with my wife resulted in the writing of 'Mister Weatherspoon's Unfortunate Clock.'

And I can credit the same type of environment with the writing of 'Miss Penny's Wedding Dress.''

A Ship Called Abigail,' was born out of my own widowed experience and finding new love after my loss.

So where have some of the other ideas come from? Surely, some little trigger of the imagination somewhere along the way. After all, you cannot spend seventy some years on this earth and never have a creative thought intrude on your day to day thinking.

On the other hand, I suppose for many people, that does not happen. But I'll leave that alone and make no other mention of it.