Can you Imagine?

From the MorgueFile

Writing Wednesdays: Imagination

I figured I'd stick with the fish bowl theme for another day.  Fish sure can be nifty!  This is my work-desk buddy, Capt. America.

Last week we talked about description and how much is too much, but perhaps we should have discussed imagination first.  You can't describe, as a writer, what you can't imagine.  Being in the imaginary story business, we obviously have to imagine for their to be a story.  The most common question writers get asked is "Where do you get your ideas from?"  And the most common response seems to be "From everywhere."

So, where do YOUR ideas come from? 

Mine can come from anywhere: 

• A picture (love those - they really can be worth a 1000 words - check out our last couple of Flash Fiction Friday stories:  Vending Machine Voodoo and Witch Hunt).
• News articles (honestly - a lot of the times, you don't even need the story, the headlines will do!)

• Music (the feel, the vibe, the words, because it's something that your character would listen to or say).
• Dreams (yes, there have been a few weird, but interesting ones that I could somewhat remember when I got up.)
• Magazines, TV, commercials, books, etc.
• From your education or profession (put on the tinted glasses of that particular view and see things differently). 

Below is an example from education (past) and working environment (now):   You can do this same exercise to work on your flabby imaginative muscles if you would like also and you could use any item on the above list or your own list (if it is longer and much more impressive! :D).


This is where my fish and his bowl come back into play this week.  Add to that that I am an archaeologist by training.  So, if I look at a common item on my work desk - my beta fish, in his bowl (as an example), and look at it as an archaeologist might look back at my desk and wonder what things were.  I might come up with something like this:

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Pointless Desk Trophy? 

From the MorgueFile

Or, the beginnings of SmartWater & BetaStorage Technology?
By PR Henriksen

Some archaeologists believe this was just a functionless Desk Trophy for the enjoyment of the cubical tenant.

However, other archaeologists believe that  this was the origin and the actual beginnings of “SmartWater”  and BetaStorage Technology.  SmartWater  with BetaStorage became the ultimate data storage in the early 22nd century.  Data could be added to and absorbed efficiently by partaking of the SmartWater. 

The fish was a data retrieval query handler.  One could ask a question of the fish and then say “Go Fish”, whereupon the BetaRetriver would fetch the data for you.  Also believed to be the origin of the ancient slang term “Go Fish.”

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So, it's your turn now.... Go find something on your desk and explain it.  See, that silly thing does have a story.  Everything around you is a story idea waiting to happen.  They might not be all your stories to make happen, but they could be, if you'd flex your imagination muscles once in a while!  Now, go forth and create!