From where do you get your inspiration for stories? Give me the oddest, coolest things that have inspired you.
My work-in-progress was inspired by a brief story my grandmother told me once. When she was little, her friend's father was a mortician, and the family business was in their house (not uncommon then, the 20s-30s). What she said that stuck with me was:
"If we were playing in the back yard and came into the house through the wrong door, we had to walk past the slab."
Ooo, heebies and jeebies! Gotta remember which is the right door! But then I started thinking about the little girl who lived there, and how different her viewpoint on death must have been from her friends'. How she might have grown up taking part in the family business. How that might have isolated her from her peers. And my character Livy was born: a mortician's daughter who longs so much to learn about her own dead mother, of whom her father will say nothing, that she starts asking their deceased clients.
The actual house still stands. After the funeral home closed, it became headquarters for several labor unions. Now it's an antique store. Check it out. Creepy, right? When I knew I wanted to write Livy's story, I stopped in and asked the owner if I could look around. Like the mortician's family did, she lives in some of the rooms, so she asked me to stick to the public ones (which I did... mostly). She was kind enough to show me the basement, too, which is where any mortuary work would've happened (Indiana in summer, pre-air conditioning, was no place for dead folks -- embalming would've been done in the coolest room available).
Needless to say, being in the house was further inspiration. While I've reworked the floor plan to suit my needs, the exterior and the house's location remain the same in my story. One room upstairs (in which it's possible I was not supposed to go...maybe...perhaps...) there was a short, arched, wooden door in the wall, exactly where one might build access to the attic.
It didn't budge.
It did inspire the end of my story.
Be sure to check out Cole's answer before me, and Kate's tomorrow.
What inspires YOUR stories?
19 ate pie:
So cool! I'm dying to read what you've done with this!!!
Creepy doesn't even begin to describe that building! So. Cool.
Holy cow, that's awesome!! Can't wait to read it!
Well, it's not as cool and creepy a source of inspiration as yours, but my current WIP was inspired by this crazy #FrankenSmack thing that originally went down on Twitter...
Creepy house, right? 'Course that photo was taken in winter, so that helps. :) And even though many, many buildings in Bloomington are faced with limestone, this one still stands out. I called it "the haunted house downtown" for a long time before I knew my grandmother had a connection to it.
Mike - Ah, the bluster of public writing challenges. I hope you're writing quickly - we want to read that!
Oh that is an awesome inspiration story! The photo of the house is amazing too!
It's stuffed to the gills with antiques, too. Chairs-hanging-from-the-ceiling stuffed.
Oooo that arched wooden doorway that won't budge is enough to make me want to get my hands on your book!
Michelle - I could barely believe it when I saw it. All the other doors in the house are tall -- like 8-9 ft. It REALLY stood out.
Love that story...and like everyone else I can't wait to read your story now....
Thanks, Christine :)
Whoa! That is awesome. I love stories told by family members.
Those stories are a cool reflection of the people (we think) we know.
I love that idea and that house...how could you not use it? My dad's family owned a funeral home for a long time, and it's still one of those things that I trip on every once a while and think, "God, that has the makings of a story."
Sarah - definitely has story potential!
So awesome! I'm excited to read this story also!
Thanks, Michelle!
oh wow! The house DOES look really creepy and I love how your story came about. It sounds fantastic and I can't wait to read!
Margie - me too, ha-ha. Guess I need to keep writing it. :D
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