I'm often asked how do I come up with the ideas. I think this post may be of interest to writers and readers alike.

One thing that sparks my imagination is a writing prompt. This can be a selection of words, a picture, the starting sentence, or a title. Recently I was chatting to a fellow writer about this very subject and her lack of inspiration. I suggested using prompts to get her creativity back.

I create prompts for my writers group every Saturday, so I'm well versed in prompts!

My friend mentioned that she had been viewing sailboats and an idea emerged in my mind. I thought of an old tall ship wrecked on rocks. As we discussed this imagery, three possibilities came to my mind.

1. A terrific storm drove the ship onto the rocks - describe the storm.
2. Write from the point of view of the crew trying to save the ship and their lives.
3. The lighthouse keeper turned off the light!

This last idea came unbidden into my mind after our discussion - from where I can't tell you. My mind is a frenzy of imagery. This last thought is the most exciting one for me to write. So then I needed to ask several questions:

1. Why did the keeper turn off the light?
2. How did he know it was the right ship?
3. What repercussions would there be?
4. Who was his target and why?

Then its a matter of deciding on:

1. Character(s) descriptions.
2. Creating the plot
3. What happened?
4. What were the consequences?

When I complete the short story I'll share it. 🙂

If you have any questions on any of my stories I am always happy to answer them - just pop me a line.