Did you ever use a picture to trigger your writing? I have done so many times and I find that pictures often become an almost living entity when you look deeply into them. I have a huge collection from my own life and times and download many that I find have some value in developing a theme or creating a character.
A picture may be more than the sum of its parts if it triggers a memory or establishes a creative flash. It can be a person, a place, a concept.
The one attached was taken on Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro. I could write fiction or nonfiction based on the image. Look closely at the people in the picture. Are there stories in those eyes?
I do it for characters. If I can't get a feel for a character, I try to find him or her in a magazine or on a television show. Once I find him, I stare at his photo and come up with who he is and what he likes and all his habits and weird quirks and--
well, you get the point.
The leading lady in my current work in progress was inspired by a porcelain doll. A doll collection plays a small role in the story and I was doing some research on them when I came across one that struck me. I liked her so well I put her in the story.
I had an idea for a story based solely on the word "crass" - to inspire me to get working on it, a friend of mine provided me with a picture. I wrote the thing in one night, and once I find it (wrote it longhand), edit it, I'll post it in the workshop.
it's borderline, but probably best not to open this at work, or around easily offended people
oh, there's a thumbnail...
