POSTCARDS FROM THE MUSE

Look Around

By Nandy Eke

Stephen King once said he is asked constantly where his ideas come from. His answer is he doesn’t know. He mentions “the guys in the basement,” which is his description of a muse. He says he plays a lot of “what if” games that lead to the stories.

I agree with this to some extent. I play the “what if” game myself, and I get some interesting answers. But the stories I’ve written that I like most are the ones I can tell you exactly when the idea gelled. 

Some of that has to do with what’s happening around me when the idea starts to grow. I’ve seen the moon look like a giant eye in the sky. I pass an old abandoned gas station every morning on my way to the day job, and there’s always a car or pick-up sitting in the old parking lot. I don’t know why it’s there. The person inside wears a big cowboy hat and is always alone. 

One morning I went to the office and saw a pair of ladies pumps sitting in the alley. The shoes were white fabric with big flowers printed all over them. They were standing next to my office driveway as if some lady had just stepped out of them. 

There’s a famous quote that says we pass 5,000 story ideas every day. An author will see 20 of them. Tell me in the comments below what story ideas you noticed today.

Congratulations. You have just received a postcard from the muse.

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