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Life of a Writer Mom Column December 2003 Column An Idea Magnet by Carla Charter It used to be that I could do some reading, a little research and slowly a story idea would form. That was back in the beginning writer days. Not anymore. These days it seems, I've become an idea magnet. The more I write, the more ideas come knocking at my door begging me to write about them. Every scene I view, every little event seems to trigger a story idea. Lately, it seems to be mystery plots that have been cropping up in my ever-fertile imagination. Plots involving missing jewels or found bodies can be triggered by something seemingly unrelated and simple. Take this past summer. On a beautiful July day we decided to take the kids hiking past a local waterfall. While everyone else was admiring the beauty of the spot, I could be found muttering, "Now wouldn't this be the perfect place to get rid of a character!" My daughter just looked at me, shook her head and said, "Mom, don't you have enough to write about?" I can't sit down to read the newspaper anymore. I have to clip it. Articles get filed away in my idea box, usually with little notes scribbled on them by me. I will get to them. As soon as I hit that dry spell when I can't think of anything to write. I'm still waiting for that to happen. Sometimes it's a character herself that will trigger a story. Characters who just pop into my imagination, goodness knows why they choose me, and won't leave me alone until I write about them. Esther for example. A 96-year-old character who just kept popping into my mind at odd moments. Since she and her cane seemed permanently stuck in my mind, I decided to sit down and write about her. Only for five minutes you understand. My family smiles. They've heard that line before. Five minutes always stretches into several hours and that germ of an idea melts into a very satisfying tale once again. Carla Charter is mom to Samantha (12), Halden (5), and Mathew (4). In addition to being a mom, Carla is a freelance writer specializing in newspaper and magazine journalism. Among her publication credits are Woman's World, American Indian Report and New England Business Journal. Online she has been published in Scubasource.com and Military.com. She teaches creative writing courses at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Ma. Recently her novel Across Lots has been serialized at http://www.newenglandwow.com. She may be reached at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net. |
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