Author: PTGriffin.

 have an interesting, if weird, habit. I read the obituaries every day. I tell people it’s to make sure I’m not being featured there-but what I’m really doing is reading the life stories of (usually) complete strangers. From reading these stories, I often get ideas for my own tales.

There are heroes and housewives, farmers and physicians. There’s the man who went home “escorted by angels.” What a visual. How about the woman, surrounded by her family, whose long battle with cancer was now over? There is the person who died “unexpectedly”… but at 92 years old? With reverence, I read of the baby who died before he’d lived. Yet he too had a story, albeit a brief one. There is the sad story of a man who fought in WWII whose only relative was his dog Rusty…I wondered where would old Rusty go now?

Friends, neighbors and strangers all had lives before those lives ended. Some were entertainingly interesting, others morbidly mundane.

Don’t be afraid to read the obits. The life stories you find there are the stuff of which great creative works can be made. They are tales most marvelous if you will only read between the “lives…”

Now change gears and ask yourself something:Do you know for what you thirst? If you were in the desert you would know that you desired water.

But when the world is cool and you aren’t parched…what then?

If you are like me, you thirst for time, or place, or a character to populate some creative endeavor. You want that something or someone to be new and refreshing. I believe it’s closer than you might think.

Do you hear bits and pieces of conversations here and there? Have you visited a park, mall or grocery store? Have you met someone new?

Each of these experiences can lend themselves to your creativity. That new person, with a few tweaks, could be the foundation for character. The wedding you just attended may be fodder for fiction as well. Listening to a child’s conversation at a playground or sports event can give you a jump start!

If you thirst, look around you and listen. There is something waiting there just to refresh and inspire you. And if this fails-read the obits!

About the Author:
Pamela Tyree Griffin is CMO (Chief Motivational Officer) of PT Griffin Consulting. An expert trainer, professional speaker and published writer, she has over 20 years of successful business experience in communication, management and training.

Pamela also publishes The Shine Journal (http://www.theshinejournal.com ) each month which features submissions from around the world of flash literature, poetry, art and photography. Shine is a great source for creatives everywhere.

She also conducts workshops and webinars on the writing life.



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