I was just reading the biography of the author of the Harry Potter series of books, JK Rowling. It says she was at a train station when she thought of Harry Potter, and the train was 4 hours late. I thought I might discuss some of the crazy story ideas I've had and how they got started. I think the only real reason my stories have not sold is because I have not done much myself to distribute them. But I do have plans for the future, which will come into fruition soon. I've been told, even by people who hated my guts, that my stories are good. I saw the smiles as they read the stories, and heard the wow's, and saw the instant look of pleasure on their faces as they read my stories, so I know the potential is there. I just have to get these stories out into the general populace. Not just via the website, but other ways too.
Well, really there is not much to say about the subject. LOL! Most of my story ideas I get when I just let my mind wander. Like when I am out walking around and having fun, I can derive a story idea from that. A lot of my stories are based on my own life experiences. There's been several of those. One thing I always remember when writing, people LOVE drama! So a lot of my stories are based on very dramatic points in my life. Some are only symbolic in their meanings. Like, you'd never know the story Gracie's Odyssey is based on my feelings after Michael Hutchence died. But it is. You don't really see it when you read the story, unless you knew me at that time. It was a very lost and confused feeling, and well I don't want to give the story away too much. LOL! Me and my buddy Cairo both wrote that story. He said I was in a deep funk. We joked around for a while about it, then he got the idea for that story. I've told y'all, I could write a whole novel about what I was thinking when I heard the news!
Most of my story ideas come to me when I am listening to music. Those are the best ways to get ideas. Music makes me think. That's why I love it! My mind is never more active than it is while I am listening to music. I mean, while I am walking most of what I am thinking about is the walk, and where I am going, and worrying about if I am going to step in that big pile of dog shit lying ahead of me on the path! LOL! But sometimes I let my mind wander and have fun. Some stories I get an idea of and get stuck in a certain point, and it can remain unfinished for years. Like this other story I called To Work or Dress. That story I originally began in 1997, but it sat unfinished for years before I finally decided how to finish it. I finally completed it in 2011. That BTW is another story based on personal experience. I added some creativity to it because who wants to hear "I was looking for work, and one of the places I went to was a strip bar"? No one. So I tend to add a little more color to the story, some details and shading. That makes it exciting and worth reading.
That story I got the idea one evening when I was at work on a temporary job. I had just quit a job telemarketing, where I was not treated very kindly, and the pay was lousy! I'm not the kind of person to push herself on others, and if you do telemarketing you have to be. This is also why I do not have many friends on Facebook. Going around asking people to become my friends is just out of my character. Those that I do ask can consider themselves lucky, because that means I really like that person, or I REALLY want to get to know them. I'm not a people-loving person, so not many people can claim that status. Anyways, I don't want to give away too much of the story, but it is on the UMG Productions website. One of the characters in the story is based on one of the people I had to work under while doing the telemarketing job, and she was an asshole!! She is in the story too. But I remember her name was Karen, she was fat, her hair was usually greasy and she often smelled bad. Besides that, she had a bitchy attitude. She was the unfortunately stereotypical picture most people have of fat women. I hated her! I remember when I first started working there, she was nice. I even remember wishing her a happy birthday, she was just turning 53, the same age as my father. Then after I was granted a vacation from there for 2 weeks, when I got back there, Karen was as mean as she could possibly be! I didn't know what caused the sudden change in attitude. But that is somewhat the basis for the story's climax.
I turn every negative into a positive! LOL! That's how I am. I don't like always focusing on the gloomy side. I even wrote a story about my job at the Puyallup Fair, when I worked for a woman named Tracy. Only in this story, I call her Stacy. She was a dyk. She also treated the workers like crap. Some bosses seem to think just because they are paying someone to do a job for them that they can treat the workers like crap. Basically taking advantage of a person does not work either way. I've had jobs I enjoy, the employers did not treat me like crap. I would never treat a working dog like crap, let alone a person! If you want people to work for you, you should be making the working environment a pleasant one. Even if it is temporary employment. Of course, back when I worked at the fair, I had no idea that people always treat temps like they are garbage. But temp or not, there's no excuse for the boss to have such a crappy attitude like Tracy did! That was the worst job I ever had in my life!! Partly because I didn't want it in the first place! But I did write a story about it, and the title is just what the job was; Dead End Job! Instead of me and my sis facing off with Tracy, I had Mushmouth and Kathy face off with her.
Mushmouth was a character I really glorified back in the late 80s and early 90s. Even I was in love with him!! So was everybody else. LOL! I publicized him very well! If we'd had the internet back then, Mushmouth would today be more popular than cats! That's how well I publicized him. I capitalized on that in this story.
I have several stories right now that have not left my head. I have yet to put them down on paper. There may be several reasons for that. Either I am having trouble thinking of a way to start them off, or they have no point to them (yet), or maybe my mind is tossing around ideas and they keep getting jumbled like a deck of cards thrown in the air. Some of these stories I am on the verge of starting, as I think I have pieced them together in a way where they would be enjoyable for the readers. One of them I have already started, I just need to keep it going. If it is good enough, I'll put it on the website.
Well, really there is not much to say about the subject. LOL! Most of my story ideas I get when I just let my mind wander. Like when I am out walking around and having fun, I can derive a story idea from that. A lot of my stories are based on my own life experiences. There's been several of those. One thing I always remember when writing, people LOVE drama! So a lot of my stories are based on very dramatic points in my life. Some are only symbolic in their meanings. Like, you'd never know the story Gracie's Odyssey is based on my feelings after Michael Hutchence died. But it is. You don't really see it when you read the story, unless you knew me at that time. It was a very lost and confused feeling, and well I don't want to give the story away too much. LOL! Me and my buddy Cairo both wrote that story. He said I was in a deep funk. We joked around for a while about it, then he got the idea for that story. I've told y'all, I could write a whole novel about what I was thinking when I heard the news!
Most of my story ideas come to me when I am listening to music. Those are the best ways to get ideas. Music makes me think. That's why I love it! My mind is never more active than it is while I am listening to music. I mean, while I am walking most of what I am thinking about is the walk, and where I am going, and worrying about if I am going to step in that big pile of dog shit lying ahead of me on the path! LOL! But sometimes I let my mind wander and have fun. Some stories I get an idea of and get stuck in a certain point, and it can remain unfinished for years. Like this other story I called To Work or Dress. That story I originally began in 1997, but it sat unfinished for years before I finally decided how to finish it. I finally completed it in 2011. That BTW is another story based on personal experience. I added some creativity to it because who wants to hear "I was looking for work, and one of the places I went to was a strip bar"? No one. So I tend to add a little more color to the story, some details and shading. That makes it exciting and worth reading.
That story I got the idea one evening when I was at work on a temporary job. I had just quit a job telemarketing, where I was not treated very kindly, and the pay was lousy! I'm not the kind of person to push herself on others, and if you do telemarketing you have to be. This is also why I do not have many friends on Facebook. Going around asking people to become my friends is just out of my character. Those that I do ask can consider themselves lucky, because that means I really like that person, or I REALLY want to get to know them. I'm not a people-loving person, so not many people can claim that status. Anyways, I don't want to give away too much of the story, but it is on the UMG Productions website. One of the characters in the story is based on one of the people I had to work under while doing the telemarketing job, and she was an asshole!! She is in the story too. But I remember her name was Karen, she was fat, her hair was usually greasy and she often smelled bad. Besides that, she had a bitchy attitude. She was the unfortunately stereotypical picture most people have of fat women. I hated her! I remember when I first started working there, she was nice. I even remember wishing her a happy birthday, she was just turning 53, the same age as my father. Then after I was granted a vacation from there for 2 weeks, when I got back there, Karen was as mean as she could possibly be! I didn't know what caused the sudden change in attitude. But that is somewhat the basis for the story's climax.
I turn every negative into a positive! LOL! That's how I am. I don't like always focusing on the gloomy side. I even wrote a story about my job at the Puyallup Fair, when I worked for a woman named Tracy. Only in this story, I call her Stacy. She was a dyk. She also treated the workers like crap. Some bosses seem to think just because they are paying someone to do a job for them that they can treat the workers like crap. Basically taking advantage of a person does not work either way. I've had jobs I enjoy, the employers did not treat me like crap. I would never treat a working dog like crap, let alone a person! If you want people to work for you, you should be making the working environment a pleasant one. Even if it is temporary employment. Of course, back when I worked at the fair, I had no idea that people always treat temps like they are garbage. But temp or not, there's no excuse for the boss to have such a crappy attitude like Tracy did! That was the worst job I ever had in my life!! Partly because I didn't want it in the first place! But I did write a story about it, and the title is just what the job was; Dead End Job! Instead of me and my sis facing off with Tracy, I had Mushmouth and Kathy face off with her.
Mushmouth was a character I really glorified back in the late 80s and early 90s. Even I was in love with him!! So was everybody else. LOL! I publicized him very well! If we'd had the internet back then, Mushmouth would today be more popular than cats! That's how well I publicized him. I capitalized on that in this story.
I have several stories right now that have not left my head. I have yet to put them down on paper. There may be several reasons for that. Either I am having trouble thinking of a way to start them off, or they have no point to them (yet), or maybe my mind is tossing around ideas and they keep getting jumbled like a deck of cards thrown in the air. Some of these stories I am on the verge of starting, as I think I have pieced them together in a way where they would be enjoyable for the readers. One of them I have already started, I just need to keep it going. If it is good enough, I'll put it on the website.
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