Funny Bone Moments as Inspiration
Tickle my funny bone, and I’ll be inspired to write. The equation is that simple for me.
My brother’s proposal via Valentine card to his long-standing girlfriend struck me as funny. He couldn’t say it? He had to write it? Not exactly the romantic proposal of every girl’s dreams. I tucked the idea away, and then with his and his wife’s permission, I tweaked it and used it in a short story titled “Be Mime.”
I was also inspired by my mother doing something that I thought was particularly humorous during a visit to my house. She didn’t like the toilet seat in my guest bathroom. Rather than tell me or suggest that I replace it, she bought one and had my father install it while I was out running errands. I returned home to the big reveal. She’d thrown the old one in the trash. I used this oddity the first chance I could get in a short story titled “A Very Mossy Christmas.” She’s also thrown away pillows she didn’t like and replaced placemats on my kitchen table that went with nothing in my kitchen. Yes, all without asking first!
Sometimes I take an anecdote I’ve heard from a friend or relative and turn it into something more. One such bone tickler that I took parts of and embellished with my own characters in “Tale of Two Kitties” included in Critters of Mossy Creek (BelleBooks, Winter 2009) was told to me by a friend of my sister-in-law. When she’d moved to a new neighborhood, her cat went missing. The cat decided to hang out at a new neighbor’s house and was adopted by them—or so they thought. Imagine her son’s surprise to find his missing cat at his new friend’s house.
Inspiration can be found anywhere. What are some moments in your life that should be in fiction?
My brother’s proposal via Valentine card to his long-standing girlfriend struck me as funny. He couldn’t say it? He had to write it? Not exactly the romantic proposal of every girl’s dreams. I tucked the idea away, and then with his and his wife’s permission, I tweaked it and used it in a short story titled “Be Mime.”
I was also inspired by my mother doing something that I thought was particularly humorous during a visit to my house. She didn’t like the toilet seat in my guest bathroom. Rather than tell me or suggest that I replace it, she bought one and had my father install it while I was out running errands. I returned home to the big reveal. She’d thrown the old one in the trash. I used this oddity the first chance I could get in a short story titled “A Very Mossy Christmas.” She’s also thrown away pillows she didn’t like and replaced placemats on my kitchen table that went with nothing in my kitchen. Yes, all without asking first!
Sometimes I take an anecdote I’ve heard from a friend or relative and turn it into something more. One such bone tickler that I took parts of and embellished with my own characters in “Tale of Two Kitties” included in Critters of Mossy Creek (BelleBooks, Winter 2009) was told to me by a friend of my sister-in-law. When she’d moved to a new neighborhood, her cat went missing. The cat decided to hang out at a new neighbor’s house and was adopted by them—or so they thought. Imagine her son’s surprise to find his missing cat at his new friend’s house.
Inspiration can be found anywhere. What are some moments in your life that should be in fiction?
Labels: humor as inspiration, Maureen Hardegee
posted by Mo H @ 7:22 AM
11 comments
