idea // #hopewriterlife

day 4 // idea ✨

Ideas come in the unlikeliest of places if I keep my eyes open.

My favorite is when I’m waking my pups around the neighborhood.
If I pay attention, there are stories everywhere just waiting to be told.

Like the house with a bonsai tree garden on the front porch, just blocks from my home.
I don’t know who lives there, but last Spring as I walked by & saw the funny little trees, I had the first lines of a story come to me.

So I held them in my head, saying those lines over & over until I made it the two blocks home & could write them down.

I just knew the character that was speaking to me was going to be one I needed to get to know.

Today, I find myself working on the plot of a novel this little idea has turned into.
It’s fun.
It’s whimsical.
It’s mysterious.
And despite not knowing anything about bonsai trees before seeing that garden, they’ve become the centerpiece of my novel.

It’s another story of my heart, born from a stranger’s collection of bonsai trees, which once again have found their way to the sunny porch this season. As I walk by lately, I picture my character & the first integral scene of my novel which motivates me to dig in more deeply.

I love when the whimsical & weird & ordinary, everyday life inspires ideas.

What about you? If you’re a writer or creator, where do your ideas come from?

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This post originated on Instagram as part of the Hope Writer’s #hopewriterlife challenge round 2, but I’m sharing it here are part of my Notes from a Writer’s Desk series.