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Story Ideas – 1,000-word Picture
By Deb Gallardo
If a picture is worth a 1000 words, as the old saw goes, what is a photo album worth? The photos don’t need to be your own. In fact, if you’re looking for story ideas, your objectivity looking at someone else’s photo album can stir your curiosity.
Why is one person frowning when everyone else is laughing? Create your own explanation.
Is there someone hiding in the background? Who is it? Did the photographer see that person, or are you the only one who noticed him/her? Create a scenario that explains this scene.
Are there two or more ways to interpret a scene in a photograph? Briefly describe all of them. Consider telling the same story from more than one viewpoint.
What if you write a story in which a character is going through a photo album.
What does this character see?
What does s/he feel?
Why?
What if this character feels nothing.
Why?
The next time you’re at an estate sale or a yard sale and come across old photos, take some time to look through them. Perhaps you might want to make an offer for the whole lot, or only on individual photos if they offer them that way.
Ask friends if you can look through their albums. Visit local historical societies and peruse their old photographs. Don’t forget vintage magazines known for their photographs, like National Geographic, Look and Life magazines.
Need story ideas? Just “picture” them.
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