Each week, our teacher sends us a few thoughts and shares a couple of videos on writing. One that she shared with us, was of a professor doing a series of videos where he writes a short story live, starting from the concept of using a postcard he found thrifting, to the research and thought process involved through to conclusion.
I have only watched the first two hours of what might be a 17-part series, and I found it fascinating to see this Pulitzer Prize-winning author allow himself to write in such a vulnerable state as to share his early thought process which I am sure for most writers, is a no thank you.
I was thinking of Robert Olen Butler as I shared my early draft story with you – especially considering I wasn’t happy with this early draft. I didn’t have a choice really. I was crunched for time and the thought of working on that story – and the rest of my assignments – and this three hundred word daily challenge, was overwhelming.
In the series of videos, Robert is working from a postcard he had found where someone had used their own photo of an old airplane. It wasn’t the photos themselves that drew Robert focused on as he grew his collection of old postcards, but the messages written on the back.
What this author did for this video, was use that message to inspire an entire fictional story, based on some facts he was able to find online about the pilot flying the plane.
In fact, Robert published an entire book filled with shorts inspired by American Postcards called Had a Good Time.
Next time you’re in a thrift store, give some thought as to what items you frequently see, that might inspire a similar collection-turned novel.