A Story Unframed

by R. Michael Phillips
(Pennsylvania, USA)

When I'm at a loss for a story line I make a trip to a major art museum. All around you are incredible stories, lavishly framed and waiting for you to fill in the details. I'm not talking about the lives of the artists that produced the work, I'm referring to the subject matters they chose to depict. There is mystery, humor, suspense, historical drama, etc. Everything a writer needs to jump-start his/her imagination is hanging right in front of you.

The artist has brilliantly captured a moment in time, but as a writer you are free to use your imagination to fill in the lifetime that came before and after the subject was captured on canvas.

Give it a try.