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Inspiration prompt 17

“Hey, don’t worry,” the dog said. “We’ll find your master. I have a nose for these things, you know.”

The horse whinnied and shook its mane. “You said that the last time we were here. We ‘ve been going in circles for two hours now.” It paused, glanced to its left, then to the right. “I don’t think you’re as good with your nose as you think you are.”

What do you think? Are these two animals friends? Are they lost? Perhaps looking for something? Have you ever tried writing a story from the POV of an animal or an object? How would you tackle it? What stories can you come up with this image?

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 16

She stood on the building’s entrance and spared a passing glance at the drenched and hunched figure that jumped gracelessly over the puddle of water, his coat flapping briefly behind him, one hand holding on to his wet fedora. She drew one last puff from her cigarette, flicked in the rain, and opened her umbrella. Well, the meeting could have gone better. If only she had pushed him more. She turned her collar to the damp breeze that found a way under her coat and forced the small hairs at the nape of her neck to attention.

Well, that’s my take on the picture. Have a go, see where it leads you 🙂

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 15

I have mentioned in the past how much I like black and white pictures. You won’t hold it against me if I present you with another one, will you? The following, is a photo taken back in 1920, in Athens from a neighbourhood directly beneath the Acropolis.

Imagine being a peddler in a similar cart, selling your wares from street to street. What would a peddler’s life be like? What manner of different people would they come across? What hardships, would they face? What would the bond be between the man and the animal (horse, donkey, mule)? What would happen if the peddler was to lose the animal? Place yourself in his shoes and write a story, or change your point of view to one of the residents in the areas he crossed daily. Experiment, let your mind roam free.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 14

What do you see here? A playful youth on his way to meet up with his friends? A trip through local history? Or perhaps a portal to another world, one with Knights and Kings and battles? Perhaps something darker? Perhaps he hurries to tell someone of something? An attack? Could it be a simple game of dare between friends to the local ruins?

What drove the kid there? Was he simply testing his new bicycle or trying to get away with stealing it? Let him guide you and tell you his story.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 3 Comments

Inspirational prompt 13

I like black and white images. I don’t know why, but they have a certain appeal to me. Somehow, they seem more authentic. Perhaps it’s because they allow me to recreate a story in my mind of a time I never knew, where things were different, and yet not so different from today. Bottom line is, my imagination gets to run wild. Maybe I’m a person who would have liked to live in the past. Maybe my mind is stuck in the past.

What if the guy sitting at the end of the bar was a mobster? Do you see the look on the employee’s face? What if the employee is looking at the door, at someone who just stepped in? Perhaps your POV character, perhaps a regular, or another mobster. The first guy has his back turned to the entrance. Do you smell a gunfight?

What if the supposedly mobster is in fact a shy guy, a good fellow, who just performed a good deed, perhaps prevented someone important from doing something bad, perhaps saved someone from a mob boss? What if he thought he found the only place where reporters wouldn’t find him and stopped to get a coffee? What if whoever stepped in, is a reporter and if he takes his picture, the gangsters will find him?

What else do you see?