Profitable? Well, yes. The cold, hard truth of the matter is that many of us do not make our livings from our writing. Many of us do the daily grind, scraping time to get anything written at all. Even if that includes scribbles on the backs of grocery store receipts while waiting in line at the bank (Guilty) or jots of story lines or ideas on breaks or lunches (Guilty).
But while we force ourselves into the same old routine everyday dreaming of book tours and sleeping in on Wednesdays, are we throwing away valuable opportunities to better our writing?
Like me, a lot of you work with the public and no matter if you want to think about it or not, each and every one of those people have a story. They have a history. Families. Heartache. Triumphs. Even the ones that make you want to hide in the bathroom as soon as you see them walk through the door. Yep. Them too.
I had one couple that used to come in. Boy, they could be a pain in the ass sometimes. He was a paranoid schizophrenic and she was mentally challenged. They had been married for less than a year and lived with her father. (Sounds like the beginning of a story, huh?) Over the course of five or six months I watched them turn from a happy go lucky couple to being torn apart by the system. And honestly, I can't say that I disagree. But I digress.
My point is, this couple both came from families that, for the most part, rejected them. His father was abusive, her brother had tried to have her committed. They found each other, both in their 60's, and thought they had finally found happiness. Then her father died. The house was sold, they were evicted and the county found a place for her to live instead of on the streets where they had been sleeping. He had stories of putting bees in the house to ward off her family and paranoid delusions of people stalking him. There was even a time traveling sorcerer involved at one point in time.
Open your eyes! Open your ears! Take in what they wear, how they speak, if they have a routine. What makes them memorable? He would slur when he drank and she would smile ear to ear with delight whenever someone smiled at her. Start asking yourself questions (I know, always with the questions!) like: How did they meet? Where did they get married? What kind of childhood did each one of them have? Where are they now, now that they are separated? Are they happy? Sad? Are they trying to find one another? Did he break her out and steal her away? Did she fall into a depression and fade from this life, all alone?
As always, try to fit the answers into the genre that you prefer. Tragic romance? False memoir? Use them as characters and add your own plot. Do they become the unwitting heroes by foiling a murder plot? Is there a medical breakthrough that allows them to both be healed from their maladies and live together happily, forever? Do they break out and go on a cross country adventure? What would that be like traveling like hobos across the country, side by side? Do they stay faithful? Do they commit suicide?
Let the questions flow. Then fill in the answers and cherry pick the ones that make the most sense together. Make good use of your J.O.B. because you can't pay for better experience than what you already get day after day.
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