Be inspired by new places and people
I've recently returned from two wonderful weeks in India where I spent most of my time marvelling at how beautiful and different everything was: the light, the architecture, the friendliness of the people, the food, the monkeys, the tigers... I'm still trying to make sense of the fact that I saw five wild tigers. It's clearly a once-in-a-lifetime experience and definitely not something I could write about yet - not whilst I'm still pinching myself to see if it really happened - but I am itching to write some type of story set in India.
It's always fun to expand your writing world after travelling. Instead of relying on the same types of characters and places - something that most of us do - a holiday gives you an opportunity to experiment and try something completely different. What's more, sometimes these new stories just seem to drop in your lap.
Listen to conversations - people are more likely to open up on holiday, sure they'll never see you again - and look at faces. Who's pretending to be having a great time? Who doesn't want to go home? Which people around the pool, in the restaurant, in the shared jeep or on the plane might be harbouring a secret that would make a great story? What is that couple by the pool arguing about? Why is that man on the beach every morning at five? Why is that woman so scared of monkeys?
Don't forget to include all the unique details - the food, the sounds and smells, the views, the light and temperatures. The way it gets dark quickly or how the sea feels warmer than any sea your character has swum in before, which is why she's still swimming when... And consider the jobs that your new characters could do. The writers of the TV show White Lotus had a lot of fun pitching holiday makers against locals who worked in the tourist industry. Consider what tour guides might overhear, what hotel staff might find in hotel rooms, what translators might deliberately leave unsaid.
I worked and travelled lots in Asia in my twenties and was always curious about the people who'd decided to extend their island holiday and open a language school, a beach bar or cafe. I always wondered what happened to them two or twenty years later. What would make them go home? What was it that initially made them stay? What if they wanted to go home but couldn't? When did it just become a job like any other?
Wherever you go next on holiday, take a note book and jot down ideas about places and people. Observe and listen and ask questions. And when you get home, hold onto your holiday for a few days longer by writing a story set wherever you were, with characters based on people you met.
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