Tag: story ideas

I name things. Of course I named my kids, and dogs and cats… and many, many goldfish (I was a kindergarten teacher and didn’t have the best track record with classroom pets) But I also name plants and inanimate objects. Is that weird?

The naming of plants:

Not all of my plants have names. Plants come and go. They die or get eaten by bugs or maybe you forget to water them. But I have a few favorites. Spike the agave has a special place in my heart. Ed brought him home from the greenhouse at the high school where he taught biology. When we moved to the desert, Spike thrived. Spike was the subject of my first ever published story, catapulting me to status of “Published Author”. (Ha, ha) I still have the check framed and hanging in my office.

Noelle was a gift from a student many years ago. She loves it here in by sunny window . She’s fickle, sometimes blooming at Christmas, but other times she blooms at Thanksgiving, or Valentine’s day or this year, she did a small bloom season at Easter.

One could argure that plants are living things and derserve to be named. But what about inanimate objects?

The naming of sewing machines…

You met Ingrid at the start of this blog post. I also have Kendra, my first sewing machine, a 1970s Sears Kenmore gifted to my at my college graduation. Then there’s Joyce a 1990s model Kenmore I inherited from my mother. I got the idea of naming my sewing machines from a visit to a vintage sewing maching booth at an antique mall in Indiana. The owner of the booth had names and personalities for each of her machines. I wanted to bring them all home! (I didn’t, but I went home and named all of mine.)

Check these beauties out: seamslikeastory.com/vintage-sewing-machines/

The naming of other things…

I recently purchased a new laptop named Dash. Dash is shiny, sleek, and fast, and helped me finish the first draft of my second book. I think we are going to make a great team.

And cars? Many people name their vehicles, but I don’t. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been a car person. As long my ride is dependable and gets me where I’m going I’m ok with it. Besides cars already come with names. We have “The Saturn” and “The Honda.” No need to elaborate.

Characters all around us.

I used to think my tendency to name things was weird, but then I read something that one of my favorite authors wrote. I can’t recall which one it was, but she names things too. She said that it’s common for authors to attach names and personalities to things because we see characters all around us.

Characters all around us. I like this idea! The world is full of characters–people, plants, and yes, even inantamite objects, and as authors we have the privilege of creating their stories and bringing them out into the world. In fact, it’s our job.

Why can’t a vintage swizzle stick come to life and complain that its new owner is a teetotaler? And imagine a cantankerous agave inspiriring a couple from the Midwest to move to the desert?

How dull life would be without the storytellers of the world. Now go out, find YOUR characters, write their story, then find a way to send it out into the world! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!