Tag: Fishing as writing inspiration

Fishing as Writing Inspiration

With the warmer months here in the Buckeye State, my youngest, the Fishing Fanatic, begins watching the weather for chances to enjoy his favorite sport, pastime, and hobby. Funny how a parent can become interested in a subject just because her kids are. Not that I’ve taken up fishing. But I’ve gone out enough with the Fanatic to tell you about how to use fishing as writing inspiration.

Humor

Wouldn’t a book about a mom who has no interest in fishing and has one misadventure after another as she tries to support her kid and his love of the sport be hysterical?

I could write about the mom diving into murky waters to rescue a runaway rod, wading a river to unhook a snag, wrestling catfish, and crossing to a far shore through freezing water in October.

Now that you know what my life has been like for the past two years, take what inspiration you can from it. When I mix nature, animals, and weather into a story, I have the freedom to create all sorts of funny disasters.

Suspense

The last paragraph above can also apply to adding suspense and tension to a story. The unpredictable quality of nature provides many different kinds of problems for my characters to face.

Fishing as writing inspiration for suspense has another great advantage. It gives my characters an excuse to break out of their normal routines as they head out on a fishing trip. Then I can dump them into unfamiliar settings peopled with hostile characters.

I love film noir, a style of movie making that flourished in Hollywood from 1940-1960. Several movies land their characters in trouble because they are going on a fishing trip. In The Hitch-Hiker, two men are taken hostage by a homicidal maniac. In 5 Steps to Danger, the main character’s car breaks down, and he accepts a ride from a woman with a complicated past and bad guys on her trail. In Act of Violence, a WWII veteran suspects his less-than-heroic act in a prisoner of war camp is catching up with him when he goes on a fishing trip and spots a man in a boat who isn’t dressed for fishing.

Another great thing about using the fishing trip is that I don’t have to know much about fishing. All the trouble can occur on the way to the fishing destination before my characters ever make one cast. Although it would be fun to include the fishing aspect somehow. Such as a criminal, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list, purses two fishing buddies, who stumbled across his hideout in the mountains. With the criminal after them, the buddies have only the contents of their tackle boxes to use as some kind of defense.

Family or Friendship

The bond that can occur during fishing is a wonderful way to explore family relationships or friendships of characters.

A grandfather, who loves fishing, can’t interest any of his grandchildren until the most unlikely one falls in love with it. Two very disparate characters chance upon each other at a secluded fishing spot and begin a friendship.

For more ideas on how to use June as writing inspiration, read my post from two years ago.

Could you use fishing as writing inspiration? What other summer sport might inspire your writing?

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Writing Tip — Writing in Time

dandelionw-2693104_1280This year, May beats March as my least favorite month. Maybe the long, cold spring has irritated me. Or the school year has worn out its welcome, but I am more than ready to skip May and plunge into June.

But for those of you who still like May, here are some suggestion for using it as writing inspiration.

Mother’s Day: As I stated last year, this holiday is tailor-made for exploring relationships  between female relatives or women who are like mothers and daughters to each other.

Memorial Day: This is another holiday which lead to an examination of family relationships. Your focus can be on those relatives who have served our country or any family members who have passed away. Last Memorial Day weekend, my kids and I traveled with my parents to West Virginia to lay flowers on the graves of my grandparents, great-granparents, and great-great grandparents. West Virginia is the “Old Country” for my family and I was so pleased to be able to share this family history with my kids.

I can see short story set at a cemetery where relatives who are estranged are laying flowers on the tombstones. In the process, they talk and become reconciled, burying their antagonism.

Graduation from high school or college: As a member of the high school band, I attended more graduation ceremonies than is healthy for one individual to endure. But being an observer, rather than a participant, in the ceremony gave me a great position to people watch. I can develop a story along those ones, where the main character, sitting with the band, makes some discoveries about fellow classmates and their families.

Of course, graduation ceremonies are the perfect way to kick off or end a story about the students who are receiving their diplomas. Since the ceremony is usually serious, writing about one where everything goes wrong would be fun. A thunderstorm threatened my high school graduation, and as the speakers kept talking, the entire student body and crowd in the football stadium watched as the black clouds piled up to the west.

Last Day of School: This day has enormous writing inspiration for comedy with everyone from teachers to kids just marking time until dismissal. My kids’s school has a Field Day during the last week, so combining an event like that with the last day provides loads of opportunities for comic complications.

Outdoor Hobbies

Gardening: With the weather getting warmer, people can resume their outdoor hobbies, and I thought I would mention two my family enjoys. My husband gardens, planting both ornamental plants and vegetables and fruits. Gardening can be the setting for the renewal of relationships or some quality within the main character. The hard work can be a metaphor for other types of labor in a character’s life. Or I can look on the lighter side. Maybe a husband, recently retired, wants to learn about gardening from his wife, who finds he’s more of a hindrance than a help.

Fishing: My kids have recently taken up fishing for a 4-H project. I have no interested in fishing, but when I accompany my husband and kids on a fishing outing, I have an opportunity to make observations, such as, no matter how hard an angler works, there is no guarantee he will catch anything. Also, fishing is a sport of perseverance and patience. Also, if your mom has never unhooked a fish, don’t leave her alone with the kids as they are fishing. (I’m not sure I can use this as a metaphor in a story, but it’s a valuable fishing lesson.)

How does May provide you with writing inspiration?

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