More from Monique

It’s a quarter to four on Friday afternoon and believe it or not, I’m just settling in in front of the computer. Hoping to put in a couple of hours on my rewrite before dinner.
This morning, I went to a friend’s wedding. The ceremony was at the Montreal courthouse and then there was a luncheon afterwards. As usual, I was on the look-out for stories. On my way up the escalator at the courthouse, I noticed two burly-looking men in handcuffs, so of course, that got me wondering what they’d been arrested for. Then I started thinking about what would happen if the two men escaped and kidnapped me — which got me thinking that a story about a kid who gets kidnapped and who finds a way to outsmart his kidnappers could be interesting and fun to write. Other times, stories find me. Yesterday, at another party (you must think I go to a lot of parties!!), I heard about a girl in her 20s who was put up for adoption at two weeks old. Recently, the girl’s birth mother got in touch with her, and now the girl’s adoptive mother is having trouble sharing her with this other woman. Hmm, I thought, sounds like a good story.
The exciting thing is that there are stories EVERYWHERE. All you have to do is tune in and listen for them. And of course, the more you listen for them, the more of them you’ll hear. It’s also useful to ask people about themselves — and get them to tell you their stories.
You can probably tell I am hooked on stories. Sometimes, writers start with a grain of truth (there were two guys in handcuffs at the courthouse) and then they spin the rest (a teenage boy was at the courthouse on a class trip when one of the two guys escaped and took the boy hostage). D’you get the idea?
I keep a little notebook where I jot down story ideas. You should do it, too. A funny thing happens once you jot down a story idea: your mind starts working on it even if you’re busy doing other things. Try it and you’ll see for yourself.
I promised to write this blog for one week. I suppose since it’s Friday, I could consider the week over, but to be honest, I’m enjoying it too much to stop. So, I’ll be back tomorrow with one more posting. “Talk” to you then!