Will I Ever Run Out of Ideas?
Born in Memphis, Paula Petty attended David Lipscomb University in Nashville before graduating from the University of Memphis with a degree in merchandising and a minor in marketing. Paula married her college sweetheart shortly after graduation. They reside in Chattanooga, TN.
Paula has worked in a variety of job roles which gives her insights into the many characters in her writing. Most recently, she worked as the highway safety coordinator in Hamilton County and as tobacco prevention services coordinator of Bradley County. She still facilitates smoking cessation classes across the county.
She served as county PTA president, a state vice president and has done workshops on various roles and job responsibilities, conflict resolution and getting and keeping volunteers and has spoken at several conferences relating to character education, STARS (Students Taking a Right Stand) and the state PTA. Mission trips have taken her to places such as Honduras, Jamaica and Cuba where she has spoken at several conferences.
She devotes her time to writing and has several articles published.
I sat at my laptop facing a blank wall trying to organize my thoughts into ideas. If ideas are just expanded experiences why do I have so much trouble finding them and molding them into a presentable bestseller?
I tried looking for ideas out my window, but the butterflies that inspire many writers into producing pages only distracted me.
Nothing exciting ever happened to me. The more tried to think, the less thoughts I had. Maybe I needed a break. Maybe I needed to look elsewhere for ideas. I grabbed my purse and headed for the car. It was time to go on a search for ideas. Besides, I was all out of chocolate.
I stopped on my way to take care of some business. I wanted to have the power bill paid from my account instead of my late father’s account. The lady told me I needed to get his signature. I thought she misunderstood me, so I said, “Ma’am, my father’s been dead for ten years.” She picked up a piece of paper and told me that in that case, I could take it to him and get his signature.
What?
There are few things that leave me speechless (too few according to my husband). That was one of them. I left shaking my head and hoping that somewhere a camera was hidden.
I then stopped to attend a funeral. I was greeted at the gravesite by someone who as they shook my hand, pointed to the grave and said, “Watch your step, there’s a hole there.”
Huh? I was not that old. I had almost perfect vision with my contacts except for a little astigmatism. The six-foot hole I would have seen without my contacts.
Making a quick exit and avoiding the hole, I decided that I was better off at home using my own illogical logic to spawn the ideas.
But first, I really needed to finish painting the bedroom (okay I do stupid things, too, especially when I am frustrated and angry). My daughter had strategically plastered about fifty glow-in-the-dark stars in different sizes on the ceiling. They lay hidden in the textured ceiling during the day. So I had to wait until night to find them glowing. (Now the garbage bag glows in the dark).
Frustrated, tired and with sore hands from reaching for the ceiling stars, I sat back down at my laptop thankful that all I faced was a blank wall. I hoped that all of those ideas in my head would somehow find its way onto a page.
I shook my head and slapped my forehead. Great, Paula. Just great. I forgot the chocolate.
Note: All of the above were real incidences in my life, which is why I don’t have to search too hard for ideas.
Paula Petty is incorporating some of her “ideas” into her work in progress—a mystery. Visit her website at www.paulapetty.com for more information or email her at paulapetty@aol.com.
June 26, 2011
Posted in: Guest Blogs
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2 Responses
Not to be irreverent, but maybe when you were at the cemetery you could have got that signature the power company wanted. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
But you’re right, ideas can come from anywhere, which is why we need to keep our minds open at all times. You never know what will fall into it.
You have a zany sense of humor which comes through in your writing. I enjoy any writing more when I know it comes from the writer’s own experience. The blog was very amusing with the stories you relate from your day in search of ideas.
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