Your own picture is worth a thousand words…or at least one good story idea

Using your phone’s camera to create a library of great writing prompts

We all have habits. Some good, some not so much. One of mine has proved a creative goldmine over the years. When I am out and about in the world, I’m always ready to whip out my phone and snap things that catch my attention and stir my creativity. Things that are incongruous, things that make me chuckle, or evoke some emotional response. Things that are beautiful, or just bizarre.

The image above is an example, taken on a trip to Japan, when I was visiting the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto. It was a crowded, humid day and the air was alive with excited chatter from tourists and the smells of food cooking on street stalls on the pathway to the temple complex. Many Japanese people take the opportunity to hire traditional costumes, adding vibrant colour to the scene. I noticed this group of three young women next to a food stall, and immediately knew there was a picture prompt here. I waited for a gap in the crowds, held up my phone and took a quick snap.

It’s a fairly attractive picture - nicely composed, the colours are bright. But what captured my imagination was the potential narrative I saw - that younger girl sat on the wall, shoulders a little rounded, the bag held reluctantly in her hands, sandals dangling. There’s a kind of rebelliousness to the pose, topped off with that look on her face, some unresolved resentment aimed at the two girls she may, or may not know. A whole hinterland of a story in one frame.

We are lucky, us modern humans. Most of us carry a camera phone that can not only take good, clear images, but also store them for instant reference. I’m of an age where I remember the palavar of 35mm film rolls and having to wait to finish the whole reel before sending the negatives away to be developed, printed and  returned. There were no second chances, no instant appraisal. You couldn’t see if your pictures turned out okay, but had to wait to find out if those impressive holiday vistas were just blurred bits of sky, or those photos of your best friend’s wedding chopped the bride’s head off. Good times!

Now, our instant access to snapshots means we can hold hundreds of potential stories in our pockets. We can use our phone cameras as writing prompt generators, as well as images that can help us develop scenes or situations or characterisation in longer works.

I have created a timed writing exercise for my Paid Subscribers beyond the paywall below, using images I have stored in my phone. I hope some of you may be tempted to hit the button and become a paid subscriber. It’s only £40 a year (US$50) right now, and for that you not only get a weekly post, usually with a useful writing exercise, but you also get access to some of the things I will be adding as the Writing Talk community grows, including story analysis, feedback sessions, and discounts on other courses and workshops. The more paid subscribers I get, the more I can do for you.