WHAT CAN I WRITE ABOUT?

IS YOUR BRAIN EMPTY OF NEW IDEAS? PICK UP A NEWSPAPER!

If you're a writer and you're suddenly needing new inspiration, check out your local or national newspapers.

Not the inch high headlines but the small paragraphs that  are hoarded by editors to be used as fillers on their pages.

Odd, intriguing, funny or just plain weird, they're a wonderful storehouse of starting points for short story writers or novelists. 

Here are a few which I've keyed into my IDEAS file :

A FRENCH HUNTER HAS HAD HIS RIGHT HAND AMPUTATED AFTER BEING SHOT BY HIS DOG WHILE DEER HUNTING

BELGIAN WOMAN SETS OUT TO DRIVE 38 MILES TO BRUSSELS USING HER SATNAV,  ARRIVES IN THE CROATIAN CAPITAL ZAGREB 2 DAYS AND 901 MILES LATER.

PUB LANDLORD FINDS DEAD BODY OF REGULAR CUSTOMER IN THE GENTS' LAVATORY. FEARING THE POLICE WOULD CLOSE THE PUB FOR INVESTIGATIONS, HE HIDES THE BODY IN ONE OF THE PUB'S BEDROOMS FOR 4 DAYS.

AMERICAN FARMER EATEN BY OWN PIGS - here's one for the horror fiction writers. ALL THAT'S FOUND IS HIS SET OF FALSE TEETH.

COMA MOTHER LOSES 13 YEARS OF MEMORIES.

MOTHER RUNS BROTHEL TO PAY FOR CHILDREN'S SCHOOL FEES.

These are all genuine reports - mainly from my regular English  newspaper, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.

And here's my own favourite, possibly my next project:|

WOMAN LEAVES NOTICE ON DOOR OF HER ANTIQUE SHOP - 'BACK IN 2 MINUTES'. THIRTY  YEARS LATER SHE STILL HASN'T RETURNED.