Or. how inspiration can come from Radio 4
It was day 26 of NaNoWriMo and for the second day in a row I woke up with no ideas in my head for #30days30shorts.
Nothing.
Usually my subconscious brain mulls over various options during the night and pops an idea straight into the front of my conscious mind when I wake. But today, like yesterday, nothing.
As I lay there, desperately trawling my brain for ideas – any idea – the radio alarm came on. It was the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme. The lead headline was the death of Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary and dictator.
And I started thinking about revolutionaries and what they do when the war is over. And then I started thinking about their families and how they cope with returning warriors. Within a couple of hours, the first draft of the story, The Return, was finished.
Yes, short story ideas can come from anywhere, and that includes Radio 4 and the Today programme.
Ruth Livingstone 