Image by annmariephotography from Pixabay
I have no idea what to write about tonight. So I think I will make a list of the things that I can write, you know, kind of like a brainstorm process.
The Cat Fight
The first thing comes into my mind was an incident happened many years ago between my warring parents. It’s about a cat. In those days when I was young, we had a farmer who would bring us his newest crops, especially rice. Actually this farmer brought rice to many families in our neighborhood. The thing is those rice we bought in the store was at least one year, if not two years old. Obviously the taste was not as good as the fresh ones. One day when he came, my mother gave our cat to him. She hated that cat and she knew my father liked the cat. So this was her way to get back at him.
The Love Story
I have been thinking about how to write this story for ages with dozens if not hundreds of variations. So a man and a woman had a relationship several years ago. Then they meet again. He is a little upset since the woman wrote about their relationship in two books she has published. Those books are not widely read, but still he read them and feels that the male characters are constructed after him and several scenes are not really flattering. An argument ensues, in which she alternately coaxes, panders, and provokes him. He can’t really sue her since she has changed a lot of things and he can’t really claim that the character is him although he feels that it is. The second consideration is the nature of his work. His reputation in the community is very important to him and his family. He really doesn’t want to go to court for this. The encounter doesn’t solve anything although she tells him that she is open to his suggestions as to how to make changes to the characters.
Several months later, she writes a short story about this encounter. She wonders what to do.
Community Newspapers
We have several community newspapers that are free. You can grab them while shopping in the Asian grocery stores here. And they are really bad. They are not really newspapers since they only contain announcements, not news. I mean those articles are written by people who want to announce their events. So I think these articles should be called announcement rather than news. Somehow these articles give an air of propaganda or exhibition.
I’ve always wanted to write a post about these awful newspapers, but at the same time I’m also a little sympathetic towards them as a business–they exist only as a “bulletin board” for advertisements.
Something About Psychology And Family Dynamic
Since I’ve been watching videos on narcissism, I want to write about what I’ve learned. These videos are mainly based on American families or British families since the several psychologists I was watching have American or British accents. It is interesting that so far I don’t feel that Asian families are different psychology-wise. I think they should be different but I don’t feel they are different if analyzed from a psychology point of view.
Write About Something Creative
So far I’ve never written anything that’s really creative. And probably I am not creative at all. Everything I’ve written so far is molded and twisted on true stories. Some of the conversations are written completely verbatim. Probably a ghost story or a dystopia story, or a utopia story, will fulfill the need for creativity. How about a seemingly utopia story in the beginning, which soon descends into dystopia. This is not really farfetched since I’ve watched marriages going on this track…
As a guy who still misses his cat, that story saddens me.
Still, though, those are all good ideas. One of my friends told me to start writing my low-brow science fiction novel and I have no idea what to write about. I wish I had your creativity in that regard.
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I wish I had even a fraction of the tenacity you have with writing and storytelling. I personally find stories about ordinary life and true stories more compelling and relatable. The interest is in people’s feelings to events than the actual events.
That cat fight story was so sad, I didn’t have the same thing happen but could imagine that happening. If only our older generations were all widely aware of how to be excellent to each other. We’d probably be a lot less shaken about a lot of things.
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I think you have to write whatever you feel compelled to write. You do just that, and you deserve respect for it. You have a unique take on things that no other person has. You have a unique “voice” that I immediately recognise when I read your writing. Whether you call that “creative” or not perhaps doesn’t matter. In my view it is creative because you produce something out of nothing. The events are nothing in a sense until a human being interprets them. No so-called creative writer is working in a vacuum. They are drawing on all their personal experience and the culture they live in.
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Thank you. That’s such a sweet encouragement. This is what I need to continue my pursuit. Often I am plagued by negative thoughts that I can’t go on, but something push me forward, like the content I want to let loose in the world and the positive comments from you. LOL. Wish I could write better, but we do what we can.
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It’s sad your mum gave the cat away especially since your dad liked it. A lot of times people in toxic marriages do things like these without realising that the children are also effected.
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Yes, she loves to do that to frustrate the family members. She has given away my stamps and my toys many times. She’s not having fun herself and she doesn’t want other members to have fun either. The unbreakable relationships around her pushed her into an intense dislike of us.
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That’s quite sad but some people are like that. If they can’t be happy no one can be.
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That’s so true, especially in a family with an overworked mom who dislikes house chores, but has no way around it.
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Love these interesting idea on what we writers can turn our pens toward! In a world saturated with stories, it is indeed hard to come up with something new. ❤
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Yes, it’s all been attempted before and we are just repeating. LOL.
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I love the idea of the catfight. You should write it. Our local newspaper is like the ones you find at the market, It’s more like local propaganda.
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I hear you. That’s so true. The local newspaper… I agree. Now with your encouragement, I will think of a way of writing something about them.
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You are a brilliant storyteller. You may have some weaknesses but lack of creativity is not one of them!
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Thank you for the encouragement. I really need it. Sometimes I feel rather down about my writing skills and everything. What can we do? We can only get up and try again.
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