IWSG June 2026 Where Do stories Come From?

 Welcome readers, writers, authors, and bloggers!

We're glad you're here! It's the First Wednesday of the month; when we celebrate IWSG Day in the form of a blog hop featuring members and guests of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Founded by author Alex Cavanaugh (Thank you, Captain!) and fostered by like-minded associates, IWSG is a comfortable place to share views and literary news as we record our journeys. Check out the December newsletter here.

The awesome co-hosts for this month’s posting of the IWSG are:   Victoria Marie Lees, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and C. Lee McKenzie!

 

 Today’s entirely optional question: Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?

You’d think I’d have a patented answer for this question by now, since it is one of the most commonly asked questions a writer ever gets. Back in the early days of swing-singing – before I could even spell my own name – the answer was easy: I reported the news as I’d heard or discerned it from all over the cul-de-sac (the neighbor’s chagrin notwithstanding) at the top of my lungs each morning at sunrise from the vantage point of my backyard swing. I use the word “News” lightly here, as in those days the word referred to something you could believe in. Whether you wanted to hear it or not was mostly up to you (neighbor’s remorse, notwithstanding)

What I truly admire is how authors manage to weave stories around news events that might otherwise have faded away if not for the riveting narratives that became sensational movies, such as Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie) and Hidden Figures (Margot Lee Shetterly).

Did I mention that the story I spoke of last month (Tortilla Bandits) was based on a true story? We just decided not to file a Police report ;-)  

I’ve just finished reading my fifth book of the year (so far). How’s your reading list doing?

Fun Fact: In Brazilian prisons, reading a book can reduce a prisoner’s sentence by four days!

That’s it for me, for now. See Ya all out there!

 

Happy Writing