Potential start of a story

Hello to all!
             Can't get ideas for your books or short stories? Look around you. On your way to work or to drop the kids off at school, check out the other people you meet or see. Don't do this so obviously that they think you are staring at them. Just take a glance or two. This doesn't look out of place, and, combined with imagination, can start you on a new story or even a short story. Just do not make it blatantly staring. Choose a promising study and apply the five questions to them: How, When, Why, What and Which. You'll be amazed what your brain can do with those questions.

Of course, it is always better if some little thing also catches your eye as you glance quickly. A spot on the nose or face of a perfectly dressed and made-up lady? Was she distracted about something when she put her makeup on? Now what could that have been? And you can go on from there. You do not have to know what the problem was, where she is going or anything else. She has served her purpose, simply by being there. You can build on just the look of her.

See how you can build up a story from a quick glance? A second glance may add to the story, if she wearing obviously imported clothes or shoes. Or she has a dark-toned face? Is she from a different country? Here to find someone or something very important? Possibly a lover or something else? And where is she going to start her search? Has she any clue where to start?

This is where mind maps come into the equation. Be as outrageous as you can when you first start. Use free flow with your thinking and just go with it. A great story can be partially developed using this method. After you have finished, do NOT just continue to let your brain whirl or go blank. Get up, walk around, and DO NOT think about what you are trying to do. Put it totally out of your mind, preferably for the rest of the day.

The next day, come back and look at your notes, or scribblings, if you prefer. Follow the main word out on each line you have written and find if you can go any further. I will be very surprised if one line cannot be continued. Take that out, but don't throw the rest of the map away. Please, DO NOT THROW ANY MIND MAPS AWAY. Instead, put them into a shoe box or some storage device and keep them. Often, if you take one or two out weeks, months or even years later, you will have yet another one to start a story with. Sometimes the premise in the first place seemed impossible or ridiculous, but with the speed technology is moving, science has expanded, and the globe has seemed to shrink, it may not be any of those in the not-to-distant future. Make a set date each year to throw or at least go through all these cards or bits of paper, or at least go through them.