Writing 'excercise/idea' Idea that hit me today while visiting Chicago

[The Straight Story]

I was enjoying the day with my wife and daughter at the science museum when I decided to slip outside for a smoke. I found the appropriate area and stood there puffing away taking in the sites before me.

I won't bore you with all that - but something I saw inspired me. A rather tall building across the way, appeared to be aparments or condos. I started asking myself questions about the place and then it just hit me:

What would it take for me to write a short 1 or 2 page story about each and every tenant of the building (or perhaps not tenant in the singular but apt by apt, which could be one person or many in which case the many would be a story of more than one in 2 pages. Families, et al, I am blathering on again though...)?

How many ideas and characters could I create to fill it's massive structure (it looked to be 20 stories)? It would, to me, be a good exercise in creativity.

I expanded this later as I thought more to include Hotels (I am staying at one in downtown Chicago as I write this). Such would be different as the people change so often and the entire setting is different in it's base (plus I would toss in bell hops, etc into the writing).

I don't know, perhaps this is crazy to some but when I get home I think I may just work on this here and there to help me to be more creative and realistic in writing.

Just thought I would toss it out :)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Go for it!

You never know where something like this will lead you.....

I do think that this sort of thing has been done in the past.....

But that's no reason to avoid doing it again, IMHO....

:hi:

[The Straight Story]

2. Thanks

I hope it has been done, and if so would love to read it!

I will work on this for myself though just to see what I come up with (The idea also meshed with a book I recently bought which has 365 horror stories, averaging about 2 pages each).

Creating a few characters can be a struggle at times (that is, to do them well) I cannot imagine a whole building full :)

Perhaps I will call it 21 - for 21 floors of people and their jobs, psyches, favorite shows, dreams, fears, and so on.

Would be interesting to see what is common among people, and see who stands out and why. All with a different past, hopes, dreams, issues, desires, and so on.

Life is so varied and yet so much the same in some ways. Picking the variables and how they intertwine in life should be educational.

I have no formal writing classes or skills, I am a hack and high school dropout and not a lot of background education to go on (except I have read a lot).

Perhaps it would be of interest to ask folks on DU to come up with one person and see how different/similar they are...

[Wetzelbill]

3. that's a good idea

also a fun exercise is to just sit and watch people walk by. Make up histories and descriptions of their lives in your head. Maybe later write down the ones you like and remember. Pretty easy to do. Interesting too.