Using objects for inspiration

In a writing class I took a few years ago, we were asked to bring in an object that was important to us. In class, we were asked to write a story inspired by the object, or the story of that object. One of the most unusual objects was baby teeth! 

Then we were asked to incorporate someone else's object into our stories. For many people, this meant their stories took a completely different direction, and showed how an originally mundane story could easily become unexpected.  

Writing the unexpected is important in order for your work to be unique, stand out from the crowd, and therefore more appealing to editors. I was very proud of the story that came out of that session, and it was the piece I read out at the end of the course. There were gasps of surprise as I read, and that affirmed for me that I had surprised my audience.'It began in Zanzibar' which was published earlier this year.

If you are looking for inspiration for your next story, walk through your home, and look at the objects that matter to you, and think about the story behind them. Is there a tatty curio from a foreign holiday, or ticket stubs from a great concert, or a piece of jewellery or furniture that you've inherited. What are the stories behind these objects? 

Then challenge yourself to incorporate a random object - the first thing you see in someone else's home,  in a charity story, or flip through a dictionary and use the first noun your finger lands on - there are any number of ways of generating random objects, including websites which will generate random words: https://www.randomlists.com/random-words

Everyday objects provide a wealth of inspiration, and incorporating something random can make a everyday story extraordinary.