Everyday objects, especially antiques, are a rich source of ideas to write about. When you hear or see something interesting, take notes.
About a year ago I watched an episode of Antique's Roadshow. A couple brought in a small tobacco jar shaped like an owl. It was odd looking - downright ugly in fact. The expert asked them if they liked it. They admitted it was hideous, and said they'd inherited it. They seemed a bit embarrassed to be bringing such a weird, aesthetically unpleasing object to the show.
Then the expert said, 'if I told you it was worth twenty thousand pounds would you like it a bit more?'
'Oh yes,' they said. 'Actually, looking at it again, it's not that bad. Maybe it's quite attractive...'
It didn't happen quite like this, of course, because my memory has been embroidered by my imagination, but the gist of the story is the same.
I stored the owl away in the back of my mind, and have now pulled it out as I finish a new book called 'The Button Bottle.' How I wish I'd taken proper notes at the time. I had to do a complicated google search to find the details.
I have an ideas file, but I tend to rely on memory. Of course I forget the details and have to spend time researching half remembered facts when I'm writing the story.
So my new resolution is this - when something strikes me as interesting - if it's enough for me to say to someone else, 'Hey, did you read about....?' then I should jot down the facts in my file.
