A Creative Exercise

I've been feeling a little creatively drained today, and ran across a creative exercise that I had done back in January. I need to do this again, and thought I would share...



Here is the idea. My creativity comes not from inventing things from whole cloth, but from adjusting and adding to the world I see.

I found this story in the New York Times from January 13 1907:

TRAMP WAS A NOBLEMAN

Swedish Judge Identifies Old Man Found Dead--Fortune Awaited Him.

I won't quote the whole article, but here are the essentials: A Swedish noble, who had a massive estate waiting for him in Europe, dies in the middle of Ohio. He had been wandering around the United States for years. The story gave just enough detail to make me curious, but not enough to answer all of my questions.

Here is the exercise. Find a minor little story like this. First, write down all the details you can find, including the random ones...

Then, start asking questions. What part of the story is incomplete? What else would you like to know? When you have a good batch of questions, start answering them. Any idea works here, just jot it down.

Finally, circle the most entertaining answers. Et Voila! You have a much more entertaining story, now complete with conspiracies, spurned loves and family feuds.