Hello everyone!
Have you ever noticed how everyday things can be the best inspiration? I recently got two parakeets: first Orville, then Wilbur a week later. Orville was lonely, so it seemed like the right decision to get him a brother.
It struck me that my interactions with my birds were a lot like the way I develop characters for a story. I got Orville for companionship and planned to let our relationship develop based on his personality, but I got Wilber to fill a hole in Orville’s life. (I had a function and name, all that was missing was the character.)
Once Wilbur joined our family, Orville’s true personality came out. The quiet bird who let me hold him, became a vocal hand-avoider. As a result, I had to re-think the way I was training both birds.
My parakeets have been so inspiring to me, that I’ve decided to turn them into characters for a picture book. I have several ideas for the theme, but it could still change.
Your challenge for the next two weeks is to use something new or ordinary from your daily life as the foundation for a picture book, short story, or poem.
I’d love to know what your inspiration is and whether you will be writing a picture book, short story, or poem. If you’re comfortable sharing, please post in the comments below.
Happy writing!
Katie
If you’re like me, you were taught growing up that you should never end a sentence with a preposition. Maybe you’ve also found yourself in a situation where you tried really hard to re-write a sentence so that it did 
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