How do I Pick my Subjects

How do I decide what to write about? That question was asked of me recently and I was asked to write a short article about it.

Christianity is a big part of my life. God has helped me many times in my life. I love him and I know he loves me. Because of this Christianity comes out a lot in most of my stores. Sometimes I write stories but they are not my words. The words come from God. I just opened my mind and let God take over. When that happens I am truly amazed at the story I have written.

Well first I come from a big family I have five sisters and two brothers. I also know a lot about my family history going back about 200 years. That right there gives me a lot to write about.

Sometimes I also write about current events, such as the 100th anniversary of the Titanic. I wrote a little story about the Titanic. When there was a shooting in Colorado recently. I put down my feelings in the form of a short story.

Sometimes I have dreams and I use them as the basis for my stores. One time my brother-in-law had a dream, we talked about it and a few days later I decided to use it as a basis for story.

I have also written stories about special friends in my life. Some of them have led some very interesting life's. Some of them are just starting out and have their whole life in front of them. I have also written the story about my sister's dog, Bud. Bud is a blue healer is one of the most even-tempered dogs I have ever seen.

Sometimes I write about an actor or actors or a show or movie or even a book I like. I have even use scenes from some shows in some of my stores because I thought they were so beautiful.

I also like to write about holidays, especially Christmas, which is my favorite holiday.

Another favorite topic is hymns. The words are so beautiful in so many of the hymns I just love them. The writers of the hymns must have truly been inspired by God. I don't think any man or woman could write those beautiful words without God's help.

I have a series of short stories about an eight-year-old boy, his name is James Balouee. Everyone calls him Phooey. He loves to play detective and solve mysteries like his father does. Many years ago I heard the line “Phooey, Phooey Balouee and other stories.” I have no idea where it came from but I thought it would be a great name for a group of stories. When I started writing it got shortened to just Phooey Balouee.

Now that I told you what I write about, let me tell you how I decide what to write. I get an idea in my head and it rolls around in my head, sometime for weeks. I'm trying to figure out just how to make it into a story. Trying to figure out just what I want to say, and how to say it. Some of my ideas are not that good and I usually forget about them within a few days, other ideas are real good, and I can't wait to get them down on paper. My ideas can come from just about anywhere, friends, relatives, television, newspapers, radio, songs, or even books I read. Sometimes ideas pop into my head out of nowhere, I don't know where they came from, all the sudden they are there. And I will work on them for a week or two to see if I can get a story out of them.

Let me warn you about something right now. If you are going to write about a friend or relative, make sure you have their permission before you put it on the Internet. Some people are very private, and don't want anything about them publicized anywhere, others couldn't care less. I have a friend I wrote about he said “If it is the truth write it.” Unfortunately in that story I use some of our friends names and they didn't want their names in the story, so I ended up changing all the names in the story. You have to respect other peoples privacy at all times or you could end up in some real trouble.

When I use words written by other people in my story I always make sure I write down who actually wrote them and who made them famous if I know it. This saves a lot of hassles farther down the road.

I get a great deal of pleasure out of writing my stories. I have not made much money on my stories but that's okay I did not come into this to make money. Anybody who starts writing stories just to make money will probably end up very upset, because it is a hard way to make money. I do it for two reasons. One, like I said I enjoy it. Two, I do it because I think I can help someone else. If I can help someone else, that makes me happy. It is also a great way to get your feelings out.

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