Cat Falls For Cloth Doll

Even silly snaps we take ourselves can spark some great story ideas. This one I took of my (late) cat, Sir Whikis the Weighty (aka Whiskers) not only makes people laugh, it also gives writers great fodder for story ideas and characters.

Cat sleeping with cloth doll

 

What has made the cat fall in love with this cloth doll? Why has it become his security blanket? Does he carry it around the house with him. (Yes, he actually did!) What would happen if he could not find the doll? Would he still be able to sleep without his doll with him? What kind of thought process would occur in this cat’s brain when he first saw the doll? If someone took the doll away, what would the cat do? Who does the cat think he’s actually sleeping with when he’s with the doll?

If you translate these images into people, who would they be? Would the cat be a child, clinging to his security blanket because of an unstable home life? Or would it become an old man losing his memory, clinging to a last vestige of his past? Would the doll remain a doll, or would it morph into something of deeper significance to the human character?

Whether you anthropomorphize the cat or turn him human, there are great stories waiting in this photo.

Susan Tuttle

 Comments? Your story ideas from this photo…

QUOTE TO WRITE BY:

“I’m not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for?”          ~Alice Walker

About Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle is a professional freelance editor, writing instructor and multi-award winning author of 21 books—6 nonfiction on writing (Write It Right), 6 suspense novels and 7 collections of award-winning short stories. She also has stories in both volumes of "Deadlines", the new anthology from the Central Coast Chapter of Sisters in Crime (SinC), Tales from a Rocky Coast, and the SLO NightWriter anthology. Under the pen name Susan Grace O'Neill, she is the author of the Journey With Jesus series: Lord, Let Me Grow (Parables) vol. 1, and Lord, Let Me Walk (Lent). She is currently working on volume #2 of her Skylark P.I. series (a PI with paranormal abilities), as well as 2 YA fantasy series. And she teaches fiction writing in both the morning and afternoon every Wednesday. Email her if you're interested in joining her class. And follow her on Twitter and FaceBook.