Last year one of my children moved in with someone who had bed bugs. Until this little incident in our lives I had always thought that bed bugs were a part of a children’s bedtime story. No way did I ever in a million years think the little creepy things were an actual “thing”. The house they had was infested and they actually had to move in order to get away from them leaving behind all their furniture.

While most parents would have been pissed that their child was exposed to these invaders, and I was to some degree, I had quite a different take on the whole mess. The bed bugs inspired me to consider a story where a small town was taken over by an alien race that took the form of bed bugs. Why bed bugs you might ask? Well upon researching these creepy crawlies I learned that bed bugs were quite apt at hiding. They are flat in their unfed form and can literally slide into any crevice available. This brings me to the other incredibly interesting aspect of bed bugs…they feed on blood, human blood. (que the creepy laugh – bwahahahaha….)

These facts along with their size, the fact that they reproduce like freaking rabbits and their ability to move really fast made them excellent little aliens who could take over an unsuspecting small town. It made for a fun little short story which may lead to an actual anthology utilizing insects. Do you see what happened there? Bed bugs inspired me! (And made me itch a bit while writing the story)

My point is that you can find inspiration in just about anything at all, even something you didn’t realize actually existed. As a writer you should always be looking at things with a “writer’s eye”. The “writer’s eye” is the ability to see the story in just about anything…even bed bugs.

Try this….while heading out this week to handle life try seeing things with your writer’s eye. See the story possibility in every aspect of your life. If you do I’ll bet by the week’s end you find a new story just waiting to make you itch! (See what I did there? Que creepy laugh again – bwahahahaha)

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