Essay published on Marylee MacDonald’s site for writers

Marylee MacDonald Header: Where do story ideas come from?

by LYNN SLOAN, February 16, 2019

Stacks of books, "Start with Why" is highlighted

“So where do you get your story ideas?”

My old friend’s question stumped me.

Recently she had begun writing short stories based closely on her own experiences, and she’d just finished reading my story collection, This Far Isn’t Far Enough. An army grunt in occupied German after World War II; a failed actor caring for his famous actor-wife now suffering from Alzheimer’s; an angry daughter who uncovers her dead mother’s secrets; these characters and these situations didn’t spring from what she knew about me. None of the stories in This Far Isn’t Far Enough come from my life.