Well, today I have a funeral to go to. I don't have to go to it, in fact ten or fifteen years ago I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have attended this particular person's funeral at all.
Let me explain. You see it's my step father's funeral. I never liked the man; as a matter of fact in earlier years I detested him. He was abusive and not a very nice person.
So you ask, why are you going? Well, I thought about it and the main reason is for my family. He was the father of my last two siblings and I want to be there for them and my mother. I'm not very close to my family so this will not be an easy day but often we do things we don't find particularly pleasing and usually we grow from it.
I will take mental notes and maybe gain fiction characters from this day. My step father's mother is a hard unfriendly woman and I see where he got his personality from. I have six brothers and sisters and most of them will be there. They each have an average of three kids ranging from a few months old to 24 years old. There will be a lot of people and that's just my immediate family. I have a cousin who has five kids; three of them are grown and have children of their own. I should be able to get some character ideas from that group.
Look at every opportunity as writing material. I think even, and maybe especially, the unpleasant situations can be a plethora of ideas. :0)
