We Got to Install Microwave Ovens...

Yesterday evening, we got ourselves a microwave oven for the first time (where we live, many people prefer good old-fashioned stoves and ovens, and up until recently, microwave ovens were way overpriced and simply not worth it unless you really can't live without one). We spent the evening experimenting with it (my SO was preparing food - it turned out pretty good - and I was cleaning afterward), but today morning, my mind started to work in another direction: that of a writer.

The first thing I looked up in the microwave oven instructions was how to prepare coffee, and while I was preparing it, I thought of a story or a book character. The first thing she does when she gets up is  make a Nescafe in a microwave oven. It's like a gesture, like someone grabbing for cigarettes and a lighter as soon as they open their eyes in the morning; only after she had her coffee, her mind starts functioning. It's then that her day starts.

Except for that one thing, I don't know anything about her; but with that one thing, she seems so clear in my mind. I don't know whether I'm ever going to actually write about her; right now, while she does seem clear, I don't know her story yet. But this post isn't about her, not really. It isn't about microwave ovens, either.

This post is about a small thing which sparks a new character or a story idea or, sometimes, even a novel idea into life. It can start so small, and can end up pretty big - and if you're a writer, such a thing can happen anytime, with next to anything and everything.

So, what was the last small thing giving you an idea for a character, or a story, a scene, a plot, a book?

For the end, something not quite related: because of the line from the title of this post, this song keeps going on in my head.