Cracking Concepts #10: Terminus
Train stations, bus terminuses and airports are great sources of inspiration for characters because you see people who might not normally be in your orbit, and because all of them are already on a journey.
Idea starters:
Head to some sort of terminus – it’s better if it involves long-haul travel – and just start looking at the people coming and going.
Where have they come from?
Where are they going?
What hopes do they have?
What fears kept them awake last night?
What bad news have they just heard?
What dark secret are they keeping from those they’re leaving or those they’re heading towards?
What’s in that bag?
What if they lost that bag?
What if someone else, their opposite in every way, got a hold of that bag?
What would that trigger for both of them?
Look for Very characters – people who seem like they’re extreme in some way.
Why have they developed that Mask?
Who or what would confront this character and shake up their world?
Look for mismatched couples.
What bonds them? What could challenge that bond?
Don’t overthink this one. Don’t set out to try to create a long-form story. Just focus on the possibilities of this moment and see where it takes you.