|| Three Ways Museums Make You a Better Writer ||

The day dawned at an early 7:50. For me, at least. I pressed snooze several times on my alarm, turned over in bed once or twice, and finally rolled out. It wasn't a grey day, but the wind promised a chill. 

I rushed to be ready by 8:45, when I would leave for the train station. It was the day I would venture into the city. 

The original visit was meant for frolicking around at German Christmas Market. However, one does not simply go to the city for one event. We made a few other stops. Parks, a coffee shop, and museums. 

Ah, yes. Museums. Those buildings of history and art and culture and the present and the future all combined under one roof. Beautiful things, are they not? I love museums. There's so much to see and learn--no matter how many times you visit. 

My friend and I went to a museum based off of the current state of architectural designs. We were passing by on our way to the next destination, and it was free to the public. So we thought, why not?

As we walked through this place of beauty, there was so much that struck me as story inspiration (which can be anything, really). Nonetheless, there's numerous lessons to gather from visiting a museum:

1. People-watching

This one is pretty obvious. As writers, our job is to people watch. But because it was a cold day and the museum was free to the public, there were all sorts of persons sitting around in the lobby just being them. There was this one guy who had a huge colorful crocheted hat wrapped around his hair. Trust me, this thing was ginormous--it was as if he had an animal hiding under there or something. But he just sat on one of the couches crocheting away at another project. He seemed joyful and friendly. But, being the introverted writerly sort that I am, I just observed and walked away. But that picture is stored in my mind. You can also find large groups of schoolkids running around museums, prissy higher class folks who walk around in their high heels and stand at a piece of art for fifteen minutes, and the everyday joe who meanders along whilst sipping a cup of joe. Use these people to populate your books. 

2. Setting

Museums are often works of art themselves. The architecture is intricate and often not something you see on an everyday basis. Take lots of pictures in these unique places. You never know when you'll want to pull something from a real-life setting scene to use in your fiction. Even just a detail like the gemstone colors used in the tiling. Or maybe the antique lanterns that adorned the walls. Museums are chock full of treasures like these. 

3. Inspiration

Yes, the people and setting are inspiration themselves. But the actual art or history displayed grants extraordinary amounts of plot-bunnies. One usually walks out of a museum with more knowledge than before of something. And abstract pieces of artistic genius fill the walls with questions that you can very well answer in your next novel. Jus' sayin'. 

I might have to venture to the city more often to step into another of these capsules of life.

What about you? Are there any settings/plot/characters of yours that are inspired by trips to a museum?