Helped a guy at a bus stop figure out his fantasy novel plot

I was waiting for the 72 bus in Portland last Tuesday and this older guy was scribbling in a notebook. He looked frustrated so I asked if he was writing something. Turns out he had this cool idea about a world where people can trade memories but he couldn't figure out how to end the story. I suggested he make the main character lose their most important memory as a sacrifice and he lit up like I'd given him gold. Have you ever had a random stranger help you break through a block like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

wright.leo2h ago

Did you feel like a genius after that? I had something similar happen at a coffee shop once where this girl was trying to name a character and I just blurted out "Silas" and she wrote it down and said it was perfect. Wild how a total stranger can just unlock something in your brain like that.

corah752h ago

Wait, are you sure it was a total stranger though @wright.leo? Because the way you tell it, you were sitting close enough to hear her naming a character, which sounds like you were at least at the next table or something. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but that feels a little different than a random person walking by on the street. Anyway, yes, I absolutely felt like a genius for a few seconds haha. It's just such a good feeling when you offer something up and it clicks perfectly for someone else. Your "Silas" example is spot on, it's got that slightly old fashioned but cool vibe that a lot of writers go for. I bet that girl still thinks about you every time she types that name into her manuscript.

alice_allen57m ago

Doesn't it make you wonder how many small moments like that happen every day, where someone says the exact right thing at the right time? Like, that girl probably went home and told her friends about the random guy at the coffee shop who helped her name her character, and now it's a little story in her life. It's kind of cool to think that a simple suggestion can ripple out like that.