Last weekend found me in Silverton Co. for the last of the season’s snowshoeing. The trail was rutted with snowmobile tracks and the snow slushy. But this tiny town nestled in the San Juan mountains offers plenty for the writer’s imagination.
It is impossible for a writer to “turn off” even when poor conditions challenge tired muscles .
Silverton smacks of the wild west and is all about setting. Every nook and cranny offers up colorful local detail. I would love to imbed myself here and write. For now I settle for photos and soak up place. After all it is all about location, location, location.
A strong setting here but what about character? I find my self wondering who is the child who lives here? Who explores the abandoned buildings? Who built and plays with this unique wagon?
In a town this size there can only be a handful of children the same age. Perhaps these sleds are enough for you and all of your friends.
Character. Who are the mother’s, wives, women who erected this Christ of the Miners to look after the husband’s, boys, sons, men who risked their lives in the mines?
And what about plot?
A hike to the grave yard suggests a number of plots and subplots with twists and turns all along the way.
It’s all there. Mine explosion, Soiled Doves(think prostitute) a benevolent Madam, suicide and alcoholism….the imaginings begin and the writer never stops plotting.