You never know what kind of junk you’re going to save over the years and where it will lead you with regard to writing.  You might be inspired by that fortune cookie message, a magazine article, a  play bill, a photograph, a sketch or note, a menu, a ticket stub saved from times gone by.

Perhaps they stimulate a memory, or perhaps they send your imagination soaring on a new path for a story.  Either way you can use these to inspire a story or poem.  My writing mentor is fond of saying we may write garbage but we can mine it for the jewels.  I spent a week one summer writing several pages over and over and what I ended up using in my story was the last paragraph.  I had to go through all the other “stuff” to get there. 

Be open, let your muse have fun and you will, too.  Use the fortune as a jumping off place for a new mystery.  The message could be “tomorrow you will die by the teeth of the dragon” and the protagonist goes through a massive effort to figure out if he/she should be afraid or ignore it. What happens if they throw the message away and then they are in a car accident.  See where I’m going with this?  Look for ideas everywhere.  And when one strikes you, write it down.  It may become your next published short story or novel.

Oh, and don’t be afraid to write garbage, you can always mine it for the jewels later.  Just keep writing!