As a writer, do you sometimes feel unmotivated to write? A boost of inspiration can get you back on track.
How to find inspiration for writing?
Below we share 5 ways.
1. Try a different story direction
Sometimes, it is difficult to find inspiration to write more chapters in a novel you’re already working on. When that happens, it is a good idea to evaluate where the story currently is and where you are planning to take it.
Then, instead of forcing yourself to write, try to ask some what-if questions about what would happen if a character took a different route. For example, perhaps you’re writing a mystery but the culprit seems like a very easy choice. Is it possible to use another suspect as the culprit instead? How does the story change and how do you feel about such changes?
Engaging with the story in your head without forcing yourself to write can help you find the inspiration to continue writing.
2. Listen to music
If you lack inspiration for a story, you can listen to songs and try to find the stories within the lyrics. That can inspire you to write a story of your own. This can also work with reading poetry – especially emotional poetry about love, loss, and other strong emotions.
On the other hand, if you’re already writing a story but lack inspiration to continue, you can listen to ambient music (which can be easily found by a search on Google or YouTube) that can bring you a certain mood that matches your story. For example, if you’re writing a fantasy story, you can search for suitable ambient music and try listening to that to enter the fantasy world you’ve created.
3. Reimagine real life
Reimagining real life means experiencing real life and reimagining it in a dramatic manner. Beware, however, that this exercise isn’t always pleasant. Since stories depend on drama and conflict, this reimagining tends to have a dramatic spin.
The idea is that you imagine a dramatic spin on mundane situations. For example, you’re waiting in line at the bank. What if armed robbers walked in and took all those present in the bank hostage? How would some of the characters you’ve created in your head react to it?
Another example, you’re walking on a street in your town or city. What if a very strong earthquake happened right at that moment, overturning cars, dropping buildings, and wreaking havoc? How would you or some characters you’ve created react to it?
The goal behind this type of reimagining is to exercise your imagination. You do not have to write these stories; all you need to do is engage with them to tweak your creative muscles and get yourself excited to write (maybe about the character you imagined the dramatic event happening to, or, if you’d like, about the situation that you imagined).
However, be careful with dramatic reimagining of real life, because overdoing it can and will increase your anxiety levels as a passive side effect. Engage with that only once in a while to get the creative juices flowing. It will help you become more creative in general. On the other hand, if you reimagine your own life in a dramatic way too often (for example, every day), you would be increasing your stress and anxiety levels, which in turn will make it more difficult for you to get inspired to write your stories and novels.
4. Watch documentaries
Documentaries can be wonderful sources of both research information and inspiration for stories. You want to write a story that involves diving in the ocean? Watch a documentary of a nautical nature – this can be regarding fishing, investigating the pollution in the ocean, and so forth.
Want to write a medieval fantasy? Watch documentaries or shows on a history channel on TV. If you have a specific time period in mind, try to find specific documentaries regarding that time period.
Or, if you lack any inspiration for a story, choose a documentary at random. If it doesn’t capture your interest, try again with a different type (i.e. science instead of history, for example). The documentary that catches your interest the most is probably the type that is close to where your interests currently lie writing wise. For example, if you end up becoming very interested in a science documentary, then maybe the story you should try to write lies in the science fiction genre.
Watching a documentary can be both entertaining and educating, and it is also visually stimulating. It will keep your mind engaged on a certain topic, and at the end of it, a story idea or some crumbs of a story idea might come to you. Or, if you’re already writing a story and you’re watching a documentary related to it (for example, a history documentary focusing on the time period you wish to write in), chances are by the end of it, you will be ready to enter that world again.
5. Visit museums, zoos, & art galleries
Museums are a wonderful way to expand your horizons and find new things to be interested into. In a manner similar to documentaries, museums would offer not just a written glimpse into a certain topic, as you would get if you are reading books to do research for your novel, but also engage you on a visual level through the exhibitions.
For example, a simple walk through a museum dedicated to your country’s history can inspire you to write a story set in your country’s past. Looking at the different exhibits – from items used in everyday life, to religious artefacts, types of clothing, weapons and more, can bring you closer to the world of the past and give you the spark that will ignite your imagination to start writing a historical novel or maybe a fantasy one set in a certain time period of the past.
On the other hand, taking a walk through a museum dedicated to technology can inspire you to look into the future, what humans will create, and write a science fiction story.
Zoos can inspire you because they enable you to see animals from various parts of the world that you might not be able to see in the wild where you live, especially exotic animals like lions, jaguars, and other predators that would actually kill you if you encountered them in an uncontrolled setting. So, if you’re into writing adventure fiction, a zoo can be the next best thing to a jungle, despite the controlled setting. You can still see the animals, note how they move, and imagine how they would behave in the wild.
As for art galleries – it is said that a picture can say a thousand words. Visiting art galleries and looking at art installations, paintings, or photographs can help you get inspired if you try to find the thousand words that the picture (in this case, art installation, painting, or photograph) is trying to say.
Does your interpretation of it have to be what the artist had in mind? Not really. What matters is your interpretation of it, what kind of story you will see in the art piece, because that is what can inspire you about your own story.