Sometimes, I am flooded by different ideas on what to write. Other times, my well is dry. So how do you find inspiration to keep you motivated as a writer? Here’s what I’ve found.
If you write from your passions and interests, that can elevate your interest and passion in your writing project. I wrote a story involving horses, which has been a longtime passion of mine, and it was the first piece I wrote during my MFA program that I actually liked. My professor praised the surety of my voice in that piece. I was happy.
Maybe your interests are something else. I am currently reading a story written by a former anthropologist and folklorist who uses her knowledge in those fields to craft her novel. Your education (whether formal or purely going down the Google-spiral of research) can vitally inform your writing. If you have experience doing lab work, incorporate that into a science fiction with all the technical lingo that comes with it. If you studied plants, let that come into play when describing the types of plant life in your fantasy land. Or make a character who loves plants and let them nerd out a bit on the page.
Alternatively, you can write using your own life as inspiration. Moments of high tension, pain and emotion work well. Did you go through a heart-wrenching divorce recently? Work that into the tone, internal and external conflict of your characters. Do you know what it’s like to be angry, fearful, sad? Take note of the physical reactions you had.
Part of writing well is being a good observer of life. What ticks do you notice your spouse do? What about that thing that sticks out to you about that local barista, or the lady you met last week? What about the personality of your coworker makes you feel so at ease or frustrated? Try combining different aspects of the people in your everyday world to create an altogether new character to populate your literary world. Another version of this is to take the plot of your favorite novel and summarize it. Then start swapping things around. What if the main character was a man instead of a woman? What if this story took place in London in 1875 instead of the modern day?
There are so many sources of inspiration around you, you merely have to look and identify them. Find what energizes you, what makes you want to put pen to paper or start tapping away on the keyboard. Find what makes your soul sing. Tune in next time to find out how to narrow down which project(s) to focus on.
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