No matter how much you love writing, some days inspiration can prove elusive.
Inspiration is an important part of the writing process and it’s very hard to write if you’re not feeling very inspired.
But you can’t just sit around waiting for inspiration to strike. As Jack London says, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it was a club.”
Every writer needs inspiration in order to produce inspired writing.
So here’s a list of things that help me with inspiration:
- Books. This is definitely my favourite way of finding inspiration. If I read things by authors I love or on a subject I’m writing about then this definitely helps me with my own work.
- Blogs are another good way to find inspiration. Aside from this blog, there are hundreds of blogs with posts about writing and any subject you can think of. By reading about what works for others it can also inspire me too.
- Magazines contain both pictures and text that can be a great source of inspiration for stories, novels and blog posts.
- Films or TV programs inspire with both images and dialogue. Sometimes if I’m feeling uninspired I’ll sit and watch TV for a while and this will help me go over my block.
- Arts, pictures and photos can often spawn great ideas.
- Music. By hearing lyrics or emotions in a song can often stimulate the mind. I sometimes find it helpful to play music when I’m writing as it can help me focus better.
- Writing exercises. I usually get set these when I go to my writer’s group and it’s a good way to get you writing.
- A writing journal. This is something every writer should have as it’s a good way of writing down ideas or finding ideas when you’re feeling uninspired.
- Dreams. I get a lot of story ideas from my dreams. Sometimes I think it’s just my brain working overtime, but they can be a good source of inspiration when I need it