General Sources of Inspiration

Inspiration strikes without warning and sometimes without reason. If you’re stuck and running bone dry on inspiration, here are a few of the general sources of inspiration in everyday life.

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1. Reading

The most obvious and repeated source of inspiration for writers like myself is reading. Reading widely and a lot is the best way for writers to keep their skills sharp even when they don’t have an active project. Read outside your genre, read anything and everything you can get your hands on. This is especially important for new writers. Take note of how that author constructs dialogue, what about the characters keeps you reading, why did that big emotional scene hit so hard? How can you learn to have the same impacts without mimicking another author’s voice? Reading outside your genre will help you to identify tropes and constructs of your own genre. It may also just give you some elements to creatively and uniquely tailor to your genre, style and voice.

2. Music

Music, in its own way, tells a story. The instrumentals and lyrics evoke emotions, images and scenes. These can spark inspiration in those who listen. In my own work many elements were inspired by a few well-timed and perfectly insightful songs. In fact, an entire subplot in my debut trilogy was inspired by a single song. Open your mind, your heart and your ears, and music can be the biggest inspiration you’ve ever encountered.

3. Real-Life Conversations/People Watching

People watching is an awesome way to spark some inspiration. Get out of the house, grab a coffee and just sit in the café and watch the people come and go. If you are feeling extra creative, bring a laptop and spend the time practicing how you could describe what you’re seeing. Watch them place their order, pay, wait, receive their drink and leave. Describe everything you see. Describe the café if there’s a lull, practice your setting description. Listen to the conversations of those around you. Listen to just one sentence of what they say, and then take the dialogue in a different direction and see what you come up with. The possibilities are endless with this one, you can use the people and scenes around you, place that one customer that caught your eye into your current project. What do they do? How do they react? This one isn’t just an inspiration tip, it’s also the perfect way for new and experienced writers to practice and hone a variety of skills (dialogue, setting, characterisation, etc.).

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Get out there, get excited. The world needs more creatives and your inspiration is out there waiting to start an unrelenting train of thoughts and ideas you just can’t ignore.