If procrastination steals one of my writing days, I adjust the number of pages I must write per day to still hit my deadline. Imagine telling your best friend your story. Before you go, be sure to grab my character arc worksheet. Just tell me where to send it:.
Share 2K. Pin 5. I can tell you from experience, you can rekindle the inspiration to write. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2. Just look at Stephen King.
Ever notice he announces his retirement almost every time he finishes a book? Well, I used to have the same problem until I started trying uncommon ways to spark my imagination.
Now, I'm never short on ideas, so in this article, I share my favorite uncommon places to look for writing inspiration. Throughout the ages, great paintings have inspired authors, so try taking a walk around your local art gallery. If you can't for any reason, look at art books or Google "famous paintings. Great music, like great paintings, has also inspired writers.
If you're in need of some inspiration, try listening to an eclectic playlist; from opera to the Beatles, you'll be sure to find something that will get those creative juices flowing. Try Scribendi's playlist for productivity. If you want to find writing inspiration, look no further than history, which has been chock full of fascinating characters and dramatic events. If you are writing non-fiction books or essays, you can base your whole work on an actual historical person or event. If you are writing fiction, you can take real people and events as a starting point.
Many great writers have found inspiration in dreams. The trick is to remember your dreams after you wake up. Lucid dreaming can help with this. Keep some means of recording your dreams by your bedside, as the recollection of a dream tends to fade quickly.
It might seem unlikely that smell can inspire your work, but it is, in fact, a powerful stimulant. Don't just go for a walk in the countryside or city and breathe in the smells; instead, think laterally. Try going to a perfume store, or a gym, or even a butcher' s shop. Different locations involve various scents that can inspire you in very different ways. Like paintings, photographs are a wonderful medium for writing inspiration.
If you can't go to a photographic exhibition, get a photography book or Google "famous photographs. Your own experiences can be an endless source of inspiration. People are often interested in reading about everyday experiences as well as unusual ones. Tobias Wolff Inspirational Activity: Take notes about your childhood. Denis Johnson Inspirational Activity: Take notes about random things.
The idea for that book came to him he has no idea why from reading over those random notes, some even as far back as Chuck Palahniuk Inspirational Activity: Write yourself out of real-life issues. Chuck Palahniuk writes about more shocking stuff than many people will ever experience; this comes from a need to turn awful personal events into less awful, less personal things. Learn more about my novel editing …. Michael Chabon Inspirational Activity: Throw away your book and start again.
Michael Chabon dropped 4 and a half years and pages of writing because he became frustrated with it, starting afresh for what would become his second book, Wonder Boys. Ledgard Inspirational Activity: Get ideas from your day job. After getting the idea, he used his correspondence with intelligence agents and other people he met via the Economist oceanographers, mathematicians to get their perspectives on life and turned that information into characters.
Lauren Groff Inspirational Activity: Return to something you love. When the idea came to Groff, she was lonely, living in CA, and missing her hometown. Nicholson Baker Inspirational Activity: Set deadlines. Nicholson Baker set a mental deadline for himself to finish writing a novel: Age Rachel Kushner Inspirational Activity: Engage in the world. Paul Rome Inspirational Activity: Move somewhere new.
Ann Patchett Inspirational Activity: Use the process of elimination. Most of us are full up with bad stories, boring stories, self-indulgent stories, searing works of unendurable melodrama. We must get all of them out of our system in order to find the good stories that may or may not exist in the freshwater underneath. Jose Saramago Inspirational Activity: Ask hypothetical questions. When writing a novel, Herman Koch tries to get as close to his characters as possible.
Once, while researching the main character of his novel Summer House with Swimming Pool who is a doctor , he made an appointment with his own doctor specifically to make note of his presence in the office. I think writing is so similar. Writing is improvisational. From that point forward, it just bloomed as fiction.
It sprung up in the middle of writing the memoir and gathered a life of its own. Ben Lerner Inspirational Activity: Narrate your life. In fact, inspiration like this appears throughout his novel Colson Whitehead Inspirational Activity: Watch movies. Colson Whitehead, for his book Zone One , watched a ton of zombie movies and decided he wanted to translate the mostly-thought-of-as-a-film-genre of post-apocalyptic zombie horror into more writing than just a script.
Novak Inspirational Activity: Be curious about weird things. Urusla K. Le Guin Inspirational Activity: Pick any story from the air and run with it. Le Guin believes that inspiration is everywhere. David Mitchell Inspirational Activity: Explore extended metaphors.
Let the creatures, plants, soils and rocks around you be a form of inspiration. Lie on the ground and watch the clouds. Gaze at the stars and the universe. Let go of all expectations and assumptions and just let the ideas come to you. Not Helpful 9 Helpful What if I have a thought for an idea, how do I outline it into what's before the event and what's after?
You don't always have to start at the beginning of a story. Sometimes, you can write the middle or ending and inspiration for a beginning will strike you as you write. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 8. Try to choose an aspect of the topic that interest you.
For example, if you have to write about space, you can write about the plan to relocate people to Mars rather than the solar system. Not Helpful 6 Helpful Try to choose a good topic. Be open-minded and just pour your feelings into what you write. Express every way you feel and explain it all in your story.
Fiction is usually the best topic for expressing your feelings. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 7. Get out in nature and forget about writing. Breathe in the fresh air and just try to relax. Writing in a journal every day can also help jump-start your process. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 2. Think about the endings of some of your favorite books. What do they have in common? What makes a good ending? What would make sense for your characters to do at the end of their journey?
You can also ask friends and family to read your book and give you advice. I have no creativity at all. I'm a copy cat and usually only do fan fiction. What do I do to write about something new and exciting that is original and my own? Just try to follow these steps and tell yourself that it is wrong to copy people.
Try to stay as open-minded as possible. Not Helpful 11 Helpful 7. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Plagiarism is morally unacceptable, and in some cases, it can land you in court fighting a copyright case. Always remember to credit your sources. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: June 16, Categories: Featured Articles Writing Inspiration.
Article Summary X To get inspired to write, seek creativity in everyday life. Nederlands: Inspiratie opdoen om te schrijven. Italiano: Trovare l'Ispirazione per Scrivere. Deutsch: Inspiration zum Schreiben bekommen. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times.
Reader Success Stories Suki F. Feb 22, I often get my creativity a bit clogged up, and I used to just not write at all when this happened. Now I can just do some of the options like people-watching or listening to music! Thanks, wikiHow! Rated this article:. More reader stories Hide reader stories.
Did this article help you? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Suki F. Moin Khan Aug 11, Very helpful, thank you so much! The pictures help make sure you are doing it right, and the step-by-step process and the explanations are crystal clear. Hena Summers Nov 26, This post really is a big help.
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