Where To Find Creative Inspiration As A Writer
For many of us, writing is our number one creative outlet. We love expressing our thoughts and feelings, tapping into human nature, being an observer, creating worlds and characters, and reaching audiences through our words.
Finding creative inspiration isn’t always easy though. Writers can go through “dry spells” and many blame writer’s block for their lack of inspiration or motivation when it comes to their writing. So how do you recharge and find that spark again?
There are countless ways and avenues that provide inspiration. It all comes down to personal preference and what works for you. Much of being creative involves a lot of trial and error, taking what works for you and leaving what doesn’t.
Find your process, and go with it.
So here are a few ways to find inspiration to ignite your creativity.
Rediscovering Your Loves
We live in a world full of media. Wherever we turn, it’s there: movies, television, books, radio, billboards, magazines, and, well, social media. Duh.
These are fantastic outlets to explore where you can find creativity. It’s there at your disposal!
When we lose our inspiration, we want to supercharge our creative juices to get them flowing again. I find it helpful to revisit some of my favorites:
Watch my favorite film
Reread my most loved book
Play my favorite music or albums on repeat
Here’s a story for you. In acting school I worked on a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’d already read it several times before, but I reread it so the material would be fresh in my mind. I took a highlighter and started highlighting lines that I enjoyed and jumped out at me. A couple scenes in and I noticed I’d already highlighted sections previously the other times I’d read the play.
What I found was that with each time I read through the play, I found new favorite lines, new scenes that made me laugh, and a new appreciation for the story and characters!
There’s always something new to discover, or rediscover, and we just need to be reminded of how awesome it is. Take those scenes, or lyrics, whatever, and use them to trigger creativity.
Let’s Get Social
Because we’re living in such a digital and visual world these days, there’s no reason you can’t find some inspiration by hopping onto social media.
If you’re a Pinterest fan, you’ve probably got loads of boards dedicated to inspiration quotes, tutorials, funny videos, even recipes and DIY projects. Use it!
If you follow some of your heroes or idols on social media, check out their pages and see what they’ve been up to!
If you subscribe to certain YouTube channels, what are some of their latest videos about? Binge-watch a few and maybe that will let the ideas flow again.
If you’re part of writing groups or forums, reach out to that community! I used to write a lot of fanfic when I was younger and reading through other fanfics always gave me ideas. You know, “Man, I could totally write a Cold Case fanfic, I love that show!” types of thoughts. (And I did. I absolutely wrote my own Cold Case “episode” and I’m sure it’s still floating around on the internet somewhere.)
A Journey Into The Past
Now, I don’t know about you, but I try to keep all my writing. It’s much easier now with work being primarily digital. But I’ve also kept journals, diaries, poetry notebooks, and random stories stapled together. Why?
Well, I’m nostalgic, for one. But I also like to read through my old writing.
Look, I know, I know. Reading through your writing from your younger days can be super cringey and embarrassing. But! It can also be incredibly inspirational.
Just take a look and where you were at that point in time and the journey you’ve gone on since then. I believe our writing is heavily influenced by our experiences and maturing through life. You grow up, you change, you evolve. Your writing does too.
What projects did you work on? What style of writing did you do? How does that compare to what you’re writing now? What are you most proud of?
Revisiting your past isn’t always a bad thing. It can give you a sense of perspective and appreciation for how far you’ve come. A few times, I’ve even taken old ideas and rewritten them into something better, stronger! You just have to approach it with an open mind.
While you’re there, thank your younger self. Without them, you wouldn’t have made it here.
So. How do you get out of a writing funk? Where do you find your inspiration?
