Be Inspired: Inspiration Comes From the Most Unlikely Places

By: Amanda Walraven (Guest Writer)

    

No matter how much you love to write, there will always be days when you lack inspiration.  Those days when you’ll sit, watching the cursor flash in the upper left corner of a Word document that’s just as blank as your mind.  Those days when, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get the gears in your head to crank out a new idea. So, how exactly does one get the lazy little hamster in their head back on its wheel and running?  Well, there are a number of methods one can try to get that burst of inspiration they’ve been seeking.

My first and greatest piece of advice to a person who is looking for inspiration is to begin carrying around a journal or small notebook.  That way, if any ideas that occur to them throughout the day, they will have a place to write them down, and remember them for later.

When seeking inspiration, there are many places one can look and many things one can do.  For example, when I’m anywhere in public, I like to people watch and eavesdrop.  Not in a creepy way; sometimes you can’t help but notice that one woman’s crazy outfit or overhear snippets of conversation. If you happen to overhear a bit of interesting dialog, scribble it down in your writing journal as soon as you can. Or just watch people. Humans as a whole are amusing and inspiring unto themselves.  Nothing is more inspiring than the primary subject in most writing: human beings.

However, if you’re not into public places, I find that the best ideas occur to me when I’m not thinking about thinking of an idea all.  So, do something to take your mind off the fact that you need to write something.  Go for a walk or run. If at all possible, get away from the busy streets and out into the beauty of nature.  Simply looking at a sunrise or sunset can sometimes be all the inspiration you need. But, if you can’t get away from the city, just let your mind wander as you walk or run and let the inspiration flow.  And, as ever, keep that journal close!

Conversely, if you dislike both exercise and public places, then seek inspiration from the comfort of your home.  Not sure what to write about?  Google it.  Do a search on the topic you need to write about, and come up with tons of great ideas and sources, but be careful; don’t plagiarize! I also own a wonderful little book called The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood that gives plenty of inspirations.  This is a superb resource for any writer, if you’re willing to invest about ten dollars of your hard-earned cash into a new book.  This book is full of writing tips and prompts to get you inspired and writing in no time.

            There you have it, folks.  Ways to get inspired, be it in public, in nature, or in private.  If you haven’t used any of these methods before, give them a try!  They work for me, and I hope they’ll work for you.  Happy writing!