NaNoWriMo has come and gone, but if you’re still looking for inspiration for your writing, look no further! These five tips for getting inspired to write will help you come up with new story ideas (or refresh a current story you’re working on):
1) Get outside for some fresh air. Take a little notebook and a camera with you and get outside for a walk. Snap a photo of anything you see which is pretty, interesting, or captivates you in some way. Stop to sit down at a bench and jot down ideas or passages as they come to you. You can even carry a tape recorder (or, you know, use the recording device on your smartphone ;)) to go with stream of consciousness and say aloud whatever comes to you.
2) Read a great book. There is so much inspiration to be found within the pages of a good book.
Grab your writing project checklist now >>
3) Take a trip to the art gallery. Check out some masterpieces at a local art gallery, from oil paintings to sculptures to engravings to sketches. You might just come up with the next Girl with a Pearl Earring!
4) Listen to instrumental music. Think of an epic movie soundtrack, for example. You can also listen to music with words, if the crescendos and rhythms are commanding enough that you can write with the music as a background piece rather than it drawing your attention (every time I listen to Muse, I’m struck at how well they’ve achieved this balance).
5) Have a conversation with someone you love talking to. It always amazes me at how much inspiration I can get from having a really great conversation. Sometimes the inspiration will come out of a normal, everyday conversation that has nothing to do with my book idea, and other times, it really helps to have a deliberate brainstorming session (or to just get someone to ask you questions about what they want to know about your story).