Finding Inspiration: A Writer’s Guide – Written by Ralia Farah

Inspiration is all around us. However, it only becomes available for those who know where to look for it. As an experienced inspiration-finder myself, let me offer some tips that I’ve found useful when searching for long lost inspiration.
 
#1. Change Your Surroundings
If you’re used to writing in your room, try going to a public place. Perhaps you can go to a coffee shop or a local park. Being surrounded by people is actually quite useful when searching for inspiration. It’s possible that their actions might lead you to inspiration, or that the change in scenery might provide rejuvenation to the creative energy in your mind. Either way, changing the environment in which you write might serve useful for your creativity!
 
#2. Make Writing Seem Special
Since this sounds confusing, I’ll be sure to elaborate. Instead of treating writing like a typical occurrence, try planning it out like an event. Set the mood by playing music that relates to your story, preparing snacks, and elevating your writing space. If you have any writing or notebooks related to your work-in-progress, try laying it out on your writing workspace and reviewing it. By making writing seem special, inspiration may come flowing in along with some excitement!
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#3. Read
I’ve heard this a countless number of times, and I never fully understood this concept until I tried it. Pick up a good book and immerse yourself in the story. When you’ve finished reading, try thinking about the components of the story. Now, draw inspiration from it. Think about character relations, plot lines, and even story settings. If you feel something in your story isn’t adding up, think about what makes this element work in the story you’ve read. Now, make sure you aren’t copying this story’s ideas, but instead find your own personalized inspiration from their ideas. Reading can often trigger some inspiration of your own. Don’t hesitate to pick up a book and dive right into it!
 
These ideas may not work for everyone, but they’ve certainly worked for me! Writing is often subjective. Don’t let this stop you! Inspiration really is easy to find. Try looking out the window, going out, spending time with friends and/or family, and you may find that inspiration was never that far away to begin with. Good luck writers, and I hope that after this blog post, you can find your inspiration! 

This blog post was written by Ralia Farah.