Some creative writers have a wealth of ideas—so many, in fact, that they seem to never run out of them. Other writers have the desire to write but have few ideas or have a hard time developing them. Sometimes writers just need a little help. An earlier article, Getting Started with Creative Writing, gave two ideas to help writers create good habits that help with the writing process. Here are more ideas that should help some writers find the inspiration they need to get started on that next short story.
Posing “What if” Questions to Oneself
One way writers may find inspiration is by asking “what if” questions. An example of a “what if” question is this: “What if the next president of the United States was a woman?” Questions such as this one naturally lead a writer to use his imagination.
These questions can be of a large scale (national or global) or a smaller one (more personal, like “What if a mother found out her daughter were selling prescription drugs at school?”). If one thinks of all the books she has read, she may realize that many a story quite possibly started out as a “what if” question.
Just by asking questions, a writer will feel compelled to answer. Will all of these answers lead to prize-winning stories or poems? Of course not. But feeling inspired to write and then writing can sometimes lead to other ideas as well.
Eavesdropping and People Watching
No, not spying on people. Writers, however, will do well to observe people for inspiration. A writer can’t really turn off his eyes and ears when standing in line at the grocery store, post office, or bank, so why not tune in?
Maybe two friends are chitchatting while standing in line at the fast food counter and one is telling the other about her date last night. It may not be polite to listen in (and a writer might decide to tune back out if the details get to be too much), but if people are talking in line without regard to anyone else’s proximity, a writer could use some of the conversation to inspire a story.
And what about watching a cashier checking out a customer? Maybe the body language between the cashier and customer tells more than the conversation. What could a writer imagine simply by watching another person’s mannerisms? What could a person’s clothing choices tell a writer?
Observing people will not only give a writer details to work with (that help when a writer needs to sketch a character) but also inspiration for possible story lines.
Pick a Story
A writer can find inspiration if she looks up a collection of short stories online or looks through books (short stories or novels) she has at home (or even if she borrows an anthology from the library). She’ll want to choose a story she’s not familiar with. Then she’ll start reading the first few paragraphs.
Here’s the inspiration part. The writer closes the book (or opens up a blank document on the computer) and picks up the story where she left off. Obviously, it won’t resemble the original story and, of course, the writer won’t be able to publish what she wrote since the beginning ideas aren’t hers, but just the inspiration is a possible “jumping off” point for the writer. Maybe her story is good enough so that she can come up with an entirely different beginning.
Stories can be used in other ways as well. Another way to stretch one’s writing abilities is to try to write a story in direct opposition to the one just read or from a different point of view. Again, these stories probably wouldn’t be publishable, but they would be good exercises to generate inspiration. And if a writer can use even just a line or two from a practice exercise, one could argue that it was worth it just for that!
Brainstorm
Just like brainstorming for an essay, a creative writer can brainstorm ideas for stories and poems. A writer can take a sheet of paper and kick around ideas. For example, if the writer wanted to write a murder mystery, he could simply write the word “murder” at the top of the page and start writing down all the ideas, big or small, he could think of in ten minutes’ time. He might be surprised with some of the ideas he generates!
Use What Works
Not every technique will work for every writer, but when a writer finds something that inspires her, she needs to remember what method she used. The same holds true for choosing one's writing location. When something works, keep doing it.
Happy writing!
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