Inspiration by Steph Beth Nickel

 

"Where do you get your inspiration?"

Pretty much every writer has been asked this question, and many of us are tempted to answer, "Everywhere."

Once I thought of a character's name, and the ideas for several stories that could feature this character developed over time. I hope to turn this into a series of short stories or middle grade books.

I've never found a place to use the following quote, but I'll never forget what one senior lady at our church said to my son when he walked past wearing oversized army boots. She said, "Hey, Boots, where are you taking that boy."

I had an idea for a speculative fiction novel that I wanted to begin during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) a few years back, but it wasn't until October 31 that I decided to make it a YA novel told in the present tense from the female protagonist's point of view. Rule and Reign is currently awaiting my attention. I like the story, but it needs significant reworking even though I haven't completed the first draft.

Inspiration truly can come from anywhere, but what can we do when it seems to evade us?

Here are nine tips to light the spark:

Get enough rest. It's hard to come up with ideas and recognize inspiration if we're overtired.

Go for a walk. This will get the endorphins flowing and will allow our subconscious to work on problems areas in our work in progress (WIP).

Freewrite. Just put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and write whatever comes to mind.

Skip to the end. More than once I've written the end of the story when I got stuck in the "messy middle."

Show up. Stephen King said something to the effect that the Muse will show up every morning at 9:00 if you sit down to write every morning at 9:00.

Schedule writing time. Even if we can't show up every morning at 9:00, it's important to schedule writing appointments that we make a priority, just as we would any other appointment.

Develop a writing routine. For example... Grab a coffee. Light a candle. Turn on some instrumental music. Open your laptop. And write. We can train our brain to write if we develop our own routine.

Ask, "What if?" When you're stuck, come up with several What If? scenarios and explore with pen and paper the answer to the question. You may just come up with the perfect direction for your WIP.

Call a friend. As a writer, you likely have several friends who write. Why not reach out to one of them and brainstorm ideas to get you past your slump.

Bonus Tip

As Christians, we can rest assured that the Lord cares about every area of our life, including our writing. Praying before each writing session is a good habit to get into, one I'm still working on.

How about you? What helps you get the inspiration flowing?