If you’re the creative type, you’ll want to write poetry, songs, and stories to express the thoughts you have and emotions you feel. You may find the ideas come thick and fast, but it’s not always the way, so what do you do if you get stuck for an idea and frustrated that you can’t get writing? Maybe you have a competition you want to enter, someone’s offered you a guest post on their blog, or you need to come up with a new song for a recording session. The answer is to look around you, as there is inspiration everywhere if you take the time to look.
The great outdoors
Pull on your hiking boots or strap on your cycle helmet and head out into the countryside. It’s been a source of inspiration for all forms of creativity for thousands of years, in fact since modern man first evolved. Being amongst nature and observing wildlife is a joy in its own right, but taking the time to observe the flight of birds or examine the intricate patterns and structure of tree bark is a good way to light a fire in your imagination. The peace and tranquility of the outdoors are also perfect for calming your mind and helping you relax, so ideas flow more easily.
The great indoors
The Internet is full of more information than you could read in many lifetimes, and amongst the advertising and trivia, many sites could get your creative juices flowing. You could try a site that covers news on a variety of subjects such as consolidatetimes.com, where there is a diverse range of topics all in one place. Or if you want to write something about a specific topic but can’t get going, search sites related to that topic and see what comes up. If you’re still stuck, try a random browse for a string of unrelated words; you could chance upon a whole new area of interest or find a new angle to a well-covered topic.
People
Other people are a great source of inspiration. They have interesting stories to tell and can offer different perspectives to your own that can plant the seed of an idea. If you want to write something about the Gulf War, see if you can arrange to interview a veteran and get the facts and the feel of what it was like to be there from a first-hand source. Many people have historical family documents or old photos and very often a story to go with them. Reading about people with whom you have a connection can be fascinating and inspire empathy, and handling objects they owned can make them seem even more real to you. If you’re stuck on writing a new tune and you can’t come up with a chord progression that sounds right, have a listen to a friend’s music collection and be inspired by musical genres you don’t normally listen to.
Inspiration is unlikely to land on you out of the blue while you’re sat at your desk twiddling your thumbs. Far better to get up, get out or log-on and go looking for inspiration instead of waiting around for it.
