When Writing is Hard: Inspiration

Welcome back to our series on When Writing is Hard. Today we’re diving into part two of this journey: Inspiration. To be clear, inspiration and motivation are two different things, and I’ll be referring only to the first today. Motivation is coming later ;). 

Inspiration is defined as “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative,” by Webster’s dictionary. Inspiration tends to come in waves or flashes. Suddenly you get a really great idea and you’re so excited to go sit down and write it out. So you do, and then you get a couple thousand words, or a short story, or a fabulous premise. Inspiration is when you have ideas. Sometimes too many ideas. 

All writers have felt it. You’re about to start a new project and you are thrilled to begin working on it. So you sit down, and the first day, you write tens of hundreds of words. Maybe even tens of thousands. That’s the magic juice of inspiration. 

But all too soon, inspiration can fade (Just like motivation. They’re fairly similar actually) You feel like your creative well has run dry and you don’t have any good ideas anymore. You’ve got nothing to write. No characters, no plots, no grand twists. It’s all run out. 

That’s what we’re tackling today. That feeling of being drained of all your creativity. This is a double sided coin. On one side, inspiration is more to do with you than with actual physical constraints, like time. One the other side, inspiration is more to do with you, which means it tends to be a harder fix. But it’s ok! We’ll get into it. 

Let’s begin where inspiration often does: your creative well. This is a metaphorical place where your ideas come from, where your creativity is fueled. Essentially, where you get the juice to do your writing. 

Some people have creative wells a mile deep. It feels like they’ll never run out of ideas. Often these people suffer from too many ideas. They don’t know which one to focus on, or how to choose the best one. This is me. I have dozens of ideas in a week, and it’s so hard to keep them all in line. Because as soon as I settle on a book, a new beautiful butterfly of a story comes fluttering by with its alluring characters and plot. 

But some people have the opposite. Their creativity is more of a wishing well –shallow and easily emptied. They struggle with using their few ideas too quickly, not having ideas big enough, or running out of inspiration halfway through a project. Again, not running out of motivation. Two different things. This is when you run out ideas for your project. When the spark feels like it’s gone. 

What I’ve found to be the best way to boost your inspiration is to refill your creative well. And to do that… Well, everyone is different. But just like with Time, I’ve got some tips for you. 

Tip #1. Go somewhere that refills your creativity. For me, that’s in nature. I actually have a specific place. The woods fill me up creatively. Taking some time to just sit in the peace of wild things, as Wendell Berry would say, rejuvenates my writing. But it doesn’t have to be outside. Maybe sitting in a bookstore gets your ideas refilled. Perhaps you need to do a specific thing, like going for a walk. 

Tip #2. Immerse yourself in other ideas. By that I mean get your head into the world of words. Read books, watch movies, listen to songs, speak poems. Good work inspires others. Personally, every time I watch a really good movie, I get full of ideas for scenes and characters for my next project. Reading books is not only a great way to fill up your well, you can also see how those before you have done it! Listening to some really lyrically skilled songwriters can get you fired up, and poems are essentially prompts for you! 

Tip #3. Use prompts. Now this one can be a bit hit or miss. It’s about finding the right prompt. Sometimes trying to write off of a prompt can make you even more burnt out and in the end you’re just tired from trying to figure it out. But a good one can get your brain firing and figure out some new ideas. Pinterest is a great place for this. 

Tip #4. Take a break. Sometimes you run out of ideas because you’re just plain empty. You cannot pour from an empty cup, so maybe it’s time to set that project aside. Not forever. Maybe just a week. Maybe you need to work on something different until your skillset is ready for that next project. Don’t underestimate the power of a break, even a short one. I always feel more inspired after a little rest. 

Tip #5. Keep a backup well full. Now this is a tip that I think everyone should practice, regardless of how quickly you run out of inspiration. Let me explain: By a backup well, I mean a physical or digital log of ideas. A quote book, a pinterest board, anywhere you can write down and keep your ideas. I have several. I keep a note on my phone for ideas that come when I’m out and about. I have a notebook for bigger ideas and things that I’m fleshing out. I have a pinterest board where I look for ideas, keep the ones I like, and generally store things that make me inspired. 

If you have trouble with ideas, you need to try Pinterest. It’s not social media, and it’s one of my greatest tools for inspiration. There are literally hundreds of prompts out there, from images to concepts to lines. I save them on my writing board, which has… *checks* 186 pins at the moment. And that’s not including the boards for each book and character. Pinterest is a great way to find new motivation, whereas notebooks are good for keeping what comes to you naturally. 

Having a lack of inspiration is really hard. You might feel like you can’t write anything. But I’m here to tell you that you can! You might need a break. You probably need to top off or refill your creative well. In the end, it doesn’t mean you’re washing up as an author. It’s a sign for you to pause and refuel. Or take a little break. Neither one is better than the other.