by Ana Mayer
Most writers have experienced writer’s block at least once. And if you have never written a book before, then this stupor might be more intimidating to you than ever. However, it’s not that difficult to start writing a book as it may seem. Here are twenty-five tips on how to turn everyday things into inspiration to write your book.
#1 Talk to People
The easiest and most obvious thing you can do is go out and talk to people. Using one brain (your own) is good but having many brains submitting ideas to you is even better. You will be surprised by the things you can catch in the speech of your family, friends, colleagues, or acquaintances.
#2 Watch Television
Television is great! Movies and tv shows too as well as animation. Get a subscription on a platform like Netflix and look for the shows or movies you like. They will help you better understand the genre you want to be writing in and maybe even give you some cool ideas for your book (especially true for news reports).
#3 Recover Old Memories
If you think this might be painful for you, feel free to skip this tip. But remember that recovering old memories can be very useful when you are looking for ideas for a new book. Go through your photo album, read the love letters you wrote as a kid, and do anything else that helps you remember things from the past.
#4 Start Forming Habits
Writing is not just about inspiration or motivation. It is also about habits. As soon as you start forming a habit for yourself to write, you will start learning to get inspired almost instantly at your heart’s desire. By the way, you could use an app like Habitica to help you develop your habits.
#5 Answer Random Questions
Yes, that simple. By answering random questions even complete strangers ask you, you will discover that you have learned a lot about yourself and about the world around you. This will definitely get the gears turning in your head which will give you great ideas.
#6 Meditate Occasionally
Meditation is a practice that can help you clear your mind and make your body relax. All you need to do is sit in a specific pose and perform some exercises. Once your head is clear, you will realize that it is much easier to think in the first place.
#7 Listen to Great Music
Music can be an amazing source of inspiration, especially if it is good music. Open your Spotify app and choose the playlist (or compile one) that best corresponds to the mood you want your book to have. Maybe some songs will help you visualize entire scenes.
#8 Look on the Internet
The World Wide Web is by far one of the best sources of ideas and the best place to look for knowledge. There are anything and everything that your heart or soul may desire. Logically, ideas may come flooding to you even while you are scrolling through your Instagram feed.
#9 Tend A Garden
Gardening is another way to clear your mind and recharge your inner batteries through being closer to nature. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can still get some plants that won’t require a lot of your time such as succulents or cacti.
#10 Clean Up Your Surroundings
In order to sort out what is inside, you must first tidy up your surroundings. Check out The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo or another similar book on organizing and cleaning up to make the process more effective.
#11 Get Inspired by Everyday Heroes
You don’t need fictional characters to inspire you – just read some newspapers or watch the news on your television. There is always a story of some real-life hero who saved a kid from under a car.
#12 Imagine Extreme Situations
How about getting wild with your thoughts? Try to imagine extreme situations. For example, you are stranded on an island. Or you were flying on a plane and suddenly it comes crashing down so you need to survive someway. What would you do?
#13 Learn Languages
As fascinating as it may sound, learning languages can actually give you ideas for writing a book. You can start out by using an online translation service to help you with some of the content you find.
#14 Change Your Medium
Instead of sticking to writing, consider changing things up a bit and doing something else. For example, you could start painting or sewing. Pottery is also a good option.
#15 Write Down Random Things
Everything that comes to mind – write it down. Use an app like Evernote or a physical notebook to jot it down. These could be completely random things but you may discover later that they are actually genius.
#16 Get Inspired by Your Day Job
Many writers start writing their books while still working at their day job and many of them, sadly, hate their jobs. Instead of having negative thoughts try to find some positive things in your day job that might give you ideas for your book.
#17 Turn Normal into Weird
There are different ways you could use reality and one of them is to turn something normal into something weird. Once again, look at your day job for inspiration.
#18 Visit Yard Sales
Yard sales are literal treasuries. This is why going to Yard Sale Search, looking up local yard sales, and then visiting them will give you access to things that might not be found elsewhere.
#19 Set Deadlines
Some people work better when they have a deadline. If you are one of such individuals, setting deadlines for writing your book can stimulate your brain to generate ideas. Just make sure that you create small, achievable goals rather than aiming too high from the start.
#20 Go to Art Galleries
One of the biggest advantages of art pieces is that they can tell a story you never expected. Go to art galleries and look for the stories that you will want to tell in your book.
#21 Visit Museums
Museums are similar to art galleries in a way. You can find yourself in virtually any epoch or time period just by looking through the exhibits.
#22 Switch Your Scenery
Yes, we are talking about travel. Traveling to different places can enrich you with dozens of new stories and ideas! By the way, don’t forget to use different apps such as Google Flights to help you while you are abroad.
#23 Play Dumb
Just for a moment, imagine that you are a child. Imagine that you don’t know how the world works and explore your surroundings. Try to get a completely different look at the world around you.
#24 Take a Shower
You may have noticed that showers are the place where you get so many ideas flashing through your head. This is because your body and mind relax while you are standing under the hot water.
#25 Dump Your Thoughts
This is probably the simplest technique of all. Just sit down and dump your thoughts onto the paper in front of you. Write and write and write until you feel like there is nothing else left inside. And then, read it.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, it’s worth noting that all of these tips may be helpful while looking for ideas in your everyday life for your next book. Of course, most ideas will come to you out of the blue, so don’t stress too much if you have been thinking for hours but there’s nothing you found. Keep searching and you will find the ultimate fit eventually.
This article was written by Ana Mayer, a project manager with 3+ years of experience. While projects can do without her participation (which means almost never), she likes to read and create expert academic materials for the Best Writers Online review website. Such work gives her the opportunity to write articles on the most relevant topics of today.