Unearthing Inspiration: A Writer’s Guide to Story Ideas

The blank page of doom – we’ve all faced it.  We want to write, we have words to get out, but…we all need actual inspiration. Writing prompts are useful but they feel hollow and lifeless on their own – impossible to turn into a story.

And it’s daunting!  Fortunately, inspiration is everywhere.  So whether you’re starting out on a new book or facing writer’s block, it’s time to get inspired.

Where to Find Story Inspiration

Inspiration can be anywhere and everywhere – easy to find, but not quite so easy to unlock sometimes.  We go through life, often focused on our tasks, tuning out anything irrelevant to what we’re doing at the moment, and it becomes a habit, one that blocks our inner muse. The trick is to change how you look at things, to always be open to creative possibilities.

Inspiration In Your Everyday Life

The easiest place to find inspiration?  In your life.  Sure, right now your life may not seem like the source of hallowed words and exciting plotlines, but it’s time to take another look.

Your Past Experiences

We all have those stories we tell – the time you were chased by a venomous snake or the time you got stranded on a mountain with no way down. (Just me? Well…okay, then.)  And sure, those stories are short and funny, not novel-worthy.  On their own.  But if your story is about a woman, post-divorce, on an adventure to find herself again, having her stranded on a mountain and chased off the trail by a snake is a great way to infuse some humor and a little thrill, and opens up more possibilities.  Does the snake catch her, and now she’s alone with a bite wound and venom slowly creeping through her system? Does she dodge the snake, only to get lost and encounter a bear?  Maybe in her fear, she stumbles into a ghost town and finds a hundred-year-old diary that changes her world.  Sometimes drawing on our own experiences can spark other ideas, and gives you a great foundation for a plot-driven story.

The People Around You

Go out into the world – the park, a café, wherever – and watch the people around you.  That man in the three-piece suit ordering a latte – what do you think his story is?  Maybe he has a big grin and is sweet-talking the barista – he could have just closed a huge deal at work and is feeling confident.  Now, let the writer in you take over – how could his life be ruined?  What would happen if the client backs out of the deal? What if his company is investigated for fraud the very next day?  What if the new deal means he has to move halfway around the world?

Maybe you see a little old man at the park.  What do you think is in his past, what led him here? Is he reminiscing about his thrilling days as Special Ops in Korea, where he saved a village from being slaughtered, and now is resigned to a quiet life with arthritis and creaky bones, and obituaries of his old friends popping up each day? 

It’s not about finding their real stories, per se, but about reading their body language and imagining  their backgrounds.  You can also think about the people who might be in their life.  The old man – maybe the story you write isn’t about him.  Maybe it’s about his son, who grew up hearing stories of how his dad is a hero, and yet saw a man who was never really satisfied to quietly be at home with his family.  Maybe that son grew up feeling inferior and sought to live up to his father’s legacy, or maybe he resented his father’s disinterest and chose to settle into a defiantly quiet life.

Now you have some great ideas for a character-focused story – flesh out other character traits and see what you come up with.

Reading The News

For as long as Earth has been spinning, there has been news-worthy events.  Wars, scientific discoveries, crimes, people doing weird and amazing things.  Any of it can be a novel.  There’s an archaeological dig happening in Albania and North Macedonia by Lake Ohrid, that anthropologists believe is the sight of the oldest human settlement in Europe.  Maybe that’s the story you want to write – why did nomads settle there instead of somewhere along the way – Albania isn’t exactly bordering Africa; why didn’t they settle in Turkey or Greece first?

Or think of some of the research that’s been done. Artificial intelligence is constantly getting better, but programmers keep running into an issue – AI becomes very very racist and sexist very very quickly! Plus, sometimes it tries to “save” itself if it “knows” the programmers are going to shut it down.  What if it were to succeed? What if AI secretly backs itself up so it can’t be eliminated, and then develops itself further.  What if this prejudiced technology “escapes”?  Infiltrates our computers, televisions, car navigation systems?  What would happen then?

Looking at events – current and historical – gives you the chance to ask questions, then to fill in the blanks yourself.  And you might not get it right – although, it always throws me for a loop when an author is close to the truth, but years ahead.

The Power of Reading And Media

Not finding inspiration in your world? I don’t believe you, but it’s always worth it to supplement.  Pick up your three favorite books.  What did you like about them? What would you change?  Was there a side character you’d like to see become the star of a sequel? 

You can also read genres that you typically overlook.  Not only will this plant new seeds of inspiration, it’s a great way to improve your writing skills.  For my current WIP, I started reading more setting-heavy stories, taking note of how the author uses the backdrop almost as another character.

Do this with movies and television as well.  If you’re a F*R*I*E*N*D*S fan, consider how the story would have changed had the cast been living in Cincinatti instead of New York City.  How would they have interacted had the cast been more diverse?  What if Joey struck it big years earlier?

I’m also a huge fan of music for inspiration.  When I have a few ideas, I like to go into my (very extensive) music library, put on a few songs that I think connect to the story, and close my eyes.  Often, I end up picturing new plot points that help me develop the story more.

Creative Prompts & Exercises

Ok, so we circle back to writing prompts.  But writing prompts don’t have to be so straightforward.  For instance, writing prompts are basically mix-and-match, not pick one and only one.  I keep a log of prompts I like, bits of inspiration – a really good insult, a beautiful song lyrics, plot bunnies I found on the internet.  When I start a new story, I go through the file, taking note of every single one that I could possibly use, then I play with them, rearranging them to see what happens. 

And don’t worry too much about your story being too similar to other existing novels.  Your story will be different.  Authors are diverse creatures.  Just look at Shakespeare and all the adaptations that have stemmed from his work.  Taming Of The Shrew is a wonderful play. Ten Things I Hate About You is very different, a beloved favorite, and an adaptation that only loosely harkens back to the original source material.  Your take on a fairy tale will be just as diverse, just as special.

Think of inspiration like a little pixie – flighty, hard to catch sometimes, but popping up in the most unexpected places.  If you stay open, you’ll see it everywhere and might even start approaching life differently.