Inspiring places and spaces

Sometimes, even looking at a cool pictures gives me ideas for a story. Or at least travel inspiration.

It can be a struggle to feel creative. I get inspired in random spurts. One day I'll have ten million genius ideas and the next I can't think of a single interesting thing to write about. But creativity is like a muscle. You have to exercise it to make it stronger.

Over time I've developed some strategies to help myself overcome those blocks in creativity. Here are methods I employ to help myself get back into writing.

Go on Pintrest. The whole point of Pintrest is to be inspirational. I scroll through photos of pretty places and interesting looking people and start imagining things about them. Pintrest also has lots of different writing prompts that can spark inspiration for a cool story.

Heres the link to my Pintrest board full of writing inspiration: https://www.pinterest.com/aneciaascalon/writing-inspiration/

Read old writing. I often forget what I've written. Going back and reading my old writing reminds me of the inspiration I felt in that moment and sometimes renews it. Or it makes me laugh/cringe when I see how ridiculous some of it is.

Go somewhere new. Sometimes putting yourself in a new physical place lets your brain enter a clearer mental space.

Sit in a coffee shop full of people. People are so interesting! I think just being around other people and observing them just being weird and human helps inspire character quirks and different story scenarios. I have a running list on my phone of random strange things I've seen other people do.

Read a really great book. I love reading (duh) and there are authors whose writing style I want to imitate. In terms of friend groups, a common thought is "you are who you spend your time with." I think it's the same with writing. Unconsciously, your writing style will begin to mirror authors that you spend time reading. I like witty, sarcastic writing so sometimes reading that helps me think of clever things to say.

Just write. Even if it sucks, you're still getting somewhere. And through your awful writing, something great just might emerge.