Get Inspiration from your Friends

You can always ask your friends what great ideas they have heard of or what movies they are watching and what the movie is about. You can also find what they specifically loved about the movie and try to spin the idea into your story. Another way is to find inspiration from the conversations you have with people around you. Consider what held your attention and why. Try to remember great jokes you have heard shared and which of them stood out most to you. Only make sure that the story is not a replica of your conversations. Try twisting it and making it yours.

Interactions with Pets

If you plan to write a book on animals, especially a children’s book, you can imagine what your pet is feeling at different times, what they felt about their past - depending on where you got them from - and how they would like people to treat them. You can either write the story from what you imagine your pet’s point of view to be (which may sound more authentic and even more relatable) or from your point of view based on your own interaction with them.

Talking to New People

Having conversations with people you just met could potentially present you with new ways of viewing things and even situations. Meeting new people will let you have new conversations away from what you are used to. Different people see things differently and when you expand the group of people you normally talk to and consider much more diversity, chances are you will get new ideas for your writing that you may not have considered before. You do not have to go to a new place, just the normal places you frequent could be great avenues for chatting with someone new.

Reading other Writers’ Work

Whether in newspapers, magazines or blogs, you can always get inspiration from reading other writers’ pieces. Notice what they do differently and the topics they cover that you could be interested in. Consider their style of expression and try to pinpoint the reason their fans are drawn to them, then try to incorporate this into your own work. You could start with blogs whose content you are familiar with as you look up others that are different from yours. There is a lot of inspiration out there, and you can always find something new that you are willing to explore.

Going through your Old Drafts

Remember when you wrote for fun, when you wrote for yourself and not for others?  You could try going back to that and see what you can come up with. If you have your old drafts with you, you should consider going through them. Reading through your past work could help you identify new plots which you can improve on and create great work. When you write pieces for yourself, you do not feel the pressure to produce pieces that other people will love. This breaks all limitations to your creativity which could be a good thing and an opportunity to come up with your next idea.