Finding inspiration for your next story/book doesn’t
have to be a burden for you as a young creative. There is no need to have a
meltdown trying to figure out what next to write, either as a full-length
story, a short story, flash fiction, micro-fiction, or any other kind of tale
you’d like to tell.
You can find inspiration in everything. If you can't, then you're not looking properly _ Paul Smith
One of the most popular ways to gain inspiration for a
story idea is through using writing prompts. Also, for fiction authors, another
great way to gain inspiration is blending a mix of genres or genre-based
troupes, ancient retellings, personal experiences, or imaginations to produce
something exciting and freshly baked.
However, there are several other interesting ways to
gain inspiration for your next book idea and some are buried deep in the simple
things you find around you. In truth, you have to be open to seeing beyond the
things around you into what could be done to make it better, that way, you get
to give life to these thoughts through words.
Better yet, you could be triggered by some of these
sources, and it will take you on a long trip through the paths of revelation, enlightenment,
and discovery of ideas that you can spin into a beautiful story.
Here are 10 untapped sources of inspiration you can harness for your next story/writing project.
Controversies:
Every controversial discussion has several sides to
the topic because everyone wants to pitch their voices on the matter. As a
writer, you can pick apart these voices, examine the core of the discussion,
take note of the effects of the controversy, analyze the people it truly
affects, and what everyone stands to gain or lose in the plot. This gives you a
solid outline and boom, you’ve got an inspiring idea that can be woven into a
beautiful controversial story that speaks from your perspective as a writer.
Before you use controversy as a source of inspiration, you must have a vested interest in the topic of discussion, or it won’t light the spark you truly seek.
Read: How to successfully write your first book: 14 best story writing tips
A Revised Story Ending
This isn’t a popular source of inspiration for most
writers, but it has its perks because you can rewrite a more befitting ending
to a story you love using your characters, plot, storyline, and theme.
Imagine writing a revised ending to a folktale you
know in modern times, using a modern setting, characters, and plot. It will be
intriguing to find out what would have happened if a character in the folktale
didn’t die, a child wasn’t born, the war didn’t happen, anarchy didn’t exist,
or a love tale didn’t fizzle out.
This source of inspiration puts a spin on the what’s
ifs and what not of the story you are retelling in your own words.
Read: 15 Writing Habits to cultivate as an aspiring author
A-Troupe/Genre Merge
This is a beautiful and exciting source of inspiration
for new writers. Blending troupes and genre-based plots together can make for
an explosive, captivating, and phenomenal story idea if constructed well
enough.
I’m talking something like mixing up the romantic,
crime thriller genre with rivalry, power dynamics, and the hate-to-love troupe thrown
in the mix, or a paranormal, sci-fi story, where werewolves, vampires, and
witches were gods of galaxies.
Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself, but you get the point
now.
A troupe/story merge gives you a great opportunity to
explore the unthinkable, but you have to be careful to take note of all the genre-specific
details of whatever troupe you’re blending.
Read: 10 Unrealistic writing expectations aspiring authors have Vs Reality
Character Inspiration:
This aspect has been greatly misconstrued as only
serving one purpose which is inspiring a character from a story. However,
character inspiration can mean more than that. It can inspire an entire story
in itself that is relatable and beautiful.
The picture and setting behind your character can
trigger something beautiful in your mind, that you can expand into a great
storyline.
Character inspirations don’t have to be used only to
idolize a character from a story, they could be the main inspiration behind the
entire story itself.
Read: Daily writing habits of inspiring African authors
An Artwork:
A piece of art hanging on the wall or in an office, or
in a gallery can trigger your senses. If a piece calls out to you, listen to
what it has to say, and journey with it through the brush strokes to understand
why it’s calling out to you.
An artwork in itself is a story, yet there could be
more underlying threads you can pull apart to see into the soul of that piece
of art.
When next you look at a piece of art, try to look
beyond the painting. Also, not every art will call out to you or trigger you,
but when you find the one that does, open up to accept its allure.
Read: 5 Reasons why crafting your story is a struggle
A Nagging Question/Thought:
There is no doubt that a lot of new writers might not
understand the power of their thoughts or understand how to navigate through
the chaos in their heads. Most often, a lot of new writers will discard those
thoughts or nagging ideas as a waste of time, especially if doesn’t have a
definite form yet.
What you may not know yet, is that sometimes, our
minds are triggered by something, and because you are not aware of what the
trigger is, it becomes a nagging thought in your head you want to get rid of.
Instead of casting those thoughts aside, you should
take your time to analyze why you keep having such thoughts and write them down
as it plays out in your head.
These thoughts could be your response to a situation
or experience that has eluded you for a long time or a new idea that is
formulating because of some sort of trigger.
In truth, this particular source of inspiration could
mean nothing at all or be the answer to the questions you seek. Either way,
ensure you analyze it first, then make up your mind on what to do with the
results of your analysis.
Read: 6 Tips to deal with pressure as an aspiring author
A Rare Occurrence:
This source of inspiration happens rarely. It could
come from a new normal or a devastating outcome. An example of one such
recent occurrence is Covid 19.
I’m sure there are several stories inspired by this
rare occurrence, either by those affected by it, those still left with its
effects, or people who have loved ones affected by it negatively.
A rare occurrence doesn’t always have to be negative
or traumatic. So also, you can put a spin on your story about such an
occurrence from any point of view you wish to adopt.
As the title righty states, it’s a rare occurrence,
which means it is a very uncommon source of inspiration for the writer, yet,
very powerful when utilized well. Also, such an occurrence doesn’t have to happen
in recent times for it to be valid, you can take your story to whichever era it
occurred and base you’re the timeline of your story there.
Read: 8 simple productivity hacks for budding authors
Seasons/Trends/Awareness Months:
There are a lot of seasons in a year, but the focus is
usually on the popular, trendy ones like Christmas-inspired stories, valentine-inspired
love stories, summer stories, and things like that, whereas you can make a
switch to awareness/trends for great story ideas.
In every calendar month of the year, there is an
awareness/trend. You can browse for the full rundown of these trends and pick
out trends that resonate with your author’s brands and weave stories from them.
Some trends are large and encompassing, while others
may be pretty straightforward. Trends such as mental awareness month, men’s
mental health month, etc. can be used as great sources of inspiration for your
next book project.
This is not to discourage you from writing about popular
seasons. No. It sells like hot cakes too, but you can make an exception now and
then to write about something different.
Read: 5 Essential writing skills for aspiring authors
Watching Movies/Reading Books:
A great many ideas have popped up here and there from
watching a good movie or reading a good book. This will always be an evergreen
source of inspiration to the writer, especially new writers like you because
books and movies trigger certain kinds of emotions in you.
These emotions are what you should harness and
recreate with your story plot, feeding your character’s life with these
emotions.
Using emotions as a source of inspiration has its
perks because you can incorporate a lot of other sources of inspiration into
it. Like a revised story ending, a troupe merge, character inspiration, a new
purpose, etc.
When next you read a good book or watch a movie that
made you feel different, cherish that emotion and dwell on it to see if it
triggers anything in your mind.
Read: How to develop good writing habits as an aspiring author
An Interesting Conversation/Life Experiences:
This is a highly common but uncommon source of
inspiration because I’m not talking about your conversations with people. I’m talking
about conversations people have as you commute to work, stories passed around
between strangers, an altercation or situation between people you’ve never met,
and real-life experiences of people you bump into on the sidewalk, because have
raw feelings around it.
This is not to say that your personal experiences
don’t count; they do. But, listening and watching others express themselves will
always trigger your curiosity, especially when you’re left wondering how the
story began.
The need to fill in the gaps in that story is where
your inspiration lies. The need to understand where your story goes from where
it stopped is where your plot and outline lie.
Rare and unplanned conversations can become an
untapped source of inspiration to you because you will hear the unexpected and
listen to stories that will make you want nothing more but to write about them.
Endnote
These sources of inspiration can be handy for
you as a new writer. Mixing it in with your writing prompts can help you create a unique story that stands out in the crowd.
Also, all of these may not resonate with you, but keeping
an open mind is a crucial element you should inculcate as a new writer.
I hope you’ve learned and gained value from this post? Kindly drop a comment on which untapped source of inspiration resonates with you.