20 Places to Find Writing Inspiration

There are ideas for articles and posts every where you turn. Some times they are obvious and sometimes the ideas for writing will almost sneak past you unnoticed. Learning to recognize the writing inspiration will help take your writing to the next level.

Uncover Writing Ideas

1. Any time you have to sit in a waiting room that has a large pile of magazines you can use the time to flip through those magazines and come up with titles and outlines for articles from the existing articles.

2. Sermon notes are a great place to find devotional ideas or inspirational posts.

3. Conversations in the elevator can lead to some great creative stories or even book ideas. You might want to wait until you get alone to write down what you hear because not everyone will be comfortable with you writing while they are talking.

4. Courtrooms are another great place to discover characters, dialogue and even story ideas.

5. Flip through the newspaper each day to come up with article ideas, how to tips and other post opportunities.

6. Movies or shows can offer opportunities to write reviews, play off points in the storyline or conversations in the concessions line.

7. Reading other blogs and websites will often trigger ideas for your own articles. Playing off those ideas and linking back to the websites will help you build links as well.

8. Self help books and how to books can be broken down into individual articles for each chapter or even study guides that go along with the book (just be sure you do not infringe on any copyrights).

9. Issues and situations in daily life. Writing about the family garden, keeping the house clean or raising kids can all offer endless opportunities for articles but also provide valuable tips and ideas for the readers.

10. Music – lyrics, lists and news – can provide inspiration for greeting cards, articles and sometimes the occasional rant.

11. New reports are great places to find inspiration for personal essays, commentary posts or even rewrites of the news stories provided on the air.

12. Top 10 shows – like the top ten beaches or top ten amusement parks – can be the inspiration for your own local or regional top ten lists. You can also play off the lists from the show and expand them into your own style. Always give credit where credit is do and try to link back to any websites that might be mentioned on the show.

13. Classes and seminars are great places to find the inspiration to create informative list articles, reviews of the programs or just what I learned stories.

14. Old writings and rantings may be the perfect catalyst to the next great story idea. Reading through old journals or things written in high school (or younger) can spark the imagination in ways you might not otherwise be able to find.

15. Challenges and competitions ignite the competitive spirit and push you to do more even when you don’t really want to do anything.

16. Writing will inspire more writing. Try sitting down and writing out lists of 20 – like 20 ways to find writing inspiration – and then see where that leads you. Not only will you have a list article but that list article could lead to individual articles for each list item which could easily be translated into an eBook or workbook.

17. Enjoy Mother Natures. It is always amazing what a perfect sunset or a rising full moon will do to my muse. Seeing a herd of dear along the road or a dove in front of the church on Easter morning can also inspire me to write more.

18. Encounters with other people that are brief or prolonged can give me the inspiration to write more personal essay posts, how to posts or what if articles. There is always something to see and to learn from others.

19. Gifts can either be a delight or a disaster. The process of buying a gift or even being thankful for a gift can be the beginning of a great short story or some helpful articles to write.

20. Family gatherings are the ultimate inspiration dream. If you come away from family reunions, family dinners, or other family get-togethers uninspired either you weren’t paying attention or else you have one of those few “normal” families that I have heard exists.

There are no limits to finding inspiration. You can find inspiration in the dirty laundry, the traffic jam or the trip to the grocery store. It is just a matter of keeping your eyes open and your ears alert to that catch phrase or situation that will inspire you to write the next great piece of work.