How to get inspired to write. A number of years ago I decided that I was ready to write a book. Over the years I’ve had articles appear in Fashion magazines, Huffington Post, real estate websites and of course close to 2000 posts on this blog.

Sure I know the rule, just write and don’t stop to edit but even so, I still spent a lot of my time staring a blank page trying to get the words to flow.

HOW TO GET INSPIRED TO WRITE

Read. I cannot stress this enough. Read as much as you can. It doesn’t have to be literary works of art, it can be anything you want but reading lets you escape from the everyday. When you get lost in a good book you’ll find that your ideas will start to flow. I always have sticky notes handy so that I can mark sentences or passages that speak to me.

Watch TV. I know, this sounds counter intuitive but sometimes a good movie or tv show is just the ticket for inspiration. Take some time to study the craft of the show or get to know the main characters. Ask yourself, what makes them tick? Why did the writers choose this particular storyline? Pretty soon you’ll find yourself making up your own.

Make Small Goals. Saying you are going to write a book pretty much guarantees that you will spend time cleaning your house. Sitting down to write for 30 minutes is a lot more doable. Often that 30 minutes will turn into 45 or even 60 and before you know it, you’ll have a body of work.

Keep It Simple. You don’t need to write a big complicated work right off the bat. Don’t be afraid to keep it simple to start. Write down what you are thinking, don’t worry about grammar or spelling or using fancy words. Simple is best.

Play Word Games. Sometimes you just can’t think of the words, so don’t worry about trying to find them. Open a book and find a sentence that appeals to you or pick up a dictionary and let it fall open to a random page, now write it down and let your imagination flow. What do the words inspire?

Join A Writing Community. This may not be for everyone but sometimes you need to listen to other people talk about writing and their writing projects.

Look At Photographs. This is my favourite tip since I wrote a whole book about getting inspired from photographs. Scroll through your phone, sit down with a photo album and imagine yourself inside the photograph. Use all your senses to describe the scene. Need some help? Check out my writing course, Tell Me What You See

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