How to Boost Your Creative Inspiration as a Writer

This post is all about how to boost your creative inspiration as a writer and bring fresh ideas back into your writing.

Do you feel like you don’t have as many story ideas as you used to? Are you worried that your creative inspiration is letting you down? Worried that you might not be able to finish your current book or find an idea for your next one?

Don’t worry, dear happy writer. Your creative inspiration isn’t gone, and you can revive it with a few simple changes. It’s not about sitting at your desk and racking your brain until an idea finally appears. It’s about trying new experiences and creative activities, being present enough to notice the inspiration already surrounding you, and creating an environment that keeps you connected to your imagination.

In this post, I’ll share six fun and simple ways to boost your creative inspiration, spark fresh story ideas, and bring the fun and excitement back into your writing. If you prefer the video version, check out the YouTube video below for tips on boosting your creative inspiration.

Fill your creative well with new experiences

All the creativity you use to write your books comes from your past experiences. It comes from the trips you’ve taken, the people you’ve met, and everything you’ve experienced throughout your life. So, if you feel like your creativity is starting to lag, maybe it’s time to refill your well of inspiration.

How about going on a well-deserved holiday somewhere you’ve always dreamed of visiting? Or taking a helicopter ride, learning how to fly a plane, or trying scuba diving?

RELATED POST: Writing Inspiration from Travel

But don’t worry, dear happy writer. It doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated, or dangerous. You can have new experiences much closer to home and with far less effort. You could simply go for a walk in an area of your town you’ve never explored before. You could take a cooking class, attend a public lecture on a topic that interests you, or even choose one you know absolutely nothing about.

There are so many new experiences waiting for you. You just have to be willing to try them. Each one can bring a fresh wave of inspiration through the places you see, the people you meet, and the things you discover along the way.

All you need to do is be willing to try something new. Trying something new doesn’t only give you more creative inspiration, but it can also be a lot of fun. And who knows? You might even discover a new hobby in the process.

Surround yourself with things that spark your imagination

We briefly touched on this when we talked about how to romanticize your writing process. But many of the same elements that make your writing process feel more special can also help spark your imagination.

You can surround yourself with things connected to your characters, your story, or even the genre you’re writing in. You might print out pictures of actors you imagine playing your main characters, images of important settings or meaningful objects from your novel, or even a few memorable quotes from your characters.

You can also keep some of your favourite books nearby—the ones that inspired you in the past. If they sparked your creativity before, flipping through them again might give you a fresh boost of creative inspiration. Old notebooks filled with book ideas, observations, and writing inspiration can have a similar effect.

But if you live in a small space or simply prefer minimalism, you definitely don’t have to fill your home with images and objects related to your writing. You can keep everything in digital format instead. That’s what I do, and it works very well for me.

Whether they’re physical or digital, these visual cues can help you reconnect with your story, awaken your imagination, and invite more creativity into your writing life.

Turn an ordinary walk into creative inspiration

A walk can really boost your creative inspiration. And it doesn’t have to be a long walk or take you somewhere completely new. Even a short walk around your neighbourhood can have the same effect.

You might think there’s no chance of finding fresh ideas there. After all, you walk through your neighbourhood all the time, you know it very well, and there’s nothing new to discover. But I disagree. How well do you really know your neighbourhood?

Think about how many times you’ve walked home while being so absorbed in your own thoughts that you suddenly found yourself at your front door without even remembering how you got there. Or is that just me?

Anyway, lately, I’ve been working on being much more present throughout the day and truly experiencing the moment instead of spending so much time inside my own head. And when you do that, you start noticing all kinds of new things, even along a route you’ve walked hundreds of times.

So, here’s what I suggest: go on an intentional inspiration walk and be fully present. That means no checking social media, listening to audiobooks, podcasts, or music, and no talking to a friend on the phone. Simply walk and observe everything around you.

RELATED POST: Writing Inspiration from Everyday Life

Try to notice things you’ve never paid attention to before. Observe the people around you, their body language, and the way they interact with one another. Pay close attention also to the environment and notice all the small details that usually fade into the background.

When you become more present, you give yourself the chance to discover fresh details and gather new inspiration for your novels. And most importantly, being present also helps you appreciate and enjoy life more.

Explore creativity beyond writing

Here’s a really fun way to boost your creative inspiration. New ideas don’t come only from actively searching for them. Trying other artistic activities can activate the creative part of your brain, helping you make new connections and discover a fresh set of ideas.

It’s also a lot of fun, and it removes the pressure to be creative specifically for your manuscript. So, try experimenting with a few new creative activities. You could paint, draw, doodle, or keep a creative journal where you record your thoughts, achievements, and goals in a more artistic way.

If you’d like to try one of these activities but don’t know where to start, YouTube is full of free tips and tutorials that can guide you. You could also take an online course through a platform such as Skillshare or look for a local class. A local class has the added benefit of taking you somewhere new and giving you the chance to meet new people. That way you get an even bigger boost of creative inspiration.

Other fun options include pottery, dancing, cooking, or baking classes. And if you think the last two don’t count as art, think again. Just picture those beautifully decorated cupcakes that look so perfect you almost don’t want to eat them because you’d be ruining a tiny work of art.

Whatever you decide to try, choose something that you’re excited to try and not something your logical mind selects simply because it thinks it should help your creativity. When you’re having fun, you create space in your mind for new creative ideas to emerge.

Boost your creative inspiration by being present

We’re constantly busy, trying to do a hundred things, often several of them at once. We move from one social media app to another, jump between tasks, or try to navigate the thirty open tabs in our browser. But what do you think all of that does to your brain?

It overwhelms your mind, reduces your focus and clarity, and creates a lot of stress. That means there’s very little space left for your imagination to wander and give birth to new ideas.

So, instead of hoping to find your next brilliant idea somewhere inside those thirty open tabs, how about closing all of them? Or, even better, close your laptop, put your phone away, and give your mind a chance to relax. Give your own imagination some room to breathe and resurface.

I used to think that the more information I gathered, the more easily ideas would flow. I was constantly trying to optimize my time by listening to podcasts or audiobooks while doing other things. But more recently, I’ve realised that the opposite actually works better.

You experience far more benefits when you slow down, become more present, and focus fully on the activity you’re doing in that moment. This reduces all that stress you’ve been placing on your mind and allows you to notice all the creative ideas that were already there, but had become hidden beneath all the noise and busyness.

Revisit what once inspired you

Finally, think about what inspired you in the first place. Which books, movies, TV shows, people, or memories sparked some of your ideas in the past? Maybe it’s time to revisit them. If they inspired you before, they may be able to inspire you again.

Think about what exactly sparked those ideas. Was it a character you loved, a magical setting, a powerful message, or was it a person you met and truly admired?

RELATED POST 1: Finding Writing Inspiration from Movies and TV Shows for Your Characters and Plot

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You could rewatch that movie, reread the book, explore similar stories, or you could even try to meet that person from your past that you admired. These experiences could spark a fresh set of ideas, especially because you’re not the same person you were back then.

In the meantime, you’ve gained new experiences, your creative mind has grown, and you now see the world a little differently. So, when you return to something that once inspired you, it’s very possible that you’ll discover completely new ideas within the same material.

This post was all about boosting your creative inspiration as a writer. If you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy this post:

How to Brainstorm Story Ideas for Your Novel

Now it’s your turn. How do you boost your creative inspiration? Let me know in the comments.