Creative writing comes in all shapes and forms. You can write novels, short stories, poetry, personal essays and more. But one thing that most people don’t plan on is being completely stumped for creative writing ideas on what to write about. Some call this writers block. Others avoid the term like the plague for the stress it causes. Either way, not having enough ideas to fuel your creative writing endeavors is enough to cause a lot of anxiety. Something needs to be done – and fast.
Every writer has their own ideas on how to get past this and get the ideas they want. They have their arsenal of creative writing exercises that they use to get them through. These exercises do work but this doesn’t necessarily work for everyone and there are other things you can do. Here are some ideas:
- Get away from the computer. Sometimes turning off the computer and doing something else is enough to stimulate creativity and give you some good creative writing ideas. If possible you may want to do something fun.
- Creative writing prompts. Another option is to use creative writing promps or exercises. These exercises come in many forms. One common one is to spend ten or fifteen minutes describing the environment you’re in using all the senses.
- Every day life. Your life can give you information if you let it. Where do you live? Where do you work? If you pay attention you will notice that there is a story idea in almost anything.
- Read the newspaper. Another thing you can do is read the newspaper every day. Some of your local news stories can serve as the inspiration to the plot of a short story or even a novel. Be careful not to write about that event specifically though. Make it fiction.
- Search online. You can use the internet to find story ideas. Visit your favorite websites and keep a pen and notebook handy. Write down anything that strikes you as interesting, amusing, odd, etc.
This is a good list that should get you started finding creative writing ideas. The important thing is not to force the ideas. You can give yourself circumstances to think of them but the ideas themselves should come naturally.
