18 Enjoyable Things I Do For Writing Inspiration

I once had a Creative Writing professor tell me something that forever changed the way I wrote and searched for writing inspiration.

There is no such thing as writer’s block.

My initial reaction was: that’s an absolute lie. I couldn’t count the amount of times I’d sit down before a story deadline and the words just wouldn’t come. Writer’s block was the biggest culprit to my inability to finish a story, so to be told that it wasn’t real felt almost insulting.

But the professor explained this wasn’t writer’s block; it was being lazy. Writing inspiration doesn’t just fall out of the sky and into your brain. You have to work for it.

Of course, there are times when writing seems to effortlessly flow from our heads onto a page, but that doesn’t happen often, and we can’t wait to write only when it comes.

Ever since I heard there’s no such thing as writer’s block, I stopped telling myself I had it. When the inspiration wouldn’t come, I wouldn’t excuse it as something I had no control over. Writer’s block is what so many writers use to excuse putting in the effort to write, and then never finish a work.

In reality, writer’s block is just being lazy.

We live in a world where so much is going on and where an infinite amount of unfound inspiration lays waiting for us to use it. All we need to do is go out and find it.

Here is a list of the 18 things I do when I feel like I have “writer’s block.” They are things that I actually enjoy doing, and I invite you create your own list of things you like to do that can help inspire your writing.

Why should you do this? Because you should enjoy every part of being a writer! If you do, writing will come much easier for you.

1. Take a Change in Scenery

For me, this means taking a drive somewhere new. When I’m at home and not traveling, I like taking the 30 minute ride to a café in downtown Chicago or to go for a day trip somewhere in nature.

Even just leaving your house to a place you designate just for writing, like a library, nature spot or café, can help your creativity start rolling. Changing your location makes it easier to change to a writing mindset.

2. Go For a Walk in Nature

There’s a forest preserve a few minutes walk from my house, and I go there almost every day. There’s something about being alone in a dense forest of trees that seems to open up my mind to creativity. It makes me feel like I’m in a bubble where the outside world disappears and I can safely retreat into my head. So many of my writing ideas came to me while I was in that forest!

3. Take a Shower

Another place where many of my writing ideas come is in the shower. I always have my phone in the bathroom so that when I get out of the shower, I can write down my best ideas on my Notes app.

It’s not the most convenient place to get a writing idea, but I know that lots of other people get ideas in the shower (right? I’m not alone?). Perhaps the reason for this is that there are no distractions like phones in there with you and it’s a place where you take a break from life. Can you replicate this in any other part of your day?

4. Go For a Walk or Exercise

When I’m running or exercising, my mind tends to wander so that I don’t have to think about how my muscles are in pain or how my lungs feel like they’re going to burst. Okay, so maybe exercising isn’t always the most enjoyable thing, but I put it on this list because I enjoy its effects. While I let my mind wander, I often get lots of writing ideas.

Also, I like to write right after finishing a workout, when my entire body feels more alert. There are so many studies that prove that you are able to focus better after exercising, and you should use that focus to write!

5. Read. A Lot.

The best way to get writing inspiration is to read other works. What do you like about a certain writing topic or style? Can you try to replicate what’s being done in your own, unique way? Is there a topic that was touched upon in a book that you’d like to explore more in depth?

And not only does reading books you like give you writing inspiration, but they also help you become a better writer.

6. Watch a Movie or Show

I got lots of inspiration for the book I’m currently writing by watching TV shows and movies. Of course, you should never plagiarize, but you can use them as inspiration.

I like telling myself that I’m doing research whenever I’m watching TV or Netflix. Because in a way, I am. I’m taking mental notes on what works in storylines and what doesn’t. I get ideas for characters and how to portray them. You can do this by reading books as well, but sometimes it’s easier and takes less effort to just watch something.

For example, instead of reading research for my current work in progress, I watched a documentary on the topic. It takes much less effort to listen and watch than to read, so it was a nice break for my brain, and a much more productive break than taking a nap would have been.

7. Listen to music

I listen to music a lot. It helps my mind wander, and I sometimes listen to it when I’m writing. Other times I don’t bother, since when I write I tend to completely zone out and lose pretty much all my senses. I can’t hear the music or background noise, can no longer smell the scented candle I lit and completely forget where I am.

But whenever I hit the point where I run out of things to write about and become aware of my surroundings again, it’s nice to have some inspiring music to get me back on track to write.

8. Travel

Traveling is an awesome way to get writing inspiration. By taking yourself out of environments that you’ve become used to, you start noticing new things about the world that you never noticed before.

If you struggle using your travels as writing inspiration, make sure to check out my free travel writing prompts here. You should also subscribe to my free writing prompt newsletter, which delivers a new travel-related writing prompt to you once a month. Best of all, you don’t have to be traveling right now to make use of them. They’re designed so that you can use past travels to draw inspiration from for new story ideas.

Can’t travel? No worries! I came up with a list of ways to still gain the same writing inspiration travel creates, but that you can still get from home!

And because of COVID, a writing retreat now may seem impossible. But I came up with some ideas proving that’s not true!

9. Observe the world

Find character ideas in real-life people you meet or strangers you observe. Listen to conversations and make notes of behaviors.

For maximum effect, go somewhere alone. Sit down on a bench in a crowded place, go to a restaurant or café, or anywhere else that you could think of where there’s a lot going on. When you’re alone, you don’t have to worry about being distracted by conversations with whoever you’re with. I personally love traveling alone for this reason, and I’d recommend solo traveling to all writers!

You can focus completely on taking notes about the world around you. Just don’t be too creepy. And remember that most people like their privacy.

10. Meet and Get to Know New People

Bonus points if they come from different backgrounds than you. Ever heard of the saying that you should write about what you know? Well, expand what you know by learning about the world from other people!

This may seem really terrifying to many writers (myself included), but try talking to strangers. You never know what story you’ll hear. And if they ignore you and don’t want to talk to you, use that. Make a story out of it. Why didn’t they want to talk to you? What’s going on in their lives? What are they hiding? Boom. You just got yourself a story idea.

11. Go Do Things With Your Friends and Family

While it’s good to push yourself to be uncomfortable as a writer, sometimes you need a comfortable environment to come up with an idea. Especially when socializing with strangers comes difficult for you, it’s nice to be able to observe the world with someone you feel comfortable with.

The energy that otherwise would have been wasted on anxiety could be spent on using your focus to come up with new story ideas. It’s also much easier to write about the experiences you yourself had. Go live life instead of just reading about it or watching other people do it!

12. Move Abroad

Moving to a new country is much more intense than just traveling for a few days or weeks. The longer you spend in a place outside your comfort zone, the more you learn about the world, the more new experiences you’ll encounter and the more writing ideas you’ll collect.

I personally came across so many writing ideas when I lived in different countries. I not only learned new things about life in other places worldwide, but I also looked at my own way of life differently.

13. Keep a Notebook or Journal

And have it with you at all times. You never know when an idea will pop into your head. My notebooks and journals are my number one place to go to when I need writing inspiration. I can never tell myself that I have no story ideas because I have pages and pages of ideas to write about.

14. Keep a Quote Book

I love collecting quotes. I started in high school and have a big notebook filled with quotes and sentences that I found inspiring and beautiful. Sometimes I like to read through that journal when I feel like there’s no creativity going on in my brain.

Usually I find the inspiration to write, finding that I too want to create beautiful quotes in my own writing.

15. Use a Writing Prompt

Many of my Creative Writing classes in college required us to do writing prompts, and lots of my stories came from ideas inspired by those prompts.

The way it would work was the professor would give us a prompt, and then we had to write nonstop based on the topic. Again, if you’re interested in my writing prompts designed to help you extract inspiration from your past travels, sign up here. Did I mention it’s completely free? 😉

16. Free write

You can also use a prompt to free write. What this means is that you have to keep on writing even when you feel like you have “writer’s block” (remember: it doesn’t exist!). Set a timer for a minute, five minutes, or for however long you want, and write. You can’t stop writing until the timer goes off. Your pen must keep moving, even it’s just to write, “I don’t know what to write,” over and over until suddenly you get a spark in your brain that gives you an idea.

This can be tough, and I remember I hated doing these in Creative Writing class, especially when I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish a paper for another class. Writing was the last thing in the world I wanted to do and my brain felt dead. But after a while of writing, it becomes easier to write when you suddenly hit on an idea that could turn into a new story.

17. Play an Instrument (or another creative hobby)

I get so many ideas when I’m playing the piano. When I’m practicing virtuoso exercises or playing old pieces that don’t require my full concentration, my mind wanders until suddenly I find a solution to a plot hole I’m stuck on. Or I come up with a character. Or a new story idea.

If you don’t play an instrument, is there a hobby you have that lets you relax? The kind where you can do the activity mechanically and let your mind wander elsewhere? Another hobby I use in this way is knitting and other types of crafts.

The reason why you should aim to do these is that when you sit down and think only about what to write about, you’re probably not going to be able to be creative under the pressure. Usually, creativity comes when you’re not trying so hard to attain it. And if you’re already partaking in a more creative task, you’ll already be in that creative mindset, and it’ll be easier to write.

18. Go to a museum

I’ve always enjoyed visiting museums and learning new things in a visual and interactive way. But what made me love visiting museums when it came to a lack of writing inspiration was the first creative writing class I took in college. Our professor instructed us to pick an artifact from the campus museum we visited and write a story inspired by it. Now, every time I visit a museum, I see writing ideas everywhere.

Bonus: Inspire Yourself

The last thing to do is to simply tell yourself you’re going to write. Sit down, tell yourself you can do it, and force yourself to put words down on paper. Most writers know this isn’t as simple as it sounds, but with enough practice, it could be.

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For more inspiration, check out my article on things I do to actually get writing done over here.

What do you do for writing inspiration? Let us know in the comments below!