The hardest part of my writing journey and I believe for many others, is finding something to write a fiction story about. We may have an idea, but how do we proceed? How do we take that one idea and find others to make a whole story, or two or more? Where do we find inspiration?

At the beginning of my creative writing course, I wondered what I could possibly write about. What do I know? I could write about my life experiences, but who would want to read that? I wanted to escape reality, not remind myself of all the misdemeanors my child had been through that past week. I wanted escapism.

I could be inspired and write, like many do, of disruptive childhoods, the dramas of family and friends, the teenage years and then on, but to me it felt like an unconnected chain of events, which spread into years and mundane drudgery; not an exciting roller-coaster ride of fantastical storytelling. I didn’t know how to piece all the parts together.

The first exercise I completed on the creative writing course, has convinced me there are stories everywhere. It asked me to take a story from the newspaper and create a unique story idea. I didn’t believe I could do this, I erected a barrier, this was my fear, finding a story worth telling. Newspaper stories are in black and white, they deal in facts how could I take a story already written and create a new one based on the information provided. To me it seemed impossible and I was ready to fail at the first hurdle.

But I still persevered, I wanted to know if I could really write, the course excited me, so I had to try. I dutifully looked through the paper, reading sensational stories and realised that there were backstories I could create leading to an event detailed there. I could, perhaps, write a life time/ or a chain of events leading up to the actual event in a newspaper. For example, a series of events that landed a character in prison for the crime detailed in the article. Another example, could be a story of police bravery, but what was happening in that person’s home life, what happened after? If I let my imagination go wild I could get really ‘out there’ with my ideas and end up in an intergalactic adventure.

I managed to complete the required assignment and I felt proud of the unique story ideas I had produced. Then, because it was challenging, I set myself the task of creating a different scenario for every piece of creative writing I was asked to undertake. As I did so, I realised two things. Firstly, the more I practised this, the more ideas for stories I was able to come up with – I was giving my imagination a work out and secondly – stories are everywhere.

stories are everywhere

After I had finished the course, I was looking for inspiration and I began to find it:

A lady came to buy some toys from me at a discounted price in comparison to the price I had set. She was prepared to sit and tell me her tale of woe as her price, positive my sympathy would negate the price, not knowing the true value of the story that she shared with a writer. I wrote it down and one day will tell it.

I like to write poetry and I found that there is inspiration there for stories. I wrote a poem a few months back, about a couple I observed whilst I walked along a footpath at the beach. They were young and it was clear the boy liked to run but the girl who was running with him, she wasn’t a runner. It made me think, how much of ourselves we will happily adapt to suit the one we love. I then wrote (a yet to be seen) poem, but if I go further, that is an idea for a book. It’s not a unique idea, but the characters I use and the situation I find them in, will be.

There is inspiration, hidden in plain sight, in the every day.

Therefore, you are only as restricted as you allow your mind to be, and as your mind is unlimited, only you are placing the subconscious brakes on your imagination.

Take this morning for instance, my husband had to take the kid to the doctor. Why? Because he got a fish hook stuck in his toe and it got infected. How did he end up with a fish hook in his toe? Where was he? Who was he with? What was he doing with the fish hook? Was he really going fishing? Could it become a story about boy who has a series of mishaps? Could it be a story about a boy who had to have his toe amputated because it became infected, then it could become a story about overcoming adversity. Could the fish hook be haunted? Could fishing become a lifelong passion sending him all over the world in competition? So many avenues to explore, so many options, ideas, inspiration. Who are the cast of supporting actors? What are their back stories?

It is that simple, after I had spent some time flexing my imagination ‘muscle’ I realised all I have to do is:

Use my imagination. Let it run wild and free, play with ideas, believe nothing is off limits in the creative process and let the story unfold.

Another source of inspiration is my friends and families, sometimes they will share something with me about their past, or about people I don’t know. I may think that it is sweet and romantic or sad and tragic or life affirming, or crazy funny. I see the potential. Then I will write it down and save it and perhaps one day it will fit into one of my stories when I need something. It can be an event, a saying or an action (I always ask before I include something). When I really listen, it amazes me how truth is even more unbelievable than fiction.
There are so many truly amazing stories out there in plain sight, I don’t need to rack my mind, thinking, thinking, thinking of actual story lines, other people I speak to or read of, people do it for me.

With all this inspiration everywhere, I ended up with too many stories to tell at once; I am not that fast a writer, so I write a few sentences about what I have seen, or heard and then leave them till I am ready to come back to that idea someday…

You don’t need to look for inspiration. Inspiration is everywhere, your imagination just needs to be ready to run with it….