My Tips on Generating Creative Inspiration

This article was originally requested by Ryan Hupfer, and I've decided to use my writing on Hubpages as a case study of sorts. I wrote this whole thing in less than an hour, and I got everything I needed just by reading the sentence in the ‘requests' section.

My routine consists of many different things and never fails to get me in the mood for writing. You need a constant flow into your mind for anything to flow out.

Music

I listen to a lot of music, and it's mostly metal or rock from years of old. I like it because it's fast, frenetic and it really stirs me up and gets me into the proper gear for writing. It sparks emotion and brings it forth.

I sometimes listen to other types of music too. I like to listen to movie and game OSTs (original soundtracks).

I also create music myself with the variety of music creating software out there. I mostly revert to eJay, but I have toyed with Babya Logic, Magix and others too. There's also Acoustica which is good for making rock and metal songs. There are hundreds of others, but I don't really want to risk swamping my hard drive with all of it and not to mention it takes time just to master one program, let alone many.

I consider music an integral part of my writing routine. 90 percent of the time I listen to music when I write.

Poetry and Songwriting

I have been known to write the odd poem. I also read poetry and books filled with quotes, which I include in most of my hubs at the end of each article. Years ago when I was in high school there was a phase where I was given an acoustic guitar by a friend and I would practice and try to write some songs as well. People said that I had a pretty good singing voice too.

I also read lyrics to the songs I have and the songs that I want to have, not just so that I can sing along but I use them in my writing. Often, my subtitles on my hubs are titles or lyrics from songs.

The News

I am quite politically minded and I like to keep up with what's happening in the big wide weird world. The paper, magazines and TV are all infinite sources of ideas for writing.

Media and Entertainment

I watch the odd movie now and again, whether it's brand new and off of the circuits are an old classic. I like movies that bring out some sort of emotion in you. One movie that I've seen literally dozens of times is Saving Private Ryan. It created such strong emotions the first time and it still does. I'm a big fan of WWII movies and games.

Sometimes humour is good too. Watching a funny movie or series on TV can take your mind of things, but it can also put you in an extra good mood, and this serves as a great opportunity to get going with creative inspiration. When did you ever feel like doing anything when you felt down? I just feel tired, lethargic and guilty on a bad day.

The Internet

It's probably the biggest source of inspiration in the world. I don't know of anything better! I like to look up a lot of things on Wikipedia for facts and I also browse many different sites, forums and blogs for ideas.

I drop in on Problogger and stevepavlina.com every now and again for tips as well. Just reading things about blogging and everything Darren has to say can give you hundreds if not thousands of ideas on what to write about, especially if it's about blogging and Web 2.0. Steve has a great site about personal development and I've found some great articles on there. HubPages' own Online Writer Insider podcast series and even their blog is worth a look too.

Discussions

Sometimes I just happen to get a bright idea while I'm talking to someone, or after I've been talking to someone, I'll remember something they said. It helps if you can brainstorm with someone too. Two heads are better than one. I don't brainstorm a lot though because quite honestly with all the ideas I already have it would be like overloading my system.

Dreams

I once received advice through a writing course freely downloadable off of the internet that suggested that for writing fantasy and science-fiction, it's perfectly acceptable and encouraged to record your dreams. I keep a database and I add it to my list of ideas for future reference.

Thoughts

One thing that I do is this. I have a huge list of ideas for articles, all colour coded into different areas of interest and numbered as well. I update this list constantly, with my own ideas and ideas that I find on the internet. It might be a single word or a title, a phrase or a complete story. I keep one for writing non-fictional stuff which I do most often, and a list for fictional story ideas. I also always have my iPhone at my side to take down ideas to review later.

I've heard that some people swear by NewNovelist for writing stories.

Thinking Positively

The one thing, adding all of these ideas above is to accept that this is your gift or one of many. You can have access to all the above sources and have your own veritable well of ideas, but if you haven't got the drive, none of it matters. Whether you're seeking the inspiration for writing, art, making music or anything in life, the most important thing is to say, "I can". This might seem like a motivational speaker's voice talking.

Well, perhaps a synonym for motivation could be inspiration.