avatarYewande Ade

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What To Do When It Feels like You have Run Out of Writing Ideas

Do these and get your creative juice flowing like never before…

Photo: Cottonbro on Pexels

While some writers can write just about anything that comes to mind, others have to think really hard before they can have ideas on what to write.

For me, it’s a bit of both. There are days when the ink flows non-stop. On other days, I do never-ending research and deep-thinking before making a choice on what to write.

Coming up with new ideas is a process. It doesn’t just happen, it is a resultant effect of your daily actions; conscious or unconscious.

As writers, there are so many ways to generate ideas on what we can write. Here’s what you can do if you never want to run out of writing ideas:

1. Constantly use your experiences

There is no better way to write than by adopting real-life experiences.

The most incredible stories come from natural experiences, particularly daily events we have no control over.

Natural experience is one of the purest forms of writing, because it is real, authentic and original.

The thing is, you don’t even have to be a world-class traveler or an overly adventurous person to document real-life experiences.

People will always read stories that they can resonate with; genuine stories. They want to read something realistic enough that they can connect to.

From your personal encounters, there are lots of ideas you can share with the world. Your hobbies, daily routine, food ideas, acquired skill, movies you like, fashion ideas, etc

While nature takes its course, make it a duty to capture events as they occur. Whether boring, interesting, exciting or emotional experiences, let your pen and paper be on standby to take notes.

Real-life experiences are easy to write because they are peculiar to you. Also, your readers may have experienced something similar and would be able to relate.

Tip:

The trick is to provide answers to random questions about yourself.

In creating new writing ideas, ask yourself: what has this experience taught me? What can others learn from it? How can others learn from my life experience?

The list is endless.

2. Read, read and read

Reading is like a goldmine from which you can get the best ideas.

The more you read, the more you get inspired to write.

One major reason why I love to read is because it serves as an eye-opener on any topic. I could read a piece and not agree with the author, which could push me to express my point of view.

Mike Bunns in his article on “how to read like a writer”, explains that the goal of any writer while reading should be to figure out how the text you are reading is constructed so that you can build one for yourself.

“Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river.” — Lisa See

Tip: Pick a book of interest to you. Catch your random thoughts as you read through. Reflect on what you have read and generate writing topics from it.

3. Let your curiosity play its part

Let your curiosity drive you to a point where nothing that captivates your interest goes unattended.

It’s not unusual to ask rhetorical questions when writing. Each time you see a topic you like, do a little research on it.

The trick is, you will never run out of ideas if you are curious while writing!

While you shouldn’t let your mind go on a frolic of its own, you can have some controlled wandering thoughts.

You don’t necessarily need to have answers to all of life’s questions, but be creative with your curiosity.

Ideas come from curiosity — Walt Disney

We are surrounded by a world of endless and limitless possibilities; there should be no end to our thoughts.

Tip: Never stop asking questions. Be curious about everything.

4. Write something that you are very passionate about

One thing that can be an advantage for any writer is the ability to identify particular topics that he can write with ease.

This is not to say you shouldn’t experiment with other topics, but it flows better if you are writing topics you are comfortable with.

As a writer, if you delve into unfamiliar terrain, there is the tendency to struggle while writing.

Struggling to write something you have zero interest in is hectic.

Writing what you know gives you more confidence to tell your story.

Whereas, if you are that writer who is open to writing almost any topic, the best you can do is develop more interest in the selected topic till you reach a point of comfort to totally express yourself.

Being more open-minded helps you appreciate any topic better.

Tip: Enjoy what you are writing. That’s the first step.

5. Use your imagination as much as you can

When you write, always pay attention to what your mind tells you.

I like to believe that writers are good observers, because even the minutest detail about an event or a person could spark our interest.

Even when we are not actively thinking, ideas constantly flow.

As M.L Tarpley says, “your imagination is truly the most powerful thing, And to write, you must tap into it.”

You can stretch your imagination to any extent and capture past events, life-changing decisions you have made, childhood stories, family events, religion, politics, business, finances, success, life lessons, life, fashion, games, adventures, etc .

Your mind is like a working clock. Random ideas pop when you least expect it.

Tip: When you write random ideas, come back to it later and check if it still makes sense to you. If it still does, check if it’s something you can expand. Then proceed.

6. Have a list of topics to work with

You don’t have to wait for ideas to come to you before making a decision on what to write.

Creating a list of topics is important so that anytime we need to write, we can do so without hesitation.

With your notes and lists ready, you are now ready to set sail!

Your list could be a mix of various topics ranging from controversial to remarkable and trending events.

Let your writing list keep growing as you find more inspiration.

During the process of creating a proper topic checklist, important questions to ask yourself are :

a) Am I interested in this topic?

b) Will this topic be of interest to my audience?

c) Do I possess prior knowledge or experience in this topic? If otherwise, am I willing to explore and get more comfortable with writing about it?

d) Does it fit into my writing plans?

Once you have all these figured out, you can decide to investigate and review each chosen topic.

Tip: Make that list today!

7. Take a cue from your writing mentors

As a writer, you should have other writers who inspire you when you read their works.

The truth is, you can’t always write in isolation.

Here on medium, I have writers whom I use as yardsticks. I check their writing, style, diction, organization and level of presentation while writing.

I keep telling myself that if I want to be better at writing, I have to learn from others.

Reading the work of others hits different.

Tip: Pick someone whose writing style interests you and follow them closely.

8. Rely on Social Media

Quora, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook are wonderful places to get writing topics.

Follow the daily trends, check for what is of interest to people per day.

Check your Twitter trends for hot topics, use pinterest which generates similar topics as you search.

Quora has interesting questions and answers you can learn from. From these answers, there are ideas you can pick. You can also look up Quora spaces related to what you want to write.

LinkedIn also has very helpful hashtags

Tip: Social media is a content bank. Search the right places and you never be out of ideas on what to write .

Final Thought

The idea of writing comes with the decision to have an open mind and the willingness to explore.

Billions of ideas will always continue to exist, all that we need to do as writers is to discover them.

However, we should also note that it is not always about the idea, it's about the Execution.

Just start.

Give your story a chance to be read. An idea is just an idea, till it is brought to existence.

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