For me, my inspiration to write is always fleeting. I realized not long after I decided that I wanted to write that I am not one of those people who are constantly inspired by something they see and I don’t lead that exciting of a life to constantly be swarmed with material to write about. After taking time to review my journals, I saw that I wrote the most when I was upset. This fact was discouraging because I didn’t want all of the content that I wrote to be sad or remind me of when I was sad. I began to question my capabilities as a writer and long story short, my anxiety began to take over.
Taking writing classes while in college has enabled me to learn how to get myself out of that writers block I always felt trapped in. Usually what helps me write the most are writing prompts, but recently I have been getting more creative. One of my favorite ways to write is by incorporating music.
To do this, I take a journal and sit in a coffee shop or the library with my phone and some headphones. I put my playlist on shuffle and whatever song comes on is going to be the title of my free write. I create a story using the lyrics. Usually the stories lack character names or even a specific plot but that’s not the point. My goal is to see how much I can write in a short amount of time because the amount of time I spend on writing the story depends on the length of the song. Some of these short stories are written in three minutes others between four and five. I figured out writing in these short increments helps me from feeling stuck, causes me to really have to focus and listen and it keeps me from getting bored of myself. At first it was a little challenging, but as the songs changed and some of my favorites began to play I found my self sitting there for hours at a time writing story after story.
My next favorite way to keep myself inspired to write is by going to museums.
One of the perks of being in a city like Richmond is the amount of art that is constantly produced. I am the most inspired to create something after seeing the amazing things other people are able to make. I live on a street with a lot of museums, some which are free, and some that have special showings that are free to the public. For the larger scale art galleries, I enjoy taking my journal with me and sitting or standing in front of a painting or work that has me particularly captivated. I’ll take a few moments and either write down in very vivid detail what I am seeing, exercising my ability to describe detail and imagery, or I’ll create a story for the art whether it has one or not.
My favorite part about doing writing exercises like this is that I am taken out of my comfort zone, whether it be where I am writing or how I am writing it. I am used to writing narratives about my life and the things that go on in my head so focusing that energy on something else can be a great distraction when I am overwhelmed as well as a way for me to improve my writing skills.
If nothing else, these experiences of finding new ways to write has taught me that when I feel my inspiration hasn’t come to me that I am capable of finding it myself.