Writer's Inspiration in Daily Life

Where do our ideas come from?

It’s a question every writer gets asked, so if you’re a first-time author planning a book signing, be prepared to answer it.

The opposite can be true too. When we’re stuck in a writer’s block moment and desperate for something to spark the creative muse again, what inspires us to write? 

It can be anything really, and the more we explore the world the more we find things that inspire us.

The Little Things

I often find it’s the little things.

A month or so ago my family and I went to the Claude Monet immersive experience. One room was set up like a studio: paintings lined the walls and in a corner sat an easel with paints and a desk. You could go right up and see the individual brush strokes on the works.

If you know anything about painting (I don’t) this could probably inspire many ideas about how Monet painted, or why your character would arrange their studio a certain way if they were an artist. What it reminded me the most of was Karen Odden’s historical mystery Trace of Deceit, where the main character’s brother copied paintings. 

Thinking about forgeries while looking closely at brush work probably says something about me, but what can I tell you? I’m a developmental editor for mystery books. These kinds of dark twists happen.

Two weeks ago I was in England and went to Hardwick Hall with some friends. You can see amazing tapestries there, including needlework by Bess of Hardwick and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Hardwick Hall tapestry. Photo by author

I kept looking at that piece thinking: imagine if it could talk! 

A historical fiction writer could have a field day with a scene like that.

As both a writer and a historian, I often find it is the smaller, domestic items (like Bess and Mary’s needlework) that inspire my imagination the most. The stories household items could tell us, and the stories we could use them to enrich our own writing with, or use as the starting point for a fantastic “what if”, are limitless.

Dive into Daily Life

Whether you are inspired to discover the true story behind a painting, to tell you own story based on a moment frozen in time by a photograph, or to ask yourself what daily items would be needed in the fantasy world you’re creating, let your creativity run wild with the small items as well as the large ones.

We can be inspired by anything. The stories are all around us, just waiting on us to as “what if.”