There are many places to find inspiration… all you have to do is look around you. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our normal lives that we forget to actually look for inspiration. We have to stop and allow ourselves to be reminded of the beauty and wealth of creativity that surrounds us.

Today, I’m going to share with you some of the ways I find inspiration, and hopefully, they will inspire you, too. If you’d rather watch a video on this, you can check it out on my YouTube channel here.

1. The world around you

This is one of the best places to look for inspiration.

No, actually, look around you right now. That stapler on your desk? The weird wallpaper color in your bedroom? Your neighbor’s pet chihuahua? You can write a story about that.

Sometimes, we only expect inspiration from the extraordinary—a jaw-dropping view, a dream vacation, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And, yes, you should let those things inspire you. Take advantage of the extraordinary moments.

But in holding out for those moments, don’t miss the thousands of other moments that are flying by in the meantime. Sure, they might not be as flashy as a trip to Europe. But they can be just as beautiful.

The Bible says in Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

God made every day for us to praise Him. He created the tiniest dandelion along with the biggest rose, and He wants us to use everything He’s given us to glorify Him—including those everyday, normal things.

So find a building with unique architecture in your city. Dig up a box of your great-grandma’s old things. Visit the bakery that just opened up nearby. Hike a new forest trail. Just go for a drive.

You never know what inspiration you will find in the most ordinary of places.

2. The people around you

Again, we take the ordinary things for granted. God created every person to be unique, so that means there’s a vast amount of inspiration out there to be found.

You might overhear an interesting conversation behind you at the checkout line (and, no, I’m not encouraging eavesdropping). You might see a person wearing a cool outfit. You might get a piece of wisdom from one of your great-uncles.

And you don’t just have to watch people to get inspiration from them. If you talk to them, you will often discover even more ideas. Everybody has some kind of story to tell, but they don’t always find someone who will listen.

I’ve found that older people especially have such fascinating things to say. They have so many experiences, memories, and lessons to share that, sadly, a lot of people don’t take time to listen to anymore. We as writers can help pass down that knowledge by letting it inspire us to create.

3. Other works of fiction

No, I’m not talking about plagiarism. Whether we realize it or not, much of our work is built on the foundation of other writers. We draw subconsciously from our favorite books, movies, and TV shows all the time… so why not be intentional about it?

Maybe you want to take a side character and explore their backstory. Maybe you can combine two different locations into one. Maybe you can tell a similar story, but experiment with a new ending.

As a writer, you should write the kind of story you would want to read. So drawing from your favorite pieces of fiction will combine new and old ideas into something wonderfully unique.

4. Real-life stories

Inspiration doesn’t have to be found only in made-up stories. There are plenty of real-life stories out there waiting to be told.

Whether you’re inspired to write a biography, or you just take a snippet of inspiration from a story you’ve heard, you can learn from the experiences of others.

As I already mentioned, talk to people and listen to their stories. There are so many amazing tales that haven’t been told yet… simply because no one has taken the time to write them down.

And if you study up on history, you can discover even more true stories from the past. Political figures, missionaries, scientists, and many other people are known mostly for their accomplishments and discoveries. Not everyone knows the stories that their lives hold.

5. Your own experiences

Of course, this is a main place to draw inspiration from. This might be an intimate moment with your family, an event that you witnessed firsthand, or even the interactions you had during your average workday.

You have a unique perspective. No one else has lived your life—no one else has had the exact experiences you have. Even the most average, daily events can become a part of a story. Why? Because they are part of a story… your story.

You can even draw from moments in your life to help you better understand your characters and how they would behave. While you may never know what it’s like to be hanging off of a cliff, you do know what fear is like. You’ve felt adrenaline course through your veins before—perhaps in a different scenario—but it’s still the same, basic feeling.

Think about certain events in your life… what emotions did you feel? What was going through your head? How did you externally react? What did you say?

You can use your own perspective to inspire events, character motivations, and emotions in your writings. So even if the story doesn’t resemble your life on the surface, your fingerprints can be found all over it.

I also wanted to add an honorable mention. If you can’t find the right inspiration from any of these other things, there are many great writing prompt tools available. One that I find especially helpful is the Storymatic Game. You can mix and match a bunch of different cards in the game to create a unique prompt that still leaves a lot of room for creativity.

There are also prompt generators out there, as well as other tools that you can use. If you find yourself void of inspiration, writing prompts are definitely a great way to get your creative juices flowing again.

When I had major writer’s block, I found a writing prompt that brought back my inspiration. That prompt pulled me out of writer’s block, and I actually ended up writing one of my favorite stories from it.

There are so many things that can be used for inspiration, but these are just some of the ones I use. I encourage you to go find some inspiration and use it to write your own, unique story.

Comment below some places that you find inspiration!