1. Pray
2. Pinterest
3. Music
...from movie soundtracks to your favorite band, sometimes a mood or a single line from a song can inspire a story, or a character quality, or most importantly, just whatever element that it is that will help you jump over that creative blockage!
Oftentimes, I'll be listening to the radio and a song will come on with just one single line that will spark an entire story idea. I love Spotify for this...it has so much available to listen to for completely free--I could listen to music for hours and hours...the different concepts presented in the songs provide awesome material for story points or characterization.
Songs like:
...just to name a few. But I often find that it can be just a single line from a song that will inspire a whole concept for me. Like for this last song, I just adored the line, "...the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair..."
Another idea is to use movie soundtracks for different moods in your writing.
Sad scene? Try some soft, minor keyed songs.
Action scene? Some fast paced, exciting sounds.
Some favorite soundtracks are:
...and this is by no means an exhaustive list, obviously!
I would encourage you to explore music with inspiration in mind. Grooveshark and Spotify are fantastic resources to listen to tons of music for free--although, I must advise caution with the ads if you do not have the premium accounts for these sites.
Some other great options for finding new music would be Pandora Radio and iTunes radio. Put in your 'mood song' and let the station do the searching for you!
Hope you're enjoying the series so far!
How do you find inspiration?
I'd love to hear about it!
Loved this post! I use music to inspire stories all the time. And I love that line from "Be My Escape" by Relient K. I always have. Have a lovely day!
ReplyDelete~jaime
P.S. I awarded you at my blog! http://diligentlywaiting.blogspot.com/2014/07/extremely-late-liebster-award.html
Thanks for the ideas! When I have writer's block sometimes writing in my journal helps, even if it's only about how I have writer's block, or what I ate for lunch. Another thing I like to do is read my Bible. I get lots of ideas from my Bible!
ReplyDeleteBut reading always helps, whether it's fiction, history, or a lecture on why a good God allows suffering. I get ideas from all of them! Some ideas I get even come from watching a movie, or something one of my siblings says.
Another great thing I like to do is simply take a break from writing for a while, and do something else I love, like playing guitar.
Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for the ideas, Mallory! I always get lots of ideas from my Bible too, and I concur that reading helps SO much.
DeleteThanks for your reply, hope you're enjoying the series! :)