What Do I Write Now? Finding Inspiration for the Next Story

Have you ever found yourself curled up with a good book thinking, how did they come up with this stuff? This is a question posed to any sort of prose or poetry – and a good one, at that. How do we come up with this stuff?

Well, frankly, our heads. It’s our childlike curiosity blended into our forever maturing minds that try to make sense of the world around us. The world changes, as do our minds, because of our own experiences, the decisions we make, and the impending consequences. These consequences – sometimes feeling more like punishments – can make really good stories.

Flannery O’Connor is quoted as saying, “Nothing needs to happen in a writer’s life after they are 20. By then, they’ve experienced more than enough to last their creative life.” With that said, here’s another from Greg Kinnear’s character from the 2012 film Stuck in Love in response to O’Connor: “A writer is the sum of their experiences. Go get some.”

Why’re you still here? The world is full of experiences. Go out and get them. Then come back and tell me all about it!