As a university student, how many times have you tried to write and made zero progress on your goals? If it’s multiple times, don’t fret. You are not alone. Deep down, you know how writing is important to you. Yet, you have a hard time taking action consistently. So, what’s really happening here?
Let’s face it. You are not inspired. You spend most of your time reading other peoples’ writing and wondering how they managed to write so well. These writers were inspired and persisted even when the odds were against them. If you want to write seriously, or even advance in this career, you need to ensure that writing is an inspiration to you. In this article, I am going to share with you a few simple tips that most successful authors use to find sources of inspiration for writing. As you are going to see, finding inspiration in education is not rocket science.
1. Read pieces that you hate
This is an odd tip because most people read pieces they love to get inspired. However, what if you do the opposite? According to Richard Siken, reading a piece that you hate in college can motivate you to start writing. At first, it sounds counterproductive. However, there is some truth in it. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Reading something that you don’t like can propel you to write something that you are passionate about. While reading a horrible piece, think of the improvements that you can make or the best ways to spin this work. You might read a few sentences and get so frustrated that you start writing something better.
2. Record your childhood experiences
While most adults don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their childhood experiences, they can be great resources for writing inspiration. If you can remember how you got into lots of fun adventures, the magic that occurs when you look at the world with the eyes of a child can add wonder to your story. When Tobias Wolf wrote This Boy’s Life, he was inspired by his childhood. The key ideas of the book came from his childhood notes. While not everyone had interesting experiences growing up, there are lots of great ways to find your writing inspiration.
3. Make normal situations different
You may have never thought of this. But normal life experiences can be a great source of inspiration. With some creativity and twist, you can make normal situations turn into magical, terrifying, or thrilling ones. Over the years, Mark Hadon has been using this technique effectively. Look at normal life situations such as attending school, coming up with a thesis statement for compare and contrast essay, taking a walk, or petting your dog. Think of some of the best ways to make these normal situations thrilling. For instance, you can write about a day in the life of your pet from their view.
4. Watch TV
Most college tutors and parents discourage children from watching TV because it distracts them from schoolwork. However, as a writer, you need to watch TV regularly. This is one of the best ways to improve your writing because the best scripts are usually seen on TV. Listen to the dialogue and discover some of the best storytelling methods. Consider using them when writing your piece. Use the creator’s ideas and the personalities of the main characters to get inspired. Figure out what happens in the minds of movie directors. When you think like this, you’ll draw inspiration from stories that seem useless.
5. Shift from setting goals to forming habits
Goals can be a source of inspiration because they provide an endpoint. However, habits engrave inspiration into your core and make it natural. Instead of spending too much time thinking about completing your manuscript on time, focus on writing every day for thirty minutes. When you focus on writing consistently, you do away with the pressure of expectation. In most cases, habits win. The best writers in the industry are not goal-oriented. They show up every day and make their time count.
6. Think of the worst-case scenario
One of the best ways to find a source of inspiration when writing is by thinking of the worst-case scenario. Fortunately, negative scenarios are more emotional than financial or tangible things such as writing an article. It’s extremely difficult to sell negative books. The feeling of rejection will be your worst pain. While it’s difficult to accept, it will pay off in spades in the long run.
7. Read regularly
One of the best ways to become a great writer is by reading regularly. It’s quite difficult to write well without reading. Read different types of material. For instance, if you enjoy writing non-fiction, introduce some fiction and vice versa. Reading extensively will open a lot of doors for you and help you connect with different ideas. Thanks to technological advancement, you don’t have to invest in expensive physical books or pieces to read. You can download thousands of materials and use them as you deem fit.
8. Keep a journal
If you’ve been trying hard to find a source of inspiration, you should consider going through your journal. You can collect anything exciting or interesting and save it for the future. You might not need inspiration today. However, one day you’ll need it.
9. Write on something new
One of the biggest challenges that most writers face is losing their interest in working while currently working. In most cases, the writer will force themselves to continue keeping up until you’ve completed the story. Don’t hesitate to keep putting your work aside until work inspiration returns. Thanks to cloud service, you don’t have to so worry about losing your previous drafts when changing devices.
10. Sleep with the enemy
You need to befriend fear. Expecting fear to go away won’t help you become a better writer. Keep in mind that you feel fear because you are doing something great with your life – something that others cannot dare to do. Fear is the leading cause of lack of inspiration. However, thriving despite feeling fearful will inspire you to keep on keeping on. If you are afraid of criticism, write and publish your work anyway.
At the end of the day, you’ll feel inspired because you overcame this challenge. Even if you think that your writing won’t be engaging, continue pushing on because one day, you’ll write a piece that everyone will love. To get rid of fear, you have to take action. Every forward step you take despite feeling fearful will inspire you to take do it multiple times.
11. Work on a different project
One of the main struggles that most writers face is losing interest in the project they are working on. Loss of interest leads to a lack of inspiration. It can be frustrating to lose interest when you’ve spent a lot of time and energy to reach where you are. In most instances, writers force themselves to write until they finish the story. However, the result tends to be average simply because their words don’t reflect their passion.
Whenever you start feeling tired or bored while writing a piece, don’t hesitate to put your work aside and work on something new until you are inspired to write again. Doing this is no waste of time. It’s all about giving your mind a chance to recharge and recover the lost energies. Thanks to rapid technological advancement, you don’t have to worry about losing your unfinished work. You can save it on a cloud service and access it when you are ready even if you are using a different device.
12. Invest some money
Investing in your writing will inspire you to write well. No one enjoys losing their hard-earned money. You’ll notice that you’ll start treating your writing as a business and not a hobby. Making a substantial financial investment in your project will inspire you to achieve your vision in the long run. One of the common characteristics of someone who is not serious about their work is a lack of willingness to spend precious resources on their craft. Invest in education, the right tools, and resources if you want to develop this skill and grow your business.
13. Pay the price
When you are writing something, you should keep in mind that you are doing it for other people. However, you still owe yourself. At times, writing can be a slow and boring process. You need to push through when writing inspiration is not there and discover what’s on the other side. This is especially true if you’ve invested a lot of time and energy into your craft. Don’t let your time and energy go to waste.
Conclusion
As an avid writer, you have two options – let your fear and insecurities grow or get inspired and start working. Keep in mind that time is always flying away whether you choose to write or not. You can achieve the goals that you’ve set by forming good habits, reading course materials to get good grades and have a successful graduation and sticking to the process in the long run.
