by Kariss Lynch, @Kariss_Lynch
You’ve finished the book you’ve spent days, months, maybe even years executing. It’s with the editor or publisher. And…
Now what?
Your creative well feels dry and needs a little inspiration. And thankfully, creativity and inspiration can find you in all kinds of places.
- Nature
This is a given for most writers. So many of us garner inspiration from being outside, even if it is just patio sitting. My vacations tend to revolve around scenic locations, and for this city girl, it is a breath of fresh air to find inspiration outside my normal locations and routines.
A walk or run, a quick trip to your local lake or river, or sitting on a bench in your favorite park at sunset will get the creative juices flowing. For me, even something as simple as taking our dog outside on a spring evening when dusk has settled and the lightning bugs (fireflies to you non-Southern folk) are dancing in our backyard can inspire a scene (and did in my book, Heart’s Cry).
- Resources
A professor in college once handed us a National Geographic magazine and told us to come up with a series of articles and stories of our own based purely on one liners and headlines. My creativity loved the challenge.
This one is especially helpful for those of you who have a suspense, mystery, or thriller thread in your stories. News headlines, magazine articles, and topical books all help to create rich scenes and spark story ideas.
Read outside your genre. Pick up a non-fiction book on a topic that interests you. Flip through a design magazine or jump on Pinterest and save the photos that catch your idea. What story can you craft from those photos?
- Daily Activity
Another of my favorite college challenges was to sit in a coffee shop and write down conversations I overheard. Basically, I received a grade to eavesdrop. But this paid dividends for me as I learned to craft dialogue. You learn different cadences, word choices, accents, and tones. So take a moment and record some conversations you hear. How can some of those conversations spark character traits and quirks in your next novel?
For those who work in an office, take a break and get outside for a short walk, or just do a lap around the interior of your building. Force yourself to pay attention to what you may ignore ordinarily. Fashion, architecture, even flooring, paint, and décor choices can add richness to your next story idea.
Does anyone else have some of their best ideas in the shower or bath? There’s something about the water and relaxing that restores my mind. Buy a waterproof note pad off Amazon, and you’ll never miss out on a good idea while you are in the shower again.
- Experiences
There is something to be said for personal experience, even if the exact experience doesn’t make it into your novel. Think back on some of your most painful moments, the ones that confused you, the ones that delighted you. How can you apply snippets of those moments to a story? Nothing in our stories is a surprise to our good Father, and he may even use some of the hard moments as redemptive moments in your stories if you dare to look.
Orson Scott Card says, “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” May we be writers who walk through life with our eyes wide open to the possibilities. And may our stories be even richer because of it.
Where do you find inspiration?
When a car almost runs over him in the middle of a snowstorm, ex-Navy SEAL Micah Richards knows he’s hit rock bottom. After the deaths of several of his teammates, Micah is sure of two things: he only hurts those he tries to protect and their deaths are his fault. He has one family left on his list to pay his respects but stranded on the side of a mountain in the middle of the night, Micah has run low on options until Casey Stewart comes careening into his life.
The last thing Casey wants is a man, especially one as charming and handsome as Micah who reminds her of her heartache from high school. And especially not when she has so much on her plate: kids trapped in the middle of bad neighborhood cycles at home and a sister who needs out from under their mother’s roof. But helping is in her nature, and something about Micah makes her want to let him in.
Now in the same city, Micah and Casey just can’t seem to stay away from one another, despite Casey’s best efforts. The more, he gets to know the community, the more he wants to stay. When a local drug dealer goes awry, Casey has only one person to turn to—the one who could hurt her heart the most. Micah must face the demons of his past to fight for his new team and new dream—a woman with the heart of a warrior who fights for others. A woman he would die for.
Kariss Lynch is the author of the Heart of a Warrior series and loves writing romance about characters with big dreams, adventurous hearts, and enduring hope. In her free time, Kariss goes on adventures with her own personal handsome hero, explores the great outdoors, and tries not to plot five stories at once. Connect with her at karisslynch.com, or on Facebook, Instagram, or Goodreads.