Writing Success

10 More Places to Find Inspiration for Your Next Article

It’s early in the week, so I thought I’d offer up a few more suggestions for great places to look for article ideas. We all get stuck in a rut now and again, so its nice to know you can find inspiration in out of the way places. That is, if you know where those places are.

The next time you’re feeling stuck for an article idea try looking at some of the following.

1. 1. Go to the local park, mall, or (if you’re lucky) boardwalk and start watching the people as they mill around. Your’e bound to see at least one or two interesting events - kids acting silly, people arguing, a physical altercation. Take what you see and hear and find a way to spin it into an article.
2. 2. Talk to your friends and neighbors about events in the local or national news. Find out what their opinions are and listen carefully. You may hear an angle you’ve never thought of.
3. 3. Sit down outside and free associate. Grab a blanket, head towards the park (or your backyard) and let your mind do the talking. You might even take a pen and piece of paper for some good old-fashioned free association doodling.
4. 4. Is there something you’ve always wanted to try but never had the guts to? Parachuting, bungee jumping, overcoming your fear of heights? Why not give it a try and then write about it.
5. 5. Subscribe to newsletters that talk about things you’re interested in. You don’t have to read them all from beginning to end but if you peruse them you might find an idea for a topic you hadn’t considered. Set up a separate email account to keep your newsletters from junking up your inbox.
6. 6. Did you see a brand new product on television last week? Keep an eye out for it in stores, see if you can get your hands on it, and then write a review. I did just this with a new automatic hammer we saw on TV last week!
7. 7. Pick up a newspaper or magazine you don’t usually read - especially if you’re traveling and don’t usually have access to it. You’ll find that news interests are different from locale to locale.
8. 8. Anthologies are regularly looking for submissions. Find one that interests you and find out what the topic is. The topic may prove insightful - whether you submit the end product to the anthology or not.
9. 9. Did you keep a journal or notebook in high school? Do you still have it? Go back through your journal and see if any of the stories or thoughts you had might inspire you to write an article or essay about your experiences.
10. 10. Log onto iTunes and search for podcasts in niches that interest you. That’s right - podcasts. No one ever said the inspiration for your writing has to come from other written sources.

Good luck and, if you want, leave a comment letting us know what you came up with this week!