When you’re a student and a writer, finding inspiration can be hard. You get caught up in everything that you have to write for class, and when you go to write for yourself, nothing is there; nothing calls to you. It can be even harder to find inspiration when you don’t know what inspires you. Inspiration is different for everyone, and that’s because our experiences have shaped us to be very different people. So, how do you find what inspires you?
Looking for inspiration in the little things that happen every day allows me to write for myself and keep my creativity alive while also doing schoolwork. For example, one thing that inspires me is music. I once heard a lyric by Harry Styles, and a whole story popped into my head about a tragic love story where two people both still love each other but can no longer be together. I also like to sit on campus and observe the world around me—seeing a couple holding hands makes me wonder how they met, watching a dragonfly reminds me of my mom.
Sometimes I get caught up in what I imagine a writer is supposed to be. Someone who knows what they’re doing, who writes perfectly without even trying. The ideal of never once writing something bad. What helps me is to remember that it’s okay to write a meaningless story or poem if it means you’re finding inspiration in your life. If an idea pops into my head, I write it down. It doesn’t have to go further than that. I build on what inspires me and those small notes lead to larger pieces later.
What inspires you may be entirely different from what inspires the next person. I have a friend who loves birds. She’ll see one flying in the sky or sitting on a wire and will be able to identify it and give it a story. I have another friend who gets inspired by water. She sees worlds inside the ripples and waves. When I look back at all my notes and remember the little things throughout life that I’ve noticed, I see patterns: how I seem to have a lot of memories of bugs like rolly pollies, dragonflies, and fuzzy caterpillars; how I am drawn to the romance of everyday life. I recommend doing this! Now that I know what sort of things inspire me, on the days where I’m struggling to find inspiration, I know where to look.