What to Write About When You're All Out of Ideas

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Spark your creativity to write fiction, non-fiction, poetry & lyrics
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There’s nothing worse for a writer than sitting down in front of a computer or pulling out a blank page of paper and not being able to think of anything to write. If you’ve ever experienced this problem, this article is for you. With the help of Developmental Editor and Writing Coach Lydia Stevens, we've compiled tons of writing prompts plus advice on how to come up with ideas on what to write about. Read on for writing ideas for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as how to get your creative juices flowing.

Writing Prompts

  • Write from the point of view of someone who is lying.
  • Time traveling to Medieval England during the Black Plague.
  • Is love more powerful than evil?
  • A person addicted to technology has to deal with surviving the collapse of society.
  • A hero must defeat a sea monster that threatens their village.
  • Episode recaps for your favorite TV series.
  • A poem about a time you felt great joy and happiness.
Section 1 of 5:

Fiction Writing Ideas

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  1. Impossible choices are when a character has a choice to make, but none of the options are good. These situations can help you find out what your character really believes, desires, or fears. Plus, they’re incredibly compelling for readers. A few impossible situations to write about are:
    • Someone who has to choose between saving a loved one or defusing a bomb.
    • A student who must choose between taking a full scholarship to Yale and taking care of their mother who has just had a stroke.
    • A hiker stranded in the wilderness has to decide whether to stay put and wait for rescue or try to find civilization without food or proper gear.
    • A person takes a job she desperately needs but then finds out she’s helping criminals launder money.
    • A man’s dying sister asks him to take in her children, but his wife doesn’t want children.
    • A musician who is offered a contract but they have to leave the rest of the band that’s made up of their best friends.
  2. Some writers are inspired by places they want to write about. They see an interesting place like the Mohave Desert, Mount Everest, or even a spooky abandoned house, and they get an idea for a story that happens there. These settings often become so vivid and important to the story that they are almost characters. [1] A few challenging settings to write about are:
    • Time traveling to Medieval England during the Black Plague.
    • Taking shelter during a storm in an abandoned lighthouse.
    • Finding a library with books that can transport you to magical worlds.
    • Being trapped in a haunted amusement park for the night.
    • Visiting a quaint village that seems a little too good to be true.
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  3. Most stories have some sort of plot, whether it’s action-packed or more introspective. Many believe there are only 7 different types of stories (though some feel there are more or less). Every story that has ever been told is supposed to fall within one of those 7 story types. [2] No matter how many types there are, they are a great way to get inspired to write a good plot while telling your own story. A few classic plots to try are:
    • A hero must defeat a sea monster that threatens their village.
    • A person who starts poor and then invents a car that runs on seawater. They become rich and powerful and then lose it all when competitors steal their ideas.
    • A group of people goes on a quest to rescue the hero’s sister.
    • A person is swept away to Atlantis and must figure out how to return home.
    • A student goes to summer camp and is mistaken for a famous actor’s son.
    • A brilliant cellist is so obsessed with perfection that they lose their friends, family, and position in a prominent symphony orchestra.
    • A divorced parent reconnects with their child during a summer road trip.
  4. Sometimes, focusing on an interesting message you want to communicate is the key to getting your creative juices flowing. The trick is to avoid a broad topic like “love.” It should be a very specific idea or question, like “Can you still love someone who wrongs you?” These messages can be even more powerful when they go against common thinking. A few questions you can write about are:
    • Is love more powerful than evil?
    • Can tragedy heal a broken family?
    • Is it sometimes right to save one person instead of many?
    • Is getting what you want always a good thing?
    • Can true justice be achieved through cruelty?
  5. Shifting the point of view of a well-known story to a side character can spark ideas for a new story or breathe new life into a familiar tale. It’s actually a common literary technique, with successful novels being written from the perspective of a different character than the original. A few point-of-view swaps to try are:
    • Write The Great Gatsby from the point of view of Daisy Buchanan.
    • Create a backstory for Pap Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn .
    • Retell Snow White from the perspective of the prince.
    • Tell the story of The Hobbit from the point of view of a human character you make up.
    • Retell Little Women from the perspective of the March Family’s cat.
  6. Stevens says, “One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was to take your main character and make something really awful happen to them and then make something even worse happen.” Big problems are a great place to start when you’re looking for something to write about. Here are a few to try:
    • A person addicted to technology has to deal with surviving the collapse of society.
    • A woman is consumed with the idea of getting revenge on the person who killed her mother, but when she finds him, he’s already died.
    • A popular actress falls in love with the set designer, but they don’t love her back.
    • A young man wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a fighter pilot but is disqualified due to bad eyesight.
    • A detective must solve a murder case, or they’ll lose their job, but the killer steals the body from the morgue.
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Section 2 of 5:

Non-Fiction Ideas

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  1. Write about subjects that you love or have some expertise in. Writing non-fiction is a little trickier than fiction because someone will eventually notice if you get it wrong. The best way to avoid this is to take the old writing advice to heart and write about what you know.
    • Write a how-to article about your favorite pastime.
    • Create an in-depth guide to your hometown or favorite vacation spot.
    • Write about your experiences with taking up a new hobby.
    • Pick your favorite famous quote and then write about why it’s important to you.
    • Write about what summer vacation was like when you were a kid.
  2. Mine current events for topics to write about. The great thing about choosing a current event to write about is that it’s automatically timely. If you see a subject on the news, it also means you’re not going to be the only person interested in the topic.
    • Write your thoughts about one of the most prominent headlines of the day.
    • Find an opinion piece and then write about the weaknesses in the argument.
    • Choose a local story and write about how it will affect your community.
    • Write out the facts about a celebrity scandal and compare them to the rumors floating around.
    • Write an article covering an event you want to know more about.
  3. Pop culture is a great source of ideas to write about. People often get very passionate about the books, TV shows, movies, etc. they consume. Pick a favorite and write down what you think of it…or write about something you absolutely hated.
    • Write about the book or TV show you’re completely obsessed with right now.
    • Create a review of a new song that you love, but nobody else has heard of.
    • Research the origins of a current fad or fashion trend and write about it.
    • Write episode recaps for your favorite TV series.
    • Research and write an article about your favorite genre of music.
  4. Jumpstart your writing by focusing on how you achieved your personal triumphs. Another option is to write about what you’ve learned from your failures. Plus, you get the added benefit of remembering your accomplishments and taking stock of your life.
    • Write about how you achieved a goal you set for yourself.
    • Create a journal entry or blog post about an obstacle you overcame.
    • Write an article about a disappointment you experienced and how it affected you.
    • Write a letter offering advice to your younger self. Make it as funny or serious as you like.
    • Create a listicle of all the things that have inspired you to try something new.
  5. Mine your best and worst memories for subjects to write about. Even just keeping a journal where you write down memories you don’t want to forget gives you the opportunity to reflect on your past.
    • Jot down a description of your grandparents' house, including the smallest details that stick out in your mind.
    • Write out what summer vacations were like when you were younger.
    • Write about the first time you danced with another person at a school dance.
    • Journal about the funniest thing that has ever happened to you.
    • Write down your most embarrassing memory and whether it still makes you blush.
  6. Some very successful non-fiction books have been written about historical subjects. They can be huge events like battles and treaties between kings or how the average person lived in a certain time period. They can even be about the founding of a small town.
    • Chronicle your family’s history as far back as you can trace.
    • Write about a crime that took place in the 1800s.
    • Write about a natural disaster like a flood or hurricane from the 1940s.
    • Blog about the history of an outdated law in your area that’s still on the books.
    • Write about when and why one of your oldest family traditions started.
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Section 3 of 5:

Subjects for Poems & Songs

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  1. One of the most common subjects of poetry and music (and any other type of writing) is emotion. Whether you write about love, hate, or another one of the many emotions people feel over the course of their lives, you’ll always have plenty to write about.
    • Love: Write about a lost love or what it feels like to experience a new love.
    • Hate: Write about why you hate someone or something and how that hate makes you feel.
    • Nostalgia: Think about the past and why you feel like it was a better time, then write down those feelings.
    • Fear: Write about your darkest fears and how you face them.
    • Grief: Write about a safe place or loved ones you’ve lost.
    • Joy: Create a poem about a time you felt great joy and happiness.
    • Guilt: Ponder a time when you felt guilt, and put those feelings into a song.
    • Jealousy: Jealousy is a popular emotion to explore in pop songs. Try your hand at writing a song about feeling jealous of another person.
    • Loneliness: Write a song about a time you felt lonely and what it was that you needed to feel better.
    • Betrayal: Betrayal is another emotion that’s often seen in pop music. Use a time you felt betrayed to write a powerful song about what you felt.
    • Yearning: We’ve all yearned for something at one time or another. Use that feeling to create a poem or song that listeners really relate to.
  2. Poets have specialized in writing words that evoke the senses since humans started putting pen to paper. Writing that describes how we experience the world through our senses is powerful. “What you need to do is show us that it's a red barn…show us with detail like the peeling paint on the side, and that there are some areas where it's still rust colored. And yet some are a pale pink where the sun hits the side and warms the paint so much that it's faded. So that is a very tactile experience. When you're writing, you can see that you can touch the peeling paint, you can feel it with your fingers, and it crumbles,” Stevens says.
    • Sight: Focus on the colors and movement of a spring meadow with a gentle breeze blowing through it.
    • Hearing: Close your eyes and notice the sounds around you, then write down a description of what you heard using poetic language.
    • Touch: Run your fingers across different surfaces in your home. Write about how those sensations make you feel.
    • Smell: Close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose. Notice all the mingled scents – good and bad – and how they combine to smell like home.
    • Taste: Eat your favorite food, really focusing on the seasonings. Write down what it tastes like without using the food’s name.
  3. Myths and legends from different cultures have been a goldmine for writers and poets for centuries. Writing poems that reference familiar stories helps them feel timeless and more relevant to a wide range of people.
    • Write a poem about a present-day problem using the characters and situations from the King Arthur legends.
    • Write a poem that modernizes one of Grimm’s fairy tales.
    • Retell a story from Greek mythology in the form of an epic poem.
    • Write a poem that describes the importance of apples from the perspective of Johnny Appleseed.
    • Use an urban legend like Bloody Mary to write a poem about mirrors.
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Section 4 of 5:

How to Come Up with New Ideas

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  1. The best way for writers to come up with ideas for stories is to read everything that interests them. That means fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Think about what you read. If you like the story, try to figure out why. If you didn’t like it, ask yourself what you would do differently.
    • Deciding what you like and don’t like about a story helps you come up with ideas about what you want to write in your story.
    • Stevens says, “As a writer, we have a tendency to read things as a writer. We say, ‘Oh, they did this with their dialogue,’ or ‘They did that with their setting,’ or ‘That's how they use that plot twist.”
  2. This is usually the easiest decision you’ll make in your writing process. Most people have an idea of what type of story they want to write before they start. If you know what genre you want to write, it narrows down the possibilities for characters, settings, and other important aspects of your story. [3]
    • It’s okay if you aren’t sure what genre you want to write. Pick a genre you enjoy. You’ll be familiar with the rules and how those types of stories are generally shaped.
    • However, you don’t have to pick a genre before you write, but it makes the writing process a little easier when you do.
  3. Think about what the big message you want people to take away from your story is. Your story will be the “evidence” for that message, so it’s important to think about it before you begin writing . Having a theme gives your story meaning that sticks with people after they’re finished reading. [4]
    • Sometimes, it’s easier to think of a theme after you’ve done a little brainstorming or character creation, so don’t worry if you don’t have a theme narrowed down right from the start.
  4. A great way to come up with new ideas for stories is to brainstorm story ideas by asking yourself “what if” questions about a situation, plot, or character. For example, if you have an idea for a character, you might ask yourself, “What if this character had a traumatic childhood?” Other questions to ask might be, “Why do we care?” and “What happens next?” [5]
    • Keep asking these questions until you have a story idea that makes you want to start writing.
    • Another way to approach brainstorming is to start with a plot idea and then ask, “Okay, what’s next?” until you have a bunch of ideas for your plot.
  5. Writing prompts are a little controversial. Some writers love them, but others feel like they’re using someone else’s ideas. However, prompts are very useful if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas or are just getting started. Open-ended prompts are especially useful because they can let you explore an idea and be creative while taking off some of the pressure of coming up with a great idea. [6] For example, “Write from the point of view of someone who is lying.”
    • Prompts can help you take risks as a fiction writer because they challenge you to write about something you wouldn’t have thought of.
  6. Sometimes, you need to step away from your writing and let your subconscious work. Not being able to think of a writing idea can stress you out, which is a big creativity killer. The best thing to do in that situation is to create a little psychological distance between your writing and your stressed-out brain. [7]
    • Take a walk in the sunshine to stop worrying about what you’re going to write about. Don’t think about writing. Just observe the world around you. Stevens shares, “I, as a writer, love to just go sit at a park or someplace public, where I'm not going to look creepy, and…people watch.”
    • Do something repetitive that doesn’t require all of your attention. Working out, washing the dishes, or even taking a shower can turn your stressed brain off and let your subconscious get creative. [8]
  7. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. It doesn’t have to be every day, though many successful writers strongly recommend it. But, if you don’t have time to write every day, setting a schedule that works for you is good, too. All you have to do is keep with it, and your brain will get the picture. You’ll have more creative ideas before you know it. [9]
    • A regular writing schedule primes your brain to be creative and productive when you sit down to write. [10]
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Section 5 of 5:

People Share Their Experiences

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We asked our staff writers about their own experiences with figuring out what they want to write about. Here’s what they had to say.

  1. “I put so much pressure on myself that I wouldn’t be able to think of anything at all to write about. Once I started to relax a little, I realized that I was getting a lot of ideas, but I would forget about them when I sat down to write. I started carrying a little notebook around with me. Every time I had a flash of inspiration, I’d jot it down in my book. That way, whenever I sat down to write, all I had to do was look through my notebook and put a few of those random ideas together to create my own writing prompts.” - staff writer Aimee P.
    • Her Advice: “If you're keeping an idea journal, make your own writing prompts by picking three ideas from it. Combine them to create a unique prompt. Another thing you can do is write your favorite types of stories, character traits, and places on index cards, then pick three of the index cards and put them together to create a writing prompt that is customized to your interests.”
  2. “Outside of wikiHow, I do a lot of sketch and joke writing. When I’m absolutely stuck and have no ideas, I’ll just start writing about how I have no ideas or describe random objects in the room around me. Eventually, my rambling will uncover a new opinion, point of view, or train of thought I never would have found otherwise. Sometimes it’s related to what I was freewriting about, and sometimes it’s totally different!” - staff writer Dan H.
    • His Advice: “Don’t judge yourself or your ideas while you’re freewriting. Keep your pen moving the whole time and just let the words flow onto the page, even if they make no sense. The idea is to quiet your critical mind so you’re not turning down ideas before you even have them.”
  3. “Sprinting is pretty simple: you get together with some friends, set a timer for a short period of time, and write nonstop until the timer goes off. Sprints are really easy to set up on a platform like Discord, and there are even a couple of Discord bots out there that can help you get started.” - staff writer Janice T.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/5-tips-for-writing-setting-as-a-character
      2. ↑ https://youtu.be/__ggJuY19sc?t=6
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/1qtAj1DDG1w?t=74
      4. ↑ https://youtu.be/1qtAj1DDG1w?t=132
      5. ↑ https://www.writingmastery.com/blog/how-to-brainstorm-the-perfect-novel-idea
      6. ↑ https://youtu.be/daxQn3AGvZQ?t=57
      7. ↑ https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2009/01/creativity
      8. ↑ https://time.com/6999592/shower-thoughts-best-ideas/
      9. ↑ https://youtu.be/PKJu60LgIVA?t=40
      1. ↑ https://youtu.be/PKJu60LgIVA?t=81

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