The Write Stuff: Drawing Content Inspiration Without Waiting for Ideas

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The blinking cursor felt like an audible and visual curse word.

Just. Kept. Going.

It was followed by a simple yet loaded question: What am I going to write about today?

More blinking.

Deep breath.

I was both shocked and honored when a friend recently asked where I get my content ideas.

Sure, I never run out of things to say. But inspiration is another story entirely.

Speaking of story, I’m sure I have an example here somewhere in my writing archives…

The real question is, how can I turn everyday moments into poetic words on the page?

It never has and will never come naturally.

Over time, I’ve noticed inspiration shows up the moment I start noticing everything else.

• Curiosity. What questions are people asking? What am I putting into the search bar of my web browser? What prompts can I request from AI?

• Observation. What do I notice that others don’t? From where I’m sitting right now, what do I hear?

• Relationship. What recent conversations have I had? What were they about? What made them boring or interesting?

• Reflection. What lessons have I learned recently? What mistakes have I made? What wins have I experienced? How can I be vulnerable?

• Process. What projects do I (or should I) have in motion? What am I working on right now? What is organized? What is messy?

The cursor isn’t the enemy. Attention is the culprit. If I can remain attentive to the beautiful things around me, inspiration will never pass me by again.