Has inspiration been coming at a premium lately? It happens, but not to fear. We have compiled three exercises you can do right now, to find inspiration.
1 - Cowrite
One way to find inspiration is to co-write. When you write with others, you will gain a new outlook, learn a new way to express a feeling, or even a new way to grab attention. For this exercise, we will focus exclusively on lyrics.
Now why co-write with just anyone, when you could co-write a song with your dream songwriter? Picture your dream songwriter, now pick a song from them.
Got it? Now pick the number 1 or the number 2? Done?
If you picked one, cross of the first line of the song. If you picked 2, cross off the second line of the song.
Now cross off every other line (so that one line is their lyrics and the other line is crossed out).
It is now your job to write a line in your style, and unique to the song itself, yet still follow the same structure.
While it may take some time, at the end of it, you will have successfully co-written a song with your favourite songwriter.
2 - Write About Your Favourite Character
Whether it’s a movie, a tv series, a video game, a play or something else, pick your favorite character from that show/game. Now that you have the character, pick either a scene, or an instance in which your favorite character is not only present, but also does something exciting.
Be as specific as possible, because the more specific you are, the more detail and depth you will be able to go into.
Next, pretend you’re the character (first person narrative), and write about how it made you feel, what happened, where it took place, etc. Remember to stick true to circumstance (the character in the show/game).
No matter when it takes place, such as in the 1800s or 3000 years into the future, stick true to that. All you know is what the character knows in the show/game. Everything else is not only foreign to you, but simply not known.
You can use that to your advantage when writing.
3 - From Nothing to Everything
This is a short one, but nonetheless, super effective.
Pick your favorite thing. It can be tangible, intangible, make believe, real, futuristic, or literally anything else.
Now erase everything you know about it and pretend you are discovering it for the very first time.
This is one of our favorites.
We hope these exercises helped you find inspiration. Let us know what exercises you would like next!