The 6 Best Sources of Inspiration for Developing Your Book and How to Use Them
Use these suggestions to help you find strong inspiration as you ideate for your novel!
Each week, I’ll be posting these deep-dives into the writing process based on where I’m at in my own writing process for Rain. Follow along to write your own book right alongside me in 2026!
This week, I’m in the ideation stage of the writing process. In this deep-dive, I’ve identified the six best sources of inspiration you can use for your own ideation process and how to use them. All of these are free, accessible, and reliable ways you can come up with great ideas for your book.
What are some ways you come up with book ideas? Tell me in the comments!
The 6 Best Sources of Inspiration for Developing Your Book and How to Use Them
The ideation process itself can take on many forms. Not a single part of the process is set in stone.
The name itself isn’t even set in stone. A lot of people call this the brainstorming stage, and that’s equally as valid as calling it the ideation stage. I just call it the ideation stage because brainstorming gives me the mental image of a tornado, and my thoughts end up just as chaotic as an F5 tornado if I’m not careful!
I like to separate out the ideation process from the outlining process as best I can, but they tend to blend together, especially for experienced writers. Usually, for my freelance projects, I have to come up with an outline in a matter of days, so I jump right into the outlining process from a VERY short ideation period.
My recommendation? Don’t do that.
It’s stressful, and it doesn’t give your story enough time to breathe. When other writers tell me they’ve been thinking about their stories for years on end, I smile, because sometimes, that’s just how long the story needs to ruminate in your head before it’s ready to go down on paper.
You don’t need to wait years, though. Ideation can be as simple as spending ten minutes a day for a whole week finding inspiration and writing down whatever comes to mind. For others, it’s a whole ritual that they have to follow exactly, or the ideas just won’t take shape like they’d hoped, or they’ll get stuck with the dreaded shower thoughts that disappear before we have the chance to write them down (those are the worst!).
Let your ideation process take as long as it needs. The only thing that marks the end of the ideation stage is the formal effort to organize your thoughts into a cohesive outline, so let your imagination run wild before you get there. Don’t worry about organizing your thoughts as you have them—that’s a good way to lose them before you can write them down!
Free Ideation Guide
If you’re like me, though, and can’t stand leaving your thoughts unorganized, I have an ideation guide that will help you intentionally find inspiration for each piece of your story and put it in simple categories. It’s a flexible guide, so you can make it your own and use it however you like! Find it here or go to the Resources tab to grab it!
Now, if you’re wondering how in the heck you’re going to come up with enough ideas to fill a whole novel, wonder no more. There are plenty of places to look for inspiration for your novel. I’ve compiled a list of the six best free, accessible sources of inspiration I’ve found to date below! Use them as you need to come up with your ideas, and let your imagination take you the rest of the way!
1. Music
Music is the number one way I’ve come up with story ideas across the 40+ books I’ve written in the past few years.
For me, music has always been a big piece of my soul (I’ve played piano for over a decade and worked with choral and solo vocal music for almost a decade). I feel very deeply and connect to lyrics just as much as the instrumental piece of the music. If you’re an empath like more, or you just like music, this is a great way to identify the emotional journey of your characters.
I find that listening to specific playlists helps me figure out characters I’m having a hard time with. For example, if I have a character with a vague dark past, I may put on a metal playlist or a deep anime piano playlist to help me work through what exactly this character has gone through and how it’s affected them.
My characters always drive my plots rather than the plot driving the stories, so my stories are highly emotional in nature, and music helps me plug into that emotional journey directly. I’ve had entire characters create themselves in my head just by listening to a single song (most of my main characters come to life this way!).
I know I’m not the only one that writes this way. If you want to use music to define your book’s emotional journey:
Go to YouTube or Spotify (or wherever you’re streaming your music, preferably for free)
Type in something related to your book (90s nostalgia, 2000s rock, indie folk music, emo flashback, nightcore, etc.)
Pick a playlist and listen deeply
When I say listen deeply, I mean sit down, possibly watch the video/lyrics scroll, and focus only on the music. Connect to its rhythm, cadence, and lyrics as deeply as you can. Don’t try to do this while you’re doing chores unless you’re the kind of ADHD that can’t focus unless you’re doing two things at once. Whatever you need to do for deep focus, do it.
Write down anything that comes to mind while you’re listening—thoughts, feelings, quotes, events, even the way the character looks. Like I said, I’ve had whole characters build themselves and come to life listening to a single song this deeply.
You don’t have to do this forever; if you can only handle one song at a time, do that! Just commit to what you have the energy and time for, and return to it whenever you’re ready.
2. Taking Silent a Walk Outside
I know, I know, if you’re not a big fan of the outdoors, this sounds downright miserable.
But hear me out.
Part of great writing is the ability to translate timeless feelings and sensory memories through the journey of fictional characters. The most memorable moments from some of my favorite books feel very “in the moment,” like time has paused, and we’re experiencing every second in high definition right alongside the character.
The experience is similar to a thing called mindfulness, a practice where we intentionally pay attention to the world around us without judgement. It’s basically taking mental notes on the world around us without imparting our own wisdom (or lack thereof) onto the thoughts. For example, noting that a bird is chirping in a tree without thinking “that’s beautiful” or “that’s annoying,” just that the bird is chirping.
When we’re in a state of mindfulness, we tend to have stronger sensory memories—and you don’t have to be an expert on mindfulness to achieve these strong sensory memories. All you have to do is take a walk outside and leave your phone at home (or in your pocket, set to Do Not Disturb, if your partner is as paranoid as mine about your safety).
Just set a timer for five or ten minutes and take a walk outside. Note the way the wind blows, the smells you encounter, the way people smile and make eye contact, or the feeling that rustling leaves bring to your heart. How does the cold or heat feel on your face? What sensations do you feel walking on the sidewalk versus the grass? Notice and note as many details as you can, and do you best not to get off on a thought tangent. I know it’s hard; it feels impossible for me the first couple minutes every time I do it, but by the end of the ten minutes, I’ve got some good notes to write down. You can write notes as you go or after the timer is up, by the way.
I’ve found that when I’m stuck on important events, highly sensory-detailed moments, or world building, taking a walk outside fills in the details I’m missing. For example, when my character has the big introductory moment to the other main character, she’s playing the cello in the rain under an umbrella in the middle of a public park. I came up with this when I was going for a run in the park in the rain one day, and I heard cello music coming from someone’s car. That’s what inspired the entire story of Rain, actually, so without that moment, my book wouldn’t exist!
Try noticing and noting while going for a walk as much or as little as it helps you. If you’re an outdoorsy person, this is probably the best route for you!
3. Cliffhangers and Open Endings From Other Books/TV Shows/Movies
There’s a reason fanfiction can be so popular. We’re passionate about our favorite books, shows, and movies—and when we don’t get the ending we want, we rewrite it even more passionately.
If you’re invested in any story that ends on a cliffhanger, has an open ending, or simply ends in a way you believe the characters don’t deserve (I’m looking at you, Banana Fish), then this is definitely the route for you. This can be a well of inspiration that turns into a mountain spring once you explore it.
To use this as a source of inspiration:
Pick any story that you’re passionate about.
Write down the most critical moments of the story and the character responsible for that turning point.
Start brainstorming ways the story could have gone differently at each turning point if a different decision was made.
I have a piece in the ideation guide that helps you with this, so don’t panic! I’m not leaving you with instructions this vague forever.
Going through the ways a story could have gone differently based on alternate decisions at critical turning points is a great way to brainstorm turning points for your own story. If you hated the way a villain got away with something sinister, write a bit about what would happen if they’d gotten caught. If you loathed the choice the main character made halfway through the story, correct their path and see how things would unfold differently.
Or, if you’re really extra explorative, walk through what would happen if the main character made the wrong choice at the climax and things fell apart rather than made it to a happily ever after. That really sets the story down a dramatic path!
The other option that I’ve seen work super well is taking a side character and making them the new main character of the story. How would it be different if it centered around their motivations, values, and choices? Have fun exploring the new story!
Again, everything is set out in the ideation guide to help give you guardrails and trail maps for this process, so don’t stress out trying to do it all alone!
4. Everyday Interactions with People
Maybe you’re an introvert like me, and interacting with people isn’t your style.
That’s great! You don’t have to directly interact with people to draw inspiration from everyday social interactions. Just go sit down at a coffee shop and observe people.
I know, it seems creepy, but it’s not, I promise. You can always buy the shirt that says “Warning: Writer. Everything you do is in danger of being written into my story” or something like that if you feel the need to warn people.
People watching is BY FAR the funniest, rawest, and most effective way I’ve found to come up with interactions between characters during lulls in the action. Seriously, if you think kids say funny things, you should hear two old ladies discussing the latest drama at their scrapbooking club over a couple lattes. Or two construction contractors bonding over workplace shenanigans. Or two corporate workers hitting the policy books just in time to get their manager fired for looking a little too closely at the intern.
The possibilities are endless. People are crazy, and that’s why they’re the perfect source of inspiration. Crazy is good in the writing world.
If you’re not much for coffee, try eavesdropping at the doctor’s office when the nurses are exchanging drama or listening in when the retiree working at the grocery store is telling a story from their childhood. I promise it doesn’t make you a bad person. It just makes you curious, and curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back—and you’ll be satisfied with the new inspiration you have for funny moments between your characters!
5. Personal Journal Entries
This is SUCH a highly underrated way to come up with ideas!
If you ever wrote in a personal journal, I encourage you to go find that journal. These journal entries from our pasts, especially from our teenage years, tend to be literary GOLD. Whether they’re mundane accounts of our days or dramatic renditions of the fights with our exes, these can be perfect jumping-off points for your newest story!
One thing I love to do with old journal entries is to imagine one of my characters wrote them in their past—what would they say differently? What would the next journal entry look like? Why did they choose to write about that specific moment in time and with the tone and word choice they used? Write down anything that comes to mind, and you’ll have yourself a laundry list of brilliant ideas for your novel!
6. Writing Prompts
The most obvious but most widely available inspiration for your book is writing prompts. I post these occasionally, but it’s easy to find hundreds of other writing accounts that post curated writing prompts daily or weekly!
The sheer number of writing prompts can get overwhelming, so I suggest narrowing down your search by genre and idea. For example, I’ll search “writing prompts for critical moments in a coming-of-age romance” if I’m struggling to think of ideas for some of the turning points in my novel.
I’ve detailed some of the better ways to use writing prompts in the ideation guide and included PLENTY of space for you to save the best ones!
There you have it! Now, go forth and conquer your novel ideation!
Don’t forget about the free guide! Find it here if you haven’t grabbed it already.
Thanks for reading! I hope you’re making progress right alongside me as I write Rain this year.
Be on the lookout for next Friday’s post, which will be a deep dive into the process of beginning your outline—and this week, I’m including a free guide!
I hope to see you next week!
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