People often ask me, “Hey, nyx!! Where do you get your inspiration from?” as if I’m going to say something poetic like, “Oh, I was walking through a lavender field at dawn when a phoenix flew by and whispered a plot twist in my ear.”
No. Absolutely not.
Let me take you on a wild, honest, slightly embarrassing journey of how I actually get inspired to write. Spoiler: It involves spiraling, snacks, and a suspicious number of dramatic inner monologues.
1. The Ritual of Avoidance
Inspiration usually begins with me not writing. I do everything except writing:
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Rearranging my desk (again).
Googling “how to write a novel in 10 minutes.”
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Making a snack that suddenly takes two hours and includes a homemade sauce.
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Watching a YouTube video titled “Why You’ll Never Be a Good Writer” just to feel something.
At this point, I tell myself I'm "gathering energy" or "letting the story simmer." In reality, I’m just avoiding writing like it owes me money.
2. The Sacred Scrolls (a.k.a. Notes App)
Suddenly, at the most inconvenient time—shower, traffic, 3:47 a.m.—a line, a scene, or a feral dialogue exchange appears in my brain. I whisper, “Wait...that’s good,” like I’ve just invented the wheel.
I reach for my Notes app like it's a lifeline and type something that, hours later, makes absolutely no sense:
“she’s not a villain, she’s the explosion before the apology. Also: ducks????”
Brilliant.
3. Conversations With Fictional People
Nothing gets the creativity flowing like me arguing with my own characters in the shower.
Me: “Why would you betray her? She trusted you!”
Character: “I never asked to be born.”
I’m pacing. I’m acting out scenes like I’m auditioning for a soap opera. My shampoo bottle knows too much. But hey, if I cry in the mirror because of a fake breakup between imaginary people—guess what? That scene’s going in the book.
4. The Pinterest Spiral
I tell myself I’ll just open Pinterest for “inspiration.” An hour later, I have:
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47 pictures of moody castles
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12 enemies-to-lovers quotes
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An entire board titled “Vibes✨”
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And zero new words written
But I feel inspired. That counts for something, right?
5. Reading Something Amazing and Getting Jealous
There is no greater motivator than reading someone else's beautiful, heartbreaking, soul-punching writing and screaming internally, “Why can’t I write like this???”
So I open a blank document, fueled by a weird cocktail of envy, admiration, and pure spite.
The result? 3,000 words of chaotic brilliance or an outline that looks like a grocery list. Either way, I’m back in the game, babe.
6. Music That Ruins My Life (In a Good Way)
A single lyric can send me spiraling into an entire story arc. I’ll be completely normal and then BAM—some singer croons something like “She loved me in war, but forgot me in peace,” and I’m sobbing, crafting a seven-book series.
Thanks to playlists, I now associate emotional breakdowns with Spotify Premium. No regrets.
7. Sheer Emotional Breakdown
Inspiration also comes from crying at 1 a.m. about literally anything:
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I miss a person who doesn’t exist.
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I imagined a beautiful love that lives only in chapter 14.
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My character just made a life-altering decision, and I am not okay.
People ask if I’m emotionally stable. No. But I am productive.
8. That One Quote That Haunts You
You know the one. You read it and something inside you snaps.
“You don't need a blade. I would bleed if only you asked.”
Next thing I know, I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor, writing like I’ve been possessed by a Victorian poet with abandonment issues.
9. Deadlines, Panic, and the Threat of Disappointment
Finally, if all else fails, nothing inspires quite like panic. A looming deadline. A promise you made to yourself. That one friend who keeps asking “How’s the book coming along?” with innocent eyes and evil intentions.
Cue the coffee, the playlist, the two-day writing binge, and the temporary belief that you are, in fact, a literary genius.
Until you reread it the next morning.
Final Thoughts (and Snacks)
Inspiration isn’t always pretty. Sometimes it’s a whispered thought at midnight. Sometimes it’s envy, chaos, or a mental breakdown dressed as productivity.
But you know what? That’s okay.
If it makes you write—even if it starts with ducks in the Notes app, it counts.
So next time someone asks me, “Where do you get your inspiration from?” I’ll smile mysteriously and say, “From living.”
(But we both know it’s 60% panic, 30% Pinterest, and 10% emotional instability.)
Soo keep writing, no matter how messy or chaotic it is, because in the end it's what makes those words YOU.
By-Nyx❤
