Do you have a Muse? Does anyone have a Muse? I suppose it depends on your feelings on mythology, however as writers and creative people, we all have that creative spark that allows us to come up with the stories that we write. You can call it a Muse or whatever you like, but in order to awaken your Muse or light your creative spark, you need to get that inspiration, that original idea that compels you to spend hours and days and weeks and months in front of your computer in order to complete the script and satisfy your Muse and/or your creativity.

Obviously different people have different ways of accomplishing this. I had a friend in college who was having a hard time coming up with an idea for that semester’s film, and he ended up using his creative block to his advantage by using it as the basis for that semester’s project and it turned out to be a terrific student film.

So what do you do to light that spark? When you’re staring at a blank page or a blank screen, where do you look for inspiration? Here are five things that I like to do to re-awaken my creative spirit\.

Read

Read what? Read anything. I’ve read stories in the news that have sparked ideas that led to complete screenplays. I’ve read short stories and novels that have gotten my own creative juices flowing and inspired me to get back to the computer. Sometimes something as simple as seeing words that another person has committed to paper is enough to inspire me to do it as well.

Watch a movie

If you’re a screenwriter, you’re writing something that you hope will be produced as a feature some day. I like to watch other films and pay careful attention to the script. Where are the act breaks? Is there planting and payoff? What archetypes do the characters fit into? Does the script I’m trying to write now have any similarities to the film I’m watching? Asking and answering these types of questions gets my mind thinking about storytelling, and that gets me to the keyboard.

Write My Blog

Writing in my blog is an exercise in writing. It gets my fingers limber and gets my mind in motion. Just like our muscles need exercise to perform and maximum efficiency, out brains need the same type of exercise as well. If you don’t have a blog, write in a journal. Write down ideas in the notes app on your cell phone. Anything that you can do that allows you to consumate ideas in a tangible way is a good way to move towards the inspiration you need to do the most effectiv writing.

Engage with other people

Other people can be fascinating. That’s especially true when they have interesting stories to tell. Everyone has had interesting exeriences in their lives, and soemtimes these experiences can lead to inspiration for ideas to write about. Your not stealing other peoples ideas or stories when you do this. You’re simply using all of the information in your world so that you can combine it into an original story that your can create.

These ideas work for me, but every writer should have his or her own way of getting inspired. What are some things you do to awaken your own muse?