Generate writing ideas with online photo galleries

In my last post “Overcome writer’s block and generate new ideas with tarot or picture cards,” I wrote about how I stumbled upon the benefits of using tarot cards to inspire my writing.

I’d like to share another great source of inspiration I discovered recently. Sometimes, Carly and I will go to Shutterstock or iStock to find photos for our blog posts. Recently, we purchased a large number of photos, and I helped find pictures for our blog. What I discovered was a plethora of inspiration! 

In the search box, you can type any search words you want. Some of the ones I used:  inspiration, ideas, creativity, books, surreal books, concepts, fairies. Then I’d scroll through the photos to see if any struck me that might be appropriate for a future post. What I came away with was more than I expected.

Besides ideas for blog posts, I also found inspiration for future poems, a short story idea, a new character in my current work-in-progress, and several more ideas. For example, the picture in this post of the young woman flying with butterflies reminded me of an idea that I had but forgot about–a character who has an affinity with all winged creatures.

Exercise: Think of the writing project you’re working on or think about starting a new project. Pick five or six words to describe your project or choose a subject you want to generate ideas for. Use those words in the search box in one of the online photo galleries. See what sparks your imagination. Now write about it!