Destination inspiration

The dreaded blank page. All copywriters have sat, stared and become increasingly aggravated by it. What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you fill it? And why is everyone in the office being so damn noisy? Stop. Just stop.

You’re stuck in downward spiral. Fortunately, there’s an easy way out. Pick up your laptop, put one foot in front of the other and head for one of these expert-approved creativity sparking hotspots.

A coffee shop

Yes, it’s a cliché. But it’s a cliché for a reason. Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.K. Rowling are four famed authors who have penned masterpieces in cafés. “The best writing café is crowded enough for you to blend in, but not too crowded that you have to share a table with someone else,” says Rowling.

The great outdoors

Jack London might sound like the star of ITV’s latest detective drama, but he was actually an acclaimed early 20^th Century novelist, who did most of his writing in the fresh air of California’s Sonoma Valley. “I wanted a quiet place in the country to write and loaf in, and get out of nature that something which we all need, only the most of us don’t know it,” he stated.

We don’t expect you to fly to California. Your local park will work just as well.

Off the grid

We all love Twitter, but when it comes to good writing being connected can be a curse. “Work on a computer that is disconnected from the ­internet,” advises author Zadie Smith.

The library

Words, glorious words. Everywhere you look. It’s both incredible and inspiring. “Parks are where we can freely exercise or relax our bodies. Libraries do the same thing for our brains—and our souls,” says award-winning author Kate Klise.

The train

At first glance, packed commuter trains don’t scream blue sky thinking. But Anthony Trollope and John le Carré both wrote novels on their way to work, and J.K Rowling came up with Harry Potter during a train journey from Manchester to London, so find a space and give it your best shot.

Lying down

No, this isn’t a joke. Marcel Proust, James Joyce and a number of other writers have penned their best work while lying on their backs or fronts. “I am a completely horizontal author,” admitted Truman Capote. “I can’t think unless, I am lying down, either on a bed or stretched on a couch.”

Wherever works for you

Agatha Christie wrote in the bath, while eating apples, Gertrude Stein liked working in parked cars and Roald Dahl and George Bernhard Shaw often took to their sheds. When it comes to igniting your inspiration, there are no rules. Simply find your happy place and get writing.

REFERENCES

http://jacklondonpark.com/jack-london-biography.html

http://www.newsweek.com/how-jk-rowling-created-harry-potter-510042

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/22/zadie-smith-rules-for-writers

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-k-gibson/where-do-writers-write_b_592619.html

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2007/jun/06/trainsofthoughtwritingand

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-k-gibson/where-do-writers-write_b_592619.html

https://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=1351