Oh man. Inspiration's a tricky thing, huh?
That's why you're here, right? The Project Ideas forum? Yeah, I get it. Some days I'm so drained of any creativity I just want to cuddle in bed with my cat and never come out, others I can't sleep for the ideas buzzing and crashing around in my head.

Fun fact: one of those nights with the brain fireworks was when I first dreamed of making the Colour Divide.

Anyway, so you're a bit down on the inspiration at the moment. I'm here to help you get it back.
Well. The best I can. As I may have previously mentioned, it's a tricky thing and it works differently for everyone. I hope you'll be able to find some value in my advice, though. ^u^


~ ♥ ~


Let's go out and get some! Whoo!
I've thought about this for a long time, and what I've figured out is this:

what's inside you + something new = new idea!

So, what does that mean?
Basically, inside your mind, you have a bunch of stuff going on. You have emotions, ideas, knowledge, experiences. But apparently not that awesome plan for what your next project's gonna be. And you're not going to get something new out of what you already have. You have to add something from outside yourself to the mix in order to create an idea you haven't had before. (sorry if this is all sounding really abstract)

How to do this? Well, I can't tell what you may like to do, but here are some examples:

>> Go out for a walk. Could be anywhere: down your street, up a mountain, near a lake, by the sea, ‘round a shopping centre… Whatever gets you thinking and feeling and your heart pumping.

Perhaps you’ll see your neighbours smiling, and happily think of how much your Scratch friends mean to you, or feel a sense of community with your neighbourhood. Ooh! Maybe I'll make a project dedicated to the scratchers who've made an impact on my life! Or collaborate with one of my neighbour friends on a project together!

Perhaps the cold, salty sea air will make you feel so alive. Ohmigosh! What about programming a sprite that behaves like a living thing? Or an animation about people living by the beach!


>> Read stuff. Could be anything! Research something you're curious about, sneak a look at your mom's favourite magazine, read a book by your favourite author… there's so much information out there, something's bound to snatch your fancy and spark a new idea.

Maybe you'll read this epic sci-fi about life elsewhere in the universe, and wonder what could be out there. Yes, I know what I'll make! A space game where you discover other planets and explore the galaxy!

Maybe you'll stumble upon these awesome clothing designs in a magazine and immediately drool at the thought of drawing them in vector. Oh my pancake, I just have to make a dress-up game!


>> Listen to music, stare at art with your eyeballs. 'Nuff said. That stuff can inspire so many emotions that can explode into an idea. Wow, I love this song… I want to make an animation or interactive story game that portrays that emotion!


>> Talk to people. This might not work if you tend to be the more introverted type - don't worry about it, we all have different things that excite us, and if other people isn't one of them for you, that's okay.

Anyway, for some, there's something incredible about talking to other creative people and learning how they think, how that's different to yours, and being awed at what they make. You don't even have to talk to people face to face: chat to other scratchers making awesome stuff here on Scratch! No awkward silences required. :3


>> Remixing is fab! This is literally like the most perfect example of what I'm talking about!

what's inside you + someone else's project = a new and epic remix!

If you're stumped for ideas, remixing is a great way to combine someone else's creativity with your own, and BAM! - you got something completely new and shiny! A new perspective on something old. Something crazy amazing neither of you could have come up with on your own.

To me, that's just magic.


~ ♥ ~




Thanks for reading!
~ bubble103

Links
Got any suggestions to add to what I have written? I'll put a link to your post here. Know of some great projects to remix? Please do send me the link!

Nether_Before has some great suggestions on more ways to find your inspiration!
Creative Spark - a unique kind of idea shop
An awesome project to remix!
Ooh, maybe remix this one?

Wow! This is nice!

Instead of making a post per step, you might just want to click edit on your first post and add from there. Having all these comments might get your different steps lost.

LionScratch wrote:

Wow! This is nice!
Instead of making a post per step, you might just want to click edit on your first post and add from there. Having all these comments might get your different steps lost.

Thank you! ^u^ Yeah, haha, I usually do that, but I wanted to try doing it in separate posts to make it look nice…? Idk, I was playing around with layout. I often find posts that are solid blocks of text unreadable, and was experimenting with different ways of breaking a large amount of info up. XD

This seems like a good post so far, I especially like your part about how new experiences help form new ideas as I've noticed that myself. May I suggest some other activities that could help people come up with new ideas?

• Visiting an aquarium, museum or gallery can sometimes help. There's lots of interesting things to see in those that can help inspire.
  
• Watching, reading or playing something you haven't watched, read or played before. Other people's epic stories can often help to inspire your own.
  
• Fiddle about with concepts you like but add twists. A lot of the time you can think of a concept but don't find it interesting enough to want to do it. Taking one of these concepts and messing with it can make it seem more refreshing and fun. For example, how about you take a classic medieval fantasy game and fiddle with the usual roles- Perhaps this time a dragon and a knight are teaming up to take down an evil princess instead of doing the usual rescue mission.
  
• Look around you. Inspiration can come from the strangest places. Have a look at some objects in your room in a bit more detail for once- perhaps that lava lamp could inspire an interesting platformer.
  

Thanks so much! ^u^ Ooh, those are some AMAZING suggestions!

Nether_before wrote:

• Fiddle about with concepts you like but add twists. A lot of the time you can think of a concept but don't find it interesting enough to want to do it. Taking one of these concepts and messing with it can make it seem more refreshing and fun. For example, how about you take a classic medieval fantasy game and fiddle with the usual roles- Perhaps this time a dragon and a knight are teaming up to take down an evil princess instead of doing the usual rescue mission.
  
• Look around you. Inspiration can come from the strangest places. Have a look at some objects in your room in a bit more detail for once- perhaps that lava lamp could inspire an interesting platformer.
  

I LOVE these ones best ~ seeing something in a new light, finding a new angle or perspective is an amazing inspiration!

This is amazing! Goodbye! I've got 100 ideas buzzing in my head that I need to think about!

metallic123 wrote:

This is amazing! Goodbye! I've got 100 ideas buzzing in my head that I need to think about!

Thanks so much! Yay, glad you're feeling inspired!

+1 to be stickied.

rainbow_waves wrote:

+1 to be stickied.

Very helpful. Now I have 2 new ideas that I came up with! Thanks Bubble!

annakbot wrote:

Very helpful. Now I have 2 new ideas that I came up with! Thanks Bubble!

Yay! I'm so so happy to hear that! ^u^

Me: *sits in corner/curls up in bed/crawls in a hole and reflects on life/thinks about humanity's future/fantasize about past RPs* (<- How I Get Inspiration XD)

This is awesome! I was having a lot of trouble coming up with inspiration for some stories. Then I saw this and did a few of the suggestions. I finally had an amazing dream that's inspired me to write the Undead of Wattpad! Thanks so much for the help; it seems like my dreams will take my realities and give me the inspiration!

PoppinBubbles wrote:

This is awesome! I was having a lot of trouble coming up with inspiration for some stories. Then I saw this and did a few of the suggestions. I finally had an amazing dream that's inspired me to write the Undead of Wattpad! Thanks so much for the help; it seems like my dreams will take my realities and give me the inspiration!

Ohmigoshes that's awesome! I'm so happy you're inspired again.

Bumpety bump!

I hope this gets stickied - great guide!

Thank you so much!! ^u^

bubble103 wrote:

Thank you so much!! ^u^

Yeah. I do too… Course, i hope mine gets stickied too. But I dunno if it belongs in this forum xD

Thanks! ^u^ What's your topic? Maybe I can have a look and help you with which forum it belongs in.