Speaking just for myself, I’ve always found it odd when someone asks me where I get my ideas. I get my ideas from everywhere, from life all around me. A song, a conversation with a friend, a scene in a movie, a picture on the wall, a tree, my pet rabbits, a rumpled pillow on a sofa… Anything and everything is fodder for ideas.

For me, ideas—whether they be plot ideas, character ideas, or something more ephemeral—hit me at random times, from any sort of random prompt. I’ve got a notebook full of story ideas. So I have never really had the problem of thinking “I want to write, but I don’t know what to write about.”

Even so, I often feel uninspired, and sometimes a writing prompt of some sort can help jumpstart me back into the process. My primary go-to writing prompt is music of some sort, but pictures often help, too. So here are some pictures that can perhaps help you to jump-start those creative thoughts.

A pen and a notebook. What will you write?

Something’s about to happen here…

What a cute wee door! Who lives here?

A lone man and a great wide view. What does he see?

Funny name for a train platform…oh, wait, some other author already used this one…

What song is he playing?

Tree creature

There’s gotta be a good story behind this one!

What kind of stories did these pictures prompt for you? Please share in the comments, or even share a link to your web page where you’ve posted your ideas!

(Feel free to copy or repost these pictures, but PLEASE give me credit by linking back to this blog. That’s not only the properly legal thing to do, since I took all of these pictures, but it’s also the ethical thing to do. And the law and ethics so rarely coincide these days!)