Coming up with inspiration when writing can be challenging.
Many situations call for us to write down our thoughts or feelings, but translating those into words is tricky.
Rather than sit there and struggle about what to write, here’s a guide on what to write for any situation in which someone would need to jot down their thoughts.
How Do I Find Inspiration For What to Write About?
Inspiration can be a fickle thing.
Writing isn’t a craft that can be done on autopilot because each word and phrase has to carry your point forward.
So, when you find the idea well has run dry, reference materials and creative sources for inspiration will take you from stuck to better writing.
If you’re writing fiction, the easiest places to get inspiration are from other works you’ve seen or heard. Think about a book, movie, poem, or song and change some details about it.
Then, write about how those changes make a different story or convey a different meaning.
Those changes will naturally lead to a new, potentially exciting idea worth exploring.
For the non-fiction writers out there, search engines are your best bet.
While a basic topic search can be helpful, use things like Twitter’s hashtag autofill or Google’s auto-complete to see what other folks are looking up.
Think about how you would answer those questions and start pulling up reference materials.
You’ll have a good blog post or article before you know it.
Answering the Question “What Should I Write About?”
The writing process looks different depending on what you’re writing.
So here are some tips to follow along with based on what you need to write:.
What To Write In Wedding Card
Given how important weddings are, you want to make sure you write something nice.
Here are some tips to do just that:
Is It Okay To Write the Term “Congratulations” in a Wedding Card?
While congratulations used to have some negative connotations, that opinion has largely passed.
Congratulating the bride and groom at a wedding is perfectly fine nowadays!
Just make sure that you have more to say than just that, or else it will ring somewhat hollow.
What Do You Write on a Wedding Card to a Friend?
The best way to connect with your friend on their wedding day is to congratulate them on the occasion and wish them well.
Friends love to get these kinds of messages from one another.
Plus, a funny joke or reference in the card can go a long way to lighten the mood and bring a smile to your pal’s face.
What Do You Say in a Wedding Card to a Coworker?
Unless you have a close relationship with your coworker, keep your message friendly and polite.
Some folks feel strange receiving emotional messages from people they just view as coworkers.
What Do You Write in a Card for a Wedding That’s Been Postponed?
Regardless of your relationship with the newlyweds, don’t mention the postponed nature of the wedding.
Circumstances cause these things to change, and those circumstances might be a sensitive subject for the bride and groom.
What Do You Write in a Card for a Wedding That’s Been Canceled?
When reaching out to someone that had their wedding canceled, the best approach is to be optimistic.
Even if the individual isn’t in a good mood, being supportive shows that you care and are there for your friend or loved one.
What Do You Write in a Religious Wedding Wishes?
Many families view their faith as central to their marriage ceremonies.
Try to keep that faith in mind when you write your wedding card, either by congratulating the couple in a neutral way or referencing their faith in a respectful and dignified manner.
What Do You Write in a Funny Wedding Wishes?
As long as you know the people you’ll be writing to, feel free to make any joke the bride and groom will laugh at!
Funny wedding cards are a great way to stand out and bring fond memories back to the couple when they go through their cards down the road.
What Do You Write in a Casual Wedding Wishes?
For more casual ceremonies, congratulate the newlyweds and thank them for inviting you.
Don’t stress too much about your word choice since the couple is just going to care about the message itself.
What Do You Write in a Formal Wedding Wishes?
For a more formal affair, you might want to take some time crafting a message more like what you would say at a religious service or other formal affairs.
Try to avoid slang or jokes.
What Do You Write in a Wedding Wishes for Your Son or Daughter And Son-In-Law or Daughter-In-Law?
When writing a wedding card for your child and new child-in-law, a great standby is to reference how happy you are to see your baby boy or girl grown up and getting married.
It shows how much your family has seen and done over the years!
What To Write in a Business Plan
Every company needs a business plan.
So, if you’re the one crafting these documents, here are some tips to keep in mind:
What Is a Business Plan?
A business plan outlines what a company wants to achieve and how it will do so.
Being clear about objectives, services, and company ethics is essential when outlining this document, especially when investors are involved.
What Do You Write in a Traditional Business Plan Format?
For a traditional business plan, you’ll want to include key facts about the company’s operations.
Products and services, market analysis and strategies, financial plans, and annual budgets must be in the document.
What Do You Write in a Modern Business Plan Format?
While modern business plans are similar to traditional ones, there are some extra details that you can include with them to show you’ve gone the extra mile.
Incorporating newer elements to your business, such as social media strategies and SEO optimization research for your web presence, can go a long way.
What to Write in a Cover Letter
Since covers letters are the first thing a hiring manager sees when they look your application over, follow some of these tips to stand out:
What Is a Cover Letter and Why Is It Important?
A cover letter is a document that goes with your resume to explain why you are a good fit for the job.
These letters give you a chance to explain how your skills and work history make you the best candidate for the job.
How Do You Write the Perfect Cover Letter and Get Hired?
The perfect cover letter concisely goes over your resume and explains why each part of it makes you great for the job.
It also contains tidbits about previous accolades that wouldn’t otherwise show up on a resume, like project outcomes.
What to Write on Sympathy Messages
While no written word can fix a grieving heart, these guidelines will help you write a heartfelt sympathy card:
What Are Sympathy Messages?
Sympathy messages are written messages meant to convey sympathy to someone who is grieving.
While everyone processes grief differently, we all know that the pain of grief is hard for everyone.
What Are the Examples of Sympathy Messages?
Sympathy messages might be sent to someone when a family member or loved one passes away.
What Do You Write in a Sympathy Card?
Sympathy cards will be read by someone in a somber state of mind, so it’s best to be brief and supportive.
Write something that shows that you care about the individual and want to help if they need any.
What Do You Not Write in a Sympathy Card?
When writing a sympathy card, try to avoid phrases like “everything happens for a reason” or similar cliche lines.
Also, offering unprompted advice doesn’t always land well with people grieving, so be short and sweet with your condolences.
What To Write in a Graduation Card
To celebrate with a graduate from anywhere, here are some tips for writing a stellar graduation card:
Graduation During a Difficult Time
While no one wants to have a graduation happen during difficult times, it does happen.
Be brief with your message, and don’t try to remind the recipient about the difficulties unless you truly believe they will be okay with it.
What To Write in a Graduation Card When You Can’t Make It
If you can’t attend a graduation, write down in your message that you wanted to be there.
Doing this will show the graduate that you support them and want to share in their success.
What To Write in a Graduation Card When You’ll Be There
If you will be there for the graduation, write about how excited or proud you will be when you’re there.
Much like with the tip above, writing this sort of thing shows how much you care.
What To Write in a Graduation Card for a Family Member
With family, the best practice for graduation cards is to bring up another fun or inspiring memory between you and the recipient.
Tying these two things together shows how much progress the graduate has made and reminds them of other fun times from the past.
What To Write In Thank You Notes
A thank you note goes a long way to express your appreciation to someone far away.
Use these guidelines to write a killer thank you note:
What Do You Write in a Baby Shower Thank You Card?
For baby showers, expressing how much you enjoyed seeing the expecting mother is a great place to get inspiration.
Don’t forget to include some good wishes for the new baby, too!
What Do You Write in an Interview Thank You Card?
As interviews are a formal affair, be professional and thank the hiring manager for their time and consideration.
Even if you don’t get the job, being professional goes a long way in maintaining a good relationship with those in your field.
What Do You Write in a Birthday Thank You Card?
For birthday thank yous, mentioning how much you loved seeing everyone is a great way to start.
If you received gifts, mentioning how much you enjoyed the gift will bring smiles to your note’s recipient.
What Do You Write in a Thank You Card for a Teacher?
Teachers love to hear how much their lessons have meant to their students.
So if you need some inspiration to write a teacher a thank you note, think about one of their lessons and how it opened your eyes or expanded your horizons.
What Do You Write in a Graduation Thank You Card?
The friends and loved ones attending your graduate will love to hear how much you enjoyed sharing the experience with them.
While you put in the hard work to succeed, your loved ones support you, so share how much that support means to you.
What Do You Write in a Thank You Card for a Hostess?
When receiving hospitality from someone, mentioning specific things done for you shows that you noticed the small details your hostess provided.
What Do You Write in a Wedding Thank You Card?
At weddings, appreciative words and compliments on the ceremony are a great place to start.
Newlyweds want their loved ones to enjoy the day as much as they do, so sharing that info with them will bring them a smile.
What To Write in a Personal Statement
To keep your personal statement in line with what admissions and scholastic fellows want to see, check out these tips:
What Is a Personal Statement?
A personal statement is an essay students will write about themselves when applying for things like scholarships and fellowships.
They give the student a chance to talk about themselves in a way that focuses on more than just their academic successes.
What Do You Write in a Personal Statement?
In your personal statement, explain your academic abilities and how you got to those successes.
Overcoming adversity tends to do well in these statements.
You can use this essay as a chance to put a positive spin on something that might have otherwise tripped you up.
What To Write on a Resume
In addition, to cover letters, resumes have their own set of writing tips to keep in mind:
How To Pick the Right Resume Format?
The best resume format is the one that matches what others in your field will use.
Don’t hesitate to check out resume templates from within your field and follow along with those.
What Is the Best Resume Layout?
The best resume layout is one that has a clear organizational pattern and is easy to read along with.
It should list your contact info, work experience, education, and other qualifications in a way that lets the reader find it easily.
How To List Education on Your Resume
Most hiring managers want your most relevant education at the top of the education section of the resume.
That way, the manager has your credentials right away.
How Do You List Work Experience in a Resume? (40 words)
Much like education, work experience should be from most relevant and recent to least.
Having a blurb under each entry to describe your role, responsibilities in that role, and skills needed to perform that role helps as well.
How Much Work Experience Do You Include in Your Resume?
While the exact number of jobs or time frame will differ for different fields, you should keep your resume forced on the last five to ten years of work experience.
With this practice, you quickly put relevant info in the hiring manager’s hands.
How Do You List Skills in Your Resume?
In general, your skills should be part of your work experience blurbs or as part of a separate section of the resume.
Whichever you choose, ensure that you are clear on what skills you possess and how you will apply them to the position.
What Are Good Writing Topics?
While budding writers will create what they like, a better writer will go into their assignments knowing what the audience wants.
Here is how you can decide how to write what you need to before committing anything to paper:
What Are the Things to Write About for Blog Posts and Articles?
A good blog post or article grabs the reader’s attention with a title that explains what you want to talk about.
From there, the main idea carries through the entire piece, with relevant examples and proof backing up the ideas as needed.
Essentially, a blog post or article communicates solid information the whole way through.
Typically, the best practice for making a blog post or article is to answer a question or offer new information to the reader.
Give them something they can learn in an interesting way.
Tools like SEO research, trend data, and other search traffic measurements will help you find out what to write about day-to-day.
Ideas on What To Write About When You’re Uninspired?
Writer’s block is a tough spot to be in.
To get over that slump, you’ll want to fall back on your preferred sources of inspiration and some good, old perseverance.
Many writers like prompt generators to get topic ideas flowing.
Using a prompt generator as a fiction writer can lead to interesting results, but non-fiction writers can use these tools to see how their topic of choice might relate to others.
Crossover articles tend to do well because they get people thinking about ideas differently.
What Are the Things To Write About in Fiction?
In some ways, fiction writers have it easier than non-fiction ones.
A fiction writer can create any story they want, bringing new worlds or ideas to life without having to base it on the real world.
With that wide range of possibilities also comes the realization that only you can decide what to do next for the story.
That range of options is why fiction writers usually base their stories in some amount of reality.
It makes the story relatable to the reader, thus keeping the reader’s attention.
Outside of that, finding a topic or philosophical question and basing a story around solving that problem can make for a compelling story.
What Are the Things To Write About Yourself?
Not everyone likes talking about themselves.
If you’re one of those writers, there are a couple of ways you can make this process a little less painful.
For starters, talking yourself up can help put you in a better mood.
Write about a success story from your past and how it shaped who you are today.
These kinds of stories remind us about the positive parts of our lives, which tend to get overshadowed by the negative.
Or, think about something that makes you unique.
Whether it’s a niche hobby, a strange experience, or a different perspective, talk about that novelty and explore what it means to you.
What Are the Things You Write When You’re Bored?
For the professionals out there, it’s easy to forget that writing is more than just a way to keep the lights on.
Writing can be a joy, especially when you find a topic or story idea you love.
Finding one of those topics can keep you going when your mind is idle.
Otherwise, for a more creative spin, try writing a story about if one of the laws of nature changed to something cartoony or fantastical.
Get wild with that idea and see what wacky things come from your imagination!
How Can You Write for Fun?
Ultimately, writing for fun is about writing something you care about.
Writers tend to be people that enjoy communicating with others, even if only through the written word.
When writers can align their interests with the pieces they create, writing never feels like work and instead like a medium of expression.
Even if you can’t get a passion lined up with your writing, jotting down ideas and story concepts that interest you is an easy way to have fun writing.
Coming up with story ideas and story plotting can be just as fun as constructing a piece.
Wrapping Up
No matter the content of your writing, knowing what to talk about ahead of time is key.
Good writing matches its tone, word choice, and style with the situation.
No matter what you need to write, remember that others have had the same struggle!
Reach out to those folks through online and local resources and share your difficulties.
Writing is tough enough with colleagues, let alone by yourself!