Getting Inspiration for African American Books

One of the main problems that many authors have when they're trying to write African American books is getting inspiration. This is especially true if you're an author who has already created a book or two and who is trying to come up with an idea for another one. It can be torture sitting there in front of your computer and trying to think of a good idea. One idea comes out and then gets tossed, then another idea starts to blossom only to eventually be discarded. So how do you come up with inspiration for a great story?

Look Around

One thing that we often forget to do when we sit down to create is to look around us. Inspiration is definitely all around us, but once we start getting our fingers clacking on the keyboard and hole ourselves up in a room to work on a story, it's easy to forget that. If you're trying to find inspiration for a story, start looking around, and that doesn't mean your apartment or house. Get out of your home and start walking the streets, or visit a friend that you haven't seen in awhile. Set a date for you and a friend to go out to talk
reminisce about the past, or go to a cafe and just look around. There is inspiration everywhere.

One definite way to get inspiration is to look to family. When was the last time that you've talked with family members? And it doesn't have to be African Americans. Books can be fiction for a reason, and inspiration for African American books doesn't have to come from African Americans. Books that have become best-sellers by African American authors were written about people of all sorts of different cultures, so don't pigeon-hole yourself into thinking that you can only find inspiration in the African American culture.

If you're hunting for inspiration, speak with your family members. The older the family member, the more enjoyable the stories are likely to be. Try to find a family member, or an elderly family member's friend, who has lived life on their terms. They're the type of people who do what they want, when they want, and sit with them for a chat. You'll likely almost instantly find inspiration for at least one story, if not a whole series of books.


Books can be fiction for a reason, and inspiration for African American books doesn't have to derive from African Americans. Books that have become best-sellers by African American authors were written about people of all sorts of different cultures