It’s 2012, in the heart of the Australian Outback, when I wake up in a swag (a camping bedroll for those who have no idea what I’m talking about). My nose is cold from the desert night air, and all around me is red-caked earth and a sense of magic. In that moment, I felt how deeply these lands affected me, stirring an inner curiosity to explore the layers of that place. However, on that chilly morning, I didn’t know the outback would later inspire my fantasy story world and become my anchor to write fiction. And I’m not the only one. There are many authors whose creative adventures shaped the worlds of their storytelling. I’ve done a bit of research, and in this blog, I’ll share eleven of them.
1. J.K. Rowling’s train ride to Hogwarts
While her personal views are controversial, the story of how J.K. Rowling created the Harry Potter world remains inspiring. On a delayed train ride from Manchester to London, Rowling had the idea of a young wizard boy who would become the Harry Potter universe. The simplicity of this story proves you don’t need to cross the world to find inspiration to write fiction. Sometimes it hides in the most ordinary creative adventures, like a delayed train ride. Often, it just hits you out of nowhere, and it’s about getting yourself out there and becoming prone to inspiration.
2. J.R.R. Tolkien hikes to High Fantasy
There’s been a long-running debate about what sparked J.R.R. Tolkien’s ideas for the sweeping world of Middle-earth, but one thing is clear. His childhood landscapes and the places he later wandered left deep marks on his imagination. The rolling green hills of Worcestershire, the woods near Sarehole Mill, and his long nature walks all fed into the mood and atmosphere of his fiction writing. This has taught me that a storyworld of Tolkien’s calibre can be found in just your backyard, too.
3. Emma Donoghue’s real event fiction
A train disaster inspired historical fiction writer Emma Donoghue’s novel, The Paris Express. She saw only one photo to realise the potential of that real-life incident and location that inspired her book.
4. Bruce Chatwin’s storytelling writing
A classic one! Even though his travel-inspired books aren’t fiction, this author is worth mentioning. Bruce Chatwin left his job in the UK to pursue a passion for travel that would later inspire his books In Patagonia and The Songlines. He wove wandering and storytelling together in these books. What I love about his approach is that he used his travel notes to inspire his stories. He scribbled down details about people he met, scraps of conversations and the strange atmosphere of far places. Later, those fragments helped him build scenes that felt raw and alive.
5. Elizabeth Gilbert’s inner journey
Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love is not exactly a work of fiction either. Still, the way her story took shape through travel is too awesome not to mention here. Her inner quest for healing led Elizabeth on a journey to Italy, India, and Bali, culminating in the book and movie adaptations that became popular worldwide. This story showed me that travel can bring personal transformation and shape our voice in fiction writing. Profound transformational experiences make our characters sound authentic and draw readers in like no other writing technique ever can.
6. Alexis Wright’s return to Country
Indigenous author Alexis Wright wrote her novel Carpentaria after returning to her home Country in North-West Queensland. She looked at the landscape reshaped by colonisation, yet she still saw the ancient magic beneath as an invisible layer. Her homecoming was the creative adventure that inspired her fiction writing. She listened to Country and let it tell the story she would transform into words.
7. Valeriya Goffe’s real-world trips
Valeriya’s novels grew straight out of her time working and travelling across Africa, inviting her to write fiction. She spent years collecting moments, conversations and surprises on the road, and one unexpected story kept returning to her. She then wove her favourite travel memories into her stories, showing how easily travel-inspired storytelling can grow from small moments on the road.
8. Eric D. Goodman’s novel in settings
When Goodman travelled through China, he didn’t expect to come home with the bones of a novel, but that’s precisely what happened. Wandering through places like Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Suzhou, he kept catching himself thinking this would make a great scene in a story. He’s been a travel writer for years, but in his blog, he explains how he realised he could lean wholly into his love of exploring new places and use that energy to write fiction.
9. Michelle de Krester’s fiction journey
A beautiful discovery that I’ve added to my reading list! Michelle de Krester’s novel Questions of Travel doesn’t come from one big trip but from a life shaped between Sri Lanka and Australia. It might be because I can relate so deeply. Still, I love how her characters move across countries as they try to make sense of home, identity, and belonging. On a personal level, this is a must-read story for every travelling writer of fiction!
10. Madeline Miller’s Greek myths
This author brought ancient Greece into her novels. She draws from real places to bring her myth retellings to life. While writing “Circe”, she travelled to Greece to experience the landscapes, textures and light of the ancient world. And she used those details to make her settings feel grounded and real. She gathers sensory impressions like olive groves, coastlines and old ruins. It helps her shape her characters and scenes that feel lived in rather than imagined from afar.
11. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson
While writing the paragraph above, I couldn’t help for Percy Jackson to pop up in my head. The author drew inspiration for writing fiction from ancient myths, too. So, I just had to add him to the list! Inspired by Greek mythology combined with his real-life struggles with ADHD, Rick Riordan takes his characters on a creative adventure of his own. He explores a magical world based on an ancient culture and transforms it into fiction.
Write fiction through your own creative adventures
The stories above show that you don’t always have to cross the planet to find a story worth telling. However, you’re free to follow my example and chase stories at your favourite places on earth. But know that any adventure, big or small, can turn into the inspiration to write fiction. Your own life can offer you doors to creative adventures you weren’t aware of. It can be a journey to a foreign country or simply a day hike in your very own birthplace.