You sit down and open your laptop, hoping the idea for your next writing piece will magically pop into your mind. Unfortunately, by the time you've pulled up a blank document, all you can think about writing is either bland, repetitive compared to your previous pieces or nothing comes to mind. This is called "writer's block," and you haven't had the full writing experience without experiencing writer's block creep up on you every once in a while. Don't fret just yet! There's always inspiration around you to spark the topic for your newest story, article or any other type of writing. If you need a bit of a start, try these 40 prompts to see if you get some inspiration!

1. What did you do yesterday?

They say that you can find pieces of an author's personality hidden throughout a story, so why not have your main character be just like you? It'll even make it feel like you're the main character of your own story.

2. Remember the last book you read? What if it ended like this...

Writing involves perspective and imagination, two things that can be found in this prompt. The last book you read could have been either the best or worst book you've ever read, and maybe that's due to the ending. A good ending is a necessity in having a good book, so if you could change the ending of a book, what would it be?

3. What's your favorite TV show?

Take this one, and run with it. There are a variety of possibilities you could do with such a broad question. For example: what was your favorite episode? Why? What are some memorable moments from the show? This one works great for people who love to watch television in their free time!

4. If you could go back to a certain point in your life, what would you change?

It doesn't have to be too personal at all. Sometimes we look back at our pasts and wonder how things would be different if we had only done this instead of that. Maybe instead of writing how you would change a moment in your past, you could describe the best moment in your life. Looking back at the past is a great way to get inspiration because you can see how you've grown as a person and incorporate that into your writing.

5. Why are you interested in writing?

That's a question I ask myself all the time, and I have written about it before. Everyone has their own story of how they came to love writing, so why not tell yours?

6. What if you had superpowers?

You can do anything with writing, even give yourself powers! So if you had superpowers, what would you do with them? Would you tear down whole cities or save the people of your town? You decide!

7. What's a burning question you have?

Some questions have no answers. What's a question you have that doesn't seem to have a clear answer? Do you wish you knew more about something? You could write directly from your point of view about this burning question, or have a character in a story go on a journey to discover the true answer.

8. What will the future look like?

It's the year 2017. What does the world look like? Is it a barren wasteland or a maze of skyscrapers as far as you can see? What are the people like? Is it peaceful, or is there violence around every corner? The future is ours to create, so as far as writing goes, you can dream up numerous situations for the future.

9. Do you have any advice for certain people?

Is there anything you wish you would have known growing up? Perhaps there's a certain group of people you have some thoughts on. As long as you're being thoughtful, advice is always appreciated! It's great to help out others.

It takes a bit of thinking, but you'll eventually find something to write about. Hopefully you have some inspiration from these questions to start your next piece.