Humans of New York

Whenever I need a little character inspiration from real-life people, I scroll through Humans of New York. I have the book on my coffee table, but the blog, Facebook page, and Instagram photo feed are fantastic resources too. HONY started about four years ago by this guy named Brandon. He thought it'd be fun to create a photo collection of 10,000 New Yorkers – But the project evolved into a massive catalogue of quotes, short stories, and beautiful portraits of every day people, from all walks of life, who call New York home.

Everything about HONY fascinates me, and not just because I live in Manhattan and this is my community. Brandon does an amazing job capturing poignant photographs and zeroing in on a moment – whether that's a heartfelt story, controversial opinion, or bit of hopeful commentary. Next time you need to pinpoint a motivation, brainstorm a betrayal, or fully flesh out a character, etc, check out the real-life stories and people via the HONY archive here (and pick up the bestselling book!).