Sunday, March 27, 2011
Waiting for Inspiration.
Anybody who has tried to write knows the feeling well: The lap-top (or whatever) is on. You have put aside a precious 90 minutes to write. You have a cup of coffee beside you, and no distractions have come up to gobble this time up. There's nothing interesting on tv, the stack of books you want to read have been carefully hidden, most of the housework's done. You've responded to your email, and there's nothing much happening in the various blogs you follow. And you're not feeling tired. In fact, you're pumped. This is YOUR time. So - time to write? And nothing happens. The cursor blinks, but the nothing comes from your fingers. The blank screen reflects exactly what's happening in your mind: nuffin'. You have absolutely nothing to write. Nothing to say. Zilch, zero. Despair creeps up: "what if I never write again?" Panic threatens: "I'm no good, never have been. Why pretend to be a writer?" What to do? If you have an answer to this, please post something in comments. I'll follow up with some of my suggestions.
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Well, I do something writing related anyway. Sometimes that means I outline the next chapter in my WIP or, if I'm between projects, it might mean brainstorming ideas (which is part of writing, right?). Sometimes it means editing something written rather than writing something new. Or working on a query or synopsis for a new work. Or I'll do research. And sometimes I pretend that, yes, one day I might need to know about those subjects I keep getting distracted by while doing that research...
ReplyDeleteLots of great ideas, thanks for that, Phoenix.
ReplyDeleteUsually if I go back and read the last chapter I wrote, inspiration will strike. Once I get the first paragraph in my head, it pretty much flows from there. Hopefully. . .
ReplyDeleteIt also helps to take a walk first and play a lot of great pump me up music.
Great advice, Michelle.
ReplyDelete