“I only write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.” – Peter De Vries
Do you have to wait for inspiration before you write? How do you get going without it?
14 thoughts on “Reader Friday: Inspiration”
I don’t have to wait for inspiration before I write, but I do before I plot.
I find inspiration happens in small doses most of the time. Maybe a line or scene happens and I jot it down. When I’m not “hearing” it, I usually listen to music, take a walk, watch the birds or something. And then the next day or so, I hear something again. When inspiration is really exciting is when it floods open and I write for an hour with everything coming forth. But that’s not the norm for me.
I write every day, whether I’m inspired or not. How? I read what I wrote the day before , before continuing on. That usually does the trick.
This is a great habit, Sue.
I don’t know about “inspiration.”
Ideas come to me from all over. Just last night, as I opened a volume of Chekhov crime stories, I spotted three slips of paper with obscure notes (not relating to the book) stuck between the library’s plastic book cover and the back cover of the book. Aha! Something to use in a story. So I wrote down a paragraph or so. I don’t know if I’ll use it.
I find I need to have a pretty good idea where I’m going before I start “keyboarding.” (Does keyboarding come under the same moral category as waterboarding? Feels like it sometime.) So I try to work things out in my head while walking, lying in bed, staring at the wall, before I start writing.
Cool quote! Really cool. I`ll even print it!
Regards,
Katty, the writer from LordOfPapers
I’ve learned not to fear ‘unwriting’ so I just plunge ahead. If I’m “lost” I’ll put my characters in a situation and let them have at it. The hardest for me is getting back to the book after having to be away from it due to other responsibilities, such as proof-listening to my next audiobook release. I can’t switch gears, so I set the WIP aside while I deal with the audiobook process, and then have to reground myself in the writing again.
I’ve seen those words attributed to several writers, but whoever said them, they’re true. The writer who says he/she writes “when inspiration strikes” is usually putting things off because the right words won’t come. Even Lawrence Block’s “Sunday writer” has to write sometime when the muse doesn’t inspire the words.
Writing is my profession, and I write every day. Some days it’s easier to write than others, but if I waited for inspiration, I’d never finish a novel.
This brings to mind an Agatha Christie quote:
“There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”
If I’m going to treat writing as my career as well as my passion, I really have no choice but to write daily. I agree with Sue Coletta; refreshing my mind by reading yesterday’s work is usually enough to get me going, too.
I don’t wait for inspiration, but I often procrastinate before getting down to work. Sometimes that means I’m working late into the night, which I rather like because the house is so quiet.
I write very early in the morning, whether in the mood to or otherwise. I use two things. The first is coffee. The second relates to a quirk of my personality. I wake up every morning with a song in my head. I sit down at the keyboard, sip the coffee, cue the song up, and start typing. This morning it was “Don’t Bring Me Down” by the Animals, yesterday it was “One Way Out” by the Allman Brothers, Wednesday was “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes. And so it goes.
As others have already said, I write whether I’m inspired or not. I find the longer I spend away from a WIP, the harder it is to re-connect with it. I also try and leave it when I’m in the flow of things, so I know where I’m going with it the following day (read that tip somewhere and it works for me).
When I sit down to write, I start by reading a couple of blogs – The Killzone being one. I find this helps to put my head in the right space. The trick of course is not to spend too much time doing that, so I set myself a time that I need to stop reading and start writing!
“I only write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.” – Peter De Vries
I don’t have to wait for inspiration before I write, but I do before I plot.
I find inspiration happens in small doses most of the time. Maybe a line or scene happens and I jot it down. When I’m not “hearing” it, I usually listen to music, take a walk, watch the birds or something. And then the next day or so, I hear something again. When inspiration is really exciting is when it floods open and I write for an hour with everything coming forth. But that’s not the norm for me.
I write every day, whether I’m inspired or not. How? I read what I wrote the day before , before continuing on. That usually does the trick.
This is a great habit, Sue.
I don’t know about “inspiration.”
Ideas come to me from all over. Just last night, as I opened a volume of Chekhov crime stories, I spotted three slips of paper with obscure notes (not relating to the book) stuck between the library’s plastic book cover and the back cover of the book. Aha! Something to use in a story. So I wrote down a paragraph or so. I don’t know if I’ll use it.
I find I need to have a pretty good idea where I’m going before I start “keyboarding.” (Does keyboarding come under the same moral category as waterboarding? Feels like it sometime.) So I try to work things out in my head while walking, lying in bed, staring at the wall, before I start writing.
Cool quote! Really cool. I`ll even print it!
Regards,
Katty, the writer from LordOfPapers
I’ve learned not to fear ‘unwriting’ so I just plunge ahead. If I’m “lost” I’ll put my characters in a situation and let them have at it. The hardest for me is getting back to the book after having to be away from it due to other responsibilities, such as proof-listening to my next audiobook release. I can’t switch gears, so I set the WIP aside while I deal with the audiobook process, and then have to reground myself in the writing again.
I’ve seen those words attributed to several writers, but whoever said them, they’re true. The writer who says he/she writes “when inspiration strikes” is usually putting things off because the right words won’t come. Even Lawrence Block’s “Sunday writer” has to write sometime when the muse doesn’t inspire the words.
Writing is my profession, and I write every day. Some days it’s easier to write than others, but if I waited for inspiration, I’d never finish a novel.
This brings to mind an Agatha Christie quote:
“There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”
If I’m going to treat writing as my career as well as my passion, I really have no choice but to write daily. I agree with Sue Coletta; refreshing my mind by reading yesterday’s work is usually enough to get me going, too.
I don’t wait for inspiration, but I often procrastinate before getting down to work. Sometimes that means I’m working late into the night, which I rather like because the house is so quiet.
I write very early in the morning, whether in the mood to or otherwise. I use two things. The first is coffee. The second relates to a quirk of my personality. I wake up every morning with a song in my head. I sit down at the keyboard, sip the coffee, cue the song up, and start typing. This morning it was “Don’t Bring Me Down” by the Animals, yesterday it was “One Way Out” by the Allman Brothers, Wednesday was “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes. And so it goes.
As others have already said, I write whether I’m inspired or not. I find the longer I spend away from a WIP, the harder it is to re-connect with it. I also try and leave it when I’m in the flow of things, so I know where I’m going with it the following day (read that tip somewhere and it works for me).
When I sit down to write, I start by reading a couple of blogs – The Killzone being one. I find this helps to put my head in the right space. The trick of course is not to spend too much time doing that, so I set myself a time that I need to stop reading and start writing!