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Is Inspiration Over-Rated?

23 January 2013

Writing is fun. As it should be. When your head's in the game, and your creative juices are flowing, the feeling is matchless.

Most of the time.

I used to read and/or write only when romantic inspiration struck the core of my sentimentality. Those cloudy autumn afternoons when the wind beat against the window panes and howled around the moor, (well actually I live in a regular house,) and Yorkshire tea was at my beck and call, WELL! I had no other option than to seize my quill pen, (yes I do own one,) and scribble down the sonnet or fable on the tip of my tongue. But what did I do on those blistering summer days, when everyone was complaining about the heat? I looked down at my unromantic Nike shorts and decided that writing was simply out of the question.

Ha. Silly me. Little did I know that if I truly desired literary achievement, nay, if I wanted to become better at all, I would have to write even when I didn't want to. Scary I know. How am I supposed to feel inspired when I live in the suburbs and don't have long curly black hair cascading to my feet? Here is the simple answer:

You don't HAVE to feel inspired. *GASP* It is indeed a harsh reality to accept, but when you think about it, it makes sense. If NASA scientists didn't wake up feeling inspired every morning, our knowledge of the solar system would be sadly lacking.

When you are good at something, you can do it almost without thinking about it. Although, I can understand how baby writers might find it difficult to put to pen to paper when the circumstances aren't satisfactory. I've been there. We all have.  But the way you get out of this stage is to, in a simple phrase, deny your flesh. Don't want to write? Too bad. You sit yourself down at your computer and write what is on your mind. I've been trying to teach myself piano recently, and let me tell you, it's a tedious task. My brother on the other hand, who had lessons for ten years, can play Mozart's masterpieces from memory, without even looking at the keys.

If you persevere in writing, the same effortless ability will come in due time. Don't let my pretentious advice fool you. I am a beginner in every way, but this was one of this first lessons I learned, and am still learning to abide by every day. A family friend linked me to a writing contest a couple weeks ago. The deadline is January 31st. So I have been scrambling to assemble my 93,000 word manuscript into something intelligible. I have already read my story a million times, and I can get bored of my own words. And let me tell you, I can't remember the last time I felt "inspired' when editing my book for the upteenth time. I can't afford to operate on romantic whims, and neither can you.

So what DOES keep me going? Drive. Ambition. Aspiration. If I want success, I'm going to have to work to get it. That means writing every night even when I don't want to, blogging once a week, and writing poems even though I'm bad at them. Not to mention reading five books at once. So next time you drag your groggy eyes over to your computer, sit down. And write something. Keep up that practice, and see if you don't learn that inspiration is over-rated.

Oh, do you like my new blog format? I have my lovely friend Katie to thank for that. Apart from being the exquisite "Duchess of Suds," she is also quite tech savvy! You can check out her blog here: royaltysoaps.blogspot.com

Written by: Karoline Kingley 


(photo courtesy of Google Images)

1 comment:

Is Inspiration Over-Rated?

Writing is fun. As it should be. When your head's in the game, and your creative juices are flowing, the feeling is matchless.

Most of the time.

I used to read and/or write only when romantic inspiration struck the core of my sentimentality. Those cloudy autumn afternoons when the wind beat against the window panes and howled around the moor, (well actually I live in a regular house,) and Yorkshire tea was at my beck and call, WELL! I had no other option than to seize my quill pen, (yes I do own one,) and scribble down the sonnet or fable on the tip of my tongue. But what did I do on those blistering summer days, when everyone was complaining about the heat? I looked down at my unromantic Nike shorts and decided that writing was simply out of the question.

Ha. Silly me. Little did I know that if I truly desired literary achievement, nay, if I wanted to become better at all, I would have to write even when I didn't want to. Scary I know. How am I supposed to feel inspired when I live in the suburbs and don't have long curly black hair cascading to my feet? Here is the simple answer:

You don't HAVE to feel inspired. *GASP* It is indeed a harsh reality to accept, but when you think about it, it makes sense. If NASA scientists didn't wake up feeling inspired every morning, our knowledge of the solar system would be sadly lacking.

When you are good at something, you can do it almost without thinking about it. Although, I can understand how baby writers might find it difficult to put to pen to paper when the circumstances aren't satisfactory. I've been there. We all have.  But the way you get out of this stage is to, in a simple phrase, deny your flesh. Don't want to write? Too bad. You sit yourself down at your computer and write what is on your mind. I've been trying to teach myself piano recently, and let me tell you, it's a tedious task. My brother on the other hand, who had lessons for ten years, can play Mozart's masterpieces from memory, without even looking at the keys.

If you persevere in writing, the same effortless ability will come in due time. Don't let my pretentious advice fool you. I am a beginner in every way, but this was one of this first lessons I learned, and am still learning to abide by every day. A family friend linked me to a writing contest a couple weeks ago. The deadline is January 31st. So I have been scrambling to assemble my 93,000 word manuscript into something intelligible. I have already read my story a million times, and I can get bored of my own words. And let me tell you, I can't remember the last time I felt "inspired' when editing my book for the upteenth time. I can't afford to operate on romantic whims, and neither can you.

So what DOES keep me going? Drive. Ambition. Aspiration. If I want success, I'm going to have to work to get it. That means writing every night even when I don't want to, blogging once a week, and writing poems even though I'm bad at them. Not to mention reading five books at once. So next time you drag your groggy eyes over to your computer, sit down. And write something. Keep up that practice, and see if you don't learn that inspiration is over-rated.

Oh, do you like my new blog format? I have my lovely friend Katie to thank for that. Apart from being the exquisite "Duchess of Suds," she is also quite tech savvy! You can check out her blog here: royaltysoaps.blogspot.com

Written by: Karoline Kingley 


(photo courtesy of Google Images)

1 comment :

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