Waiting for Inspiration to Strike
Writers are a pretty esoteric bunch. We have eccentricities and quirks that only other writers can relate to. We have a whole world, indeed, often several worlds, coexisting and playing out story lines in our heads. All. The. Time. This is true of me.
And yet, I struggle with inspiration.
What is the elusive missing piece that gets me out of my head and at my computer? What gets my fingers itching to write down all the thoughts circling my brain? Usually, it is good conversation.
Chatting with either of my adult daughters usually gets me unstuck. They have unique insight into the world, and into me. They help me turn the kaleidoscope of my perspective a few degrees to the left, and I see a whole new picture.
Yesterday, inspiration struck as I was walking dogs and talking with my friend. And just like that, the formless thoughts and musings in my mind took shape, and words begging to be written started flowing again. I found a new perspective, and I wrote a new blog post.
To be honest, if I waited to be supernaturally inspired, the writing wouldn’t happen. The first year I started blogging, I think I wrote maybe 3 posts. I had deep thoughts and feelings. I had musings. I even had inspiration, but I didn’t recognize it as such. I didn’t trust myself to write anything worth reading. So what changed?
I did.
I finally learned that the magic doesn’t happen if you don’t show up to the magic show. That’s what writing is like for me, anyway. On a good day, I have meaningful thoughts and feelings, a glimmer of something special about to happen, and a tingle in my fingers when I sit down to write. The magic trick of good writing is about to happen, and I want to be there for it.
On a bad day, I might not have any of those elusive things. But I am learning to show up anyway. Writing every day is a worthy goal. I’m not very consistent yet, but I keep trying. My brain is always in full gear, even when the rest of me isn’t.
I am, however, chronically forgetful. If I don’t make a note of interesting thoughts at the moment they occur, they are lost forever. I have gotten into the habit of writing down ideas in my phone, in the Notes app. It is a good place to put my random thoughts, to be retrieved later when I have some time with my computer.
And when I feel like I don’t have anything interesting to say, I remember a conversation I and my writer colleagues had one day on the Book Hatchery Nestbuilders Zoom meeting about perfectionism. Colleen Taylor McCubbin, owner of Siretona Creative, encouraged us to rethink the concept of not being good enough, and reframe it as Good and Enough. I found that gem again today in my Notes app.
That’s good advice — the kind of advice that gets the inspiration flowing again, and helps me show up, even when I might not be feeling especially writerly. Thanks, Colleen!
Lisa LeBlanc is a blogger and the managing editor of Words on the Wing. She is currently working on her memoir project, with the hope that it will one day be Good and Enough.
