INSPIRATION OR PERSPIRATION: Which is most Important?
Ever noticed how it’s both? Anyone who has undertaken the daunting task to actually write and complete a book knows that no choice really exists. I talk a lot about Inspiration, but this one is more about her evil twin: Work.
Yes, you need the initial inspiration to even talk yourself into starting.
And often, that beginning breath of the gods will take you a long way—through the opening, into the major conflicts, your oh-so-well-drawn characters jumping to life and racing around the first turn and even (hopefully) into the backstretch.
Ah, we love that muse, and prime her in every way we can think of! We feed her with all the sweet nothings whispered into her ear, with the promise of carrots at the end of our writing day. And she always responds. At least, initially.
And then, often, we run smack dab into a soft spot on the rail. You feel like you’re hitting your head against a wall, and get that awful feeling of a bogging down. Where did all that momentum go?
It jumped straight off the track and landed in the soggy infield of slaughtered dreams.
I can’t begin to recount all the stories I hear from writers regarding this. Some try to press through, floundering as if with one leg tied behind their backs. Jockey-less. That writing muscle cramped up as in a lactic-acid meltdown. We’ve all done it.
So very many writers quit here altogether, or begin another book, only to at some point stop that one and begin another . . . I hear, often, “I was so inspired, I wrote 20,000 words in nothing flat. But then the trail went cold and now I can’t write until I get another breath of it.”
Phooey! As professionals, we all know this is when the perspiration part comes in. We know all too well that while amateurs rely on inspiration, professionals know that fortitude and courage must now take over. If a deadline exists, well, we whip ourselves on the rump and spur that pony on. The feed bill has to be paid! And you’d be right 🙂
And I actually think this is the best-case scenario—you have no choice but to press on. Because it’s oh-so easy to stop and bemoan the lack of inspiration to write. But that is only a trick of the mind.
A few jumpstarting exercises work great here. Let me show you how!
1). To begin with: The very best is to take one of your major characters out of the book and into a scenario that occurred a decade before. Or in childhood or adolescence. This piece isn’t to be included in the book, but it can be a short story you can sell down the road.
Just take her away and include none of the rest of the characters, putting her into a scenario with a huge conflict. Begin writing and follow her where she takes you, with no attention to your prose or structure or anything, but rather, stream-of-consciousness. Not only will this cleanse your palate, but you’ll also learn something about her you can use in the book, once you get back to it.
2). Next: Just write something entirely different, even if it’s a response to Dear Abby. Just write.
3). Finally: And then, circle back to your book. Write. Take the last passage you have, and go. It may be awful. It may take your story a way you ultimately toss. None of that matters. You don’t care that this workman-like prose doesn’t have the zing of the inspired brilliance of before. That’s not the point. The point is you’re doing it.
Somewhere, along the far turn, you’ll find yourself racing again, getting ready for the homestretch, the breath of the gods back in your face, the finish line in sight. And often, you won’t even remember when you turned back on.
So what’s stopping you? Take the next step! Go out there and finish that book.
Because as Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Robert says
I find that taking a break, or reading one’s favorite author helps in getting back to work.
One can also work on a different project for a bit if that helps.
Susan Mary Malone says
Great tips, Robert. I’m big on breaks for writers. And reading is great as well! As is working on completely different projects. Good advice!
Patricia La Vigne says
I love the racetrack imagery. I never thought of taking a charactaer and writing him/her into an entirely different time/period. I like that idea very much. You never know, it could be the start of a sequel to the book the author is working on now. Or it could change the whole premise with which said author began, and lead to far better horizons.
Susan Mary Malone says
Exactly, Patricia! And I love your ‘far better horizons.’
Walt Kuenstler says
Sometimes writers get stuck. Fact of life.
The Muse fails to keep her appointment. Have you scheduled an appointment with your Muse? That’s a good step. Whether six am or midnight, try to ‘write’ at the same time every day.
And let’s define ‘writing’. The act of adding words to an article or a manuscript is certainly ‘writing.’ But that writing process includes daydreaming, flossing your teeth, binge watching ‘Breaking Bad.’
Give yourself a break. Self-flagellation is a sure way to turn that blockage into a permanent embargo.
At that appointed time of day, if you can’t add words to the manuscript, then make notes. Draw doodles. Surf for revealing gifs of your favorite celebrities. Just be sure to keep your appointment with the Muse. She likes that.
Oh, and avoid blogs with those pesky picture puzzles that foil robots 😉
Susan Mary Malone says
Great tips, Walt! I love keeping that appointment with the muse, no matter what! And since the tendency toward self-flagellation is on the same gene as creativity, that’s especially good advice.
Sorry about the picture puzzle! I was getting so much robot spam, I didn’t have a choice 🙂
Thanks Again!
Susan
Belinda Y. Hughes says
Hey Susan, thanks for the link in my LinkedIn mailbox. This is my first visit to your blog, and I’m glad to have discovered it. Very nice use of analogy in this post, and worthy advice from you and your readers, as well. A suggestion learned from Writer’s Digest many years ago is to take a break, but not allow yourself to write during this period. You can do anything else, except write. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, of course. When the time is up, your fingers will be chomping at the bit to charge across the keys. You can further apply this technique by only allowing yourself to write for a set amount of time and/or any project other than the most challenging one, then tethering all writing activity once again to increase your speed when next you unleash the beast to win the day’s writing goals. Best wishes on your projects, all! 🙂
Susan Mary Malone says
That’s a great suggestion, Belinda! We all do need breaks 🙂 In fact, I blogged about this very thing in May: http://www.maloneeditorial.com/a-writers-break/
I’m all for them!
And I love your tip on only allowing yourself to write for a set amount of time. That works great!
Thank You,
Susan
Timothy Burns says
Writing lives in a wonderful nexus between inspiration, structure and hard work. We get inspired with an idea, a thought, an image or a message. The creativity begins to flow, and before long we have words to put on paper.
But if we don’t write well, can’t construct a sentence to save our lives, or just get lost in the creative mess, our words will never have the impact on the world that they could have. I teach writing at a local university. I teach my students to master the learning curve I face every time I sit down at my desk. I wrestle with these three domains all at the same time:
Creativity – Where everything is approved and wonderful
Structure and organization – where I can be clear or confusing
Grammar rules – which are either right or wrong.
Great writers face their fears, and their procrastination, and put in the hard work it takes to become experts on all three domains.
Blessings, Tim
Susan Mary Malone says
So very true, Tim! And I love what you’re teaching your writers.
Often writers fear that learning the craft will hamper their creativity, when the opposite is actually true. Once you have the tools to use, creativity is actually freed up. Funny how it works!
Love how you broke this down!
All Best,
Susan
Kat says
I am relatively new to the whole blogging experience. In fact, it even took me several months to convince myself that I could even manage to blog. For me, I found that since I had been away from an educational setting where writing in one form or another on a daily basis was a way of life for so long, getting back into the swing of writing seemed to be a very daunting task. Now that I have been at it for a few months, it is getting somewhat easier, but I do still have issues with staying on task for long periods of time. Even now, I can not always manage to write a blog post every single day. I can not even imagine staying focused long enough to write enough material to fill a whole book!
Susan Mary Malone says
Writing is like any muscle, Kat–the more you use it, the stronger it gets!
On the blogging side of things, I’ve found it helpful to take a day and write several posts. Writing ahead really helps me to stay on track!
Cyndi says
I really admire writers. While I am a writer for my blog I’ve never even thought about taking on the task of writing a book. I get overwhelmed just at the thought of it!
Susan Mary Malone says
If you think of writing a whole book, it is daunting, Cyndi! The trick is to take the whole-book idea out of the equation. Write a bit every day, even if it’s 500 words or so. Before you know it, a book appears!
Trish Delgado says
I do not write books but as a blogger I get writer’s block for content quite often and these tips pertain to us all.
Susan Mary Malone says
Glad they help, Trish! Blog on!
Nayrha says
I often have this issue, and I’m constantly pulling my hair out to finish what I’m working on. I never ever start a new project before finishing the first because I’m a habit former by nature and I’ll just have a ton of unfinished projects or writings if I do that. But I do wish I didn’t have to get so stressed out when I’m faced with writer’s block. It really is taxing. Great post!
Susan Mary Malone says
I hear you on finishing one writing project before going on to another–I’d have pieces all over the place too! But often you can foil writer’s block by just writing something else–even if you never use it. That gets your creative juices going again and then you can tackle the big project.