Hit me With the Magic Inspiration Stick: How to Find Inspiration
So you want to be a writer. You envision yourself sitting happily in some artistically sparse garret with piles of faded and creased classics all around you, tapping out the next best-seller on your 1939 Underwood typewriters, smoking a cigarette and staring out the window at the bustle of Parisian life below you. Perhaps you have more modern aspirations, spending your days in a stark, Ikea-furnished apartment, whipping out snarky advice columns or whip-smart TV episodes. Maybe you're a romantic, and you want long, leisurely days of drinking chamomile tea and petting your orange tabby between typing up scenes about Eduardo and his throbbing loins. Maybe you're not even sure yet, but what you do know is that you want to be a writer.
The only problem is... you can't think of anything to write about.
Some people will tell you that if you don't have a constant upwelling of inner mystic idea-water, well then. You are clearly not meant to be a writer. Why don't you try something a little less mentally taxing, like being a Sandwich Engineering Specialist at Subway?
Horsefeathers. Every writer, at one point or another, struggles with finding inspiration. Whether it be just lacking an idea to start the next project, or having an idea and not being sure how to approach it, it is the bane of every artistic person that, occasionally, the muse is throwing a pissy little snot-fit and won't co-operate. This is why we do not trust the muse. We do not like it. It is a pain in our writerly butts, and the only way to outsmart its fickle games is through sheer dogged determination.
Here are four ways that I have found to circumvent the pesky muse:
1. Write something every day.
It doesn't have to be brilliant. It doesn't even have to be coherent. All that matters here is showing up. Put your fingers on the keyboard or on the pen, and make words. I don't care if you write "I hate this" fifty times, or "Writer's block" followed by a long string of profanity. This part is just about making words, about getting used to creating a space in your day for writing. This idea is partly taken from the idea of morning pages found in Julia Cameron's excellent The Complete Artist's Way, and it is partly my own experience. I don't think this necessarily has to happen first thing in the morning the way Cameron advises; it can fit in wherever you need it. Write ideas, song lyrics, bad poetry. Write snippets of conversation. Write your hopes and fears, what you dreamed about last night, the old friend you saw at the grocery store. Authors are writers who are published, but writers are just people who write. You want to be a writer? Write. Every day.
2. Turn off Editor Brain.
The muse is flighty, yes, but she is also easily scared off by your big, angry, terrifying editor brain. We all have it. You know the one; it may have the voice of your mother, or your high school English teacher who said you couldn't write, or your great-aunt who always asks you why you don't have a "real" major/job/dream/life. This is the voice of negativity, self-doubt, disappointment, and fear. This voice tells you that your new idea is too much like that book you read when you were seven, and no one is going to buy your protagonist, and who do you think you are acting like the final word on cheese souffle? Julia Child is rolling over in her grave. This voice is, more often than not, the cause of both a lack of inspiration and of writer's block; it's taking the ideas and passion you do have and telling you they are stupid and lame and will never work. Take a minute and listen to Editor Brain. Imagine it like talking to an ornery, opinionated relative: nod politely, acknowledge all the excellent points he's making, and then walk away and tune him out completely. Editor Brain is a coward; he creates nothing, does nothing of his own. All he can do is tear down the parts of you that are productive. That is his only power. Take that away from him, and he's nothing.
3. Learn to See.
It's easy to get into a rut in life. You live life the same way every day, and your routine can become your prison. How can you get new ideas when you aren't doing anything new, aren't experiencing anything you haven't experienced before? Now, I'm not saying to quit your job and become a skydiving instructor in the Himalayas (although that would be interesting and new!) But you can shake up your view of the world without changing much at all. Take a different route to school or work; take the bus. Walk if you normally drive. Bike. Stop and smell the roses, literally! Take a moment--and it really does take only a moment--to really see the world around you. Notice the quality of the light, the way it hits the trees in the late afternoon with a Midas touch. Take note of how the smell of the air changes throughout the day. Watch how a crumpled sheet of newspaper skitters down a city sidewalk like a tumbleweed. My personal favorite source of inspiration and entertainment is, of course, people. Watch the people around you. Notice how your boss has a coffee stain the shape of Africa on his blue tie. Realize that the woman you've been sitting next to in class for three months has one blue eye and one brown. Look at beautiful people, at ugly people, at interesting people, at boring people. Notice the way they talk and where they rest their eyes. Notice what they're noticing. Fall in love with the world around you; treat it with the careful attention and affection that a lover would. Listen to the wind that taps the branches of the oak tree against your bedroom window. Listen to the cars on the freeway. Open your eyes. Pay attention. Everything is here in front of you--everything you could ever hope to write about or imagine is stretched out here, encompassed in the human experience.
4. Be a Blatant Plagiarist.
Ok, I don't literally mean you should plagiarize. Except, I do, a little bit. Let me explain before you get all huffy on me, though. Think about learning to draw, or knit, or sing, or any other creative pursuit. How do you get started? By copying other people. You might trace or copy a picture you like, or follow a knitting pattern, or sing along with songs on your iPod. This is where it begins--emulation. You have to learn the lines, the forms, the rules; you have to know where other people have been, before you know where you want to go. So read. Watch good movies. Pay attention to snappy dialogue in a TV show, or the way a fight is choreographed on stage in a play. Take elements you like and try to copy them. Try to write a paragraph, or a page, or a chapter, in the tone of a writer you enjoy reading. The caveat is that this isn't the stuff you show anyone. No matter how brilliant you may find your tracings, don't try to display them at a museum or sell them to collectors. These are learning devices, for your benefit.
Now, it sometimes happens that, while you are gathering things to copy, something you see or read will give you your own idea. That would be the hope, after all. Don't feel like you can't use an idea just because it was inspired by someone else's work! That's what art is there for, at least in part: to inspire thought, to inspire more art.
Of course, if you happen to be reading Twilight and are suddenly struck by the idea to write a vampire love story starring a girl named Becca and a boy named Eduardo, that's not going to fly. Make sure it really is your idea-- a fresh take on a theme you've encountered, or the perspective of a minor, easily re-imagined character, or a different direction to go with a similar story.
Finally, don't just sit around and wait for inspiration. You're wasting valuable writing time! Get out there, experience some life. Read a book. Google story prompts. Read a blog. The muse may never hit you with her Magic Inspiration Stick, but you'll be too busy with all the ideas you find around you to care.
Happy Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
The only problem is... you can't think of anything to write about.
Some people will tell you that if you don't have a constant upwelling of inner mystic idea-water, well then. You are clearly not meant to be a writer. Why don't you try something a little less mentally taxing, like being a Sandwich Engineering Specialist at Subway?
Horsefeathers. Every writer, at one point or another, struggles with finding inspiration. Whether it be just lacking an idea to start the next project, or having an idea and not being sure how to approach it, it is the bane of every artistic person that, occasionally, the muse is throwing a pissy little snot-fit and won't co-operate. This is why we do not trust the muse. We do not like it. It is a pain in our writerly butts, and the only way to outsmart its fickle games is through sheer dogged determination.
Here are four ways that I have found to circumvent the pesky muse:
1. Write something every day.
It doesn't have to be brilliant. It doesn't even have to be coherent. All that matters here is showing up. Put your fingers on the keyboard or on the pen, and make words. I don't care if you write "I hate this" fifty times, or "Writer's block" followed by a long string of profanity. This part is just about making words, about getting used to creating a space in your day for writing. This idea is partly taken from the idea of morning pages found in Julia Cameron's excellent The Complete Artist's Way, and it is partly my own experience. I don't think this necessarily has to happen first thing in the morning the way Cameron advises; it can fit in wherever you need it. Write ideas, song lyrics, bad poetry. Write snippets of conversation. Write your hopes and fears, what you dreamed about last night, the old friend you saw at the grocery store. Authors are writers who are published, but writers are just people who write. You want to be a writer? Write. Every day.
2. Turn off Editor Brain.
The muse is flighty, yes, but she is also easily scared off by your big, angry, terrifying editor brain. We all have it. You know the one; it may have the voice of your mother, or your high school English teacher who said you couldn't write, or your great-aunt who always asks you why you don't have a "real" major/job/dream/life. This is the voice of negativity, self-doubt, disappointment, and fear. This voice tells you that your new idea is too much like that book you read when you were seven, and no one is going to buy your protagonist, and who do you think you are acting like the final word on cheese souffle? Julia Child is rolling over in her grave. This voice is, more often than not, the cause of both a lack of inspiration and of writer's block; it's taking the ideas and passion you do have and telling you they are stupid and lame and will never work. Take a minute and listen to Editor Brain. Imagine it like talking to an ornery, opinionated relative: nod politely, acknowledge all the excellent points he's making, and then walk away and tune him out completely. Editor Brain is a coward; he creates nothing, does nothing of his own. All he can do is tear down the parts of you that are productive. That is his only power. Take that away from him, and he's nothing.
3. Learn to See.
It's easy to get into a rut in life. You live life the same way every day, and your routine can become your prison. How can you get new ideas when you aren't doing anything new, aren't experiencing anything you haven't experienced before? Now, I'm not saying to quit your job and become a skydiving instructor in the Himalayas (although that would be interesting and new!) But you can shake up your view of the world without changing much at all. Take a different route to school or work; take the bus. Walk if you normally drive. Bike. Stop and smell the roses, literally! Take a moment--and it really does take only a moment--to really see the world around you. Notice the quality of the light, the way it hits the trees in the late afternoon with a Midas touch. Take note of how the smell of the air changes throughout the day. Watch how a crumpled sheet of newspaper skitters down a city sidewalk like a tumbleweed. My personal favorite source of inspiration and entertainment is, of course, people. Watch the people around you. Notice how your boss has a coffee stain the shape of Africa on his blue tie. Realize that the woman you've been sitting next to in class for three months has one blue eye and one brown. Look at beautiful people, at ugly people, at interesting people, at boring people. Notice the way they talk and where they rest their eyes. Notice what they're noticing. Fall in love with the world around you; treat it with the careful attention and affection that a lover would. Listen to the wind that taps the branches of the oak tree against your bedroom window. Listen to the cars on the freeway. Open your eyes. Pay attention. Everything is here in front of you--everything you could ever hope to write about or imagine is stretched out here, encompassed in the human experience.
4. Be a Blatant Plagiarist.
Ok, I don't literally mean you should plagiarize. Except, I do, a little bit. Let me explain before you get all huffy on me, though. Think about learning to draw, or knit, or sing, or any other creative pursuit. How do you get started? By copying other people. You might trace or copy a picture you like, or follow a knitting pattern, or sing along with songs on your iPod. This is where it begins--emulation. You have to learn the lines, the forms, the rules; you have to know where other people have been, before you know where you want to go. So read. Watch good movies. Pay attention to snappy dialogue in a TV show, or the way a fight is choreographed on stage in a play. Take elements you like and try to copy them. Try to write a paragraph, or a page, or a chapter, in the tone of a writer you enjoy reading. The caveat is that this isn't the stuff you show anyone. No matter how brilliant you may find your tracings, don't try to display them at a museum or sell them to collectors. These are learning devices, for your benefit.
Now, it sometimes happens that, while you are gathering things to copy, something you see or read will give you your own idea. That would be the hope, after all. Don't feel like you can't use an idea just because it was inspired by someone else's work! That's what art is there for, at least in part: to inspire thought, to inspire more art.
Of course, if you happen to be reading Twilight and are suddenly struck by the idea to write a vampire love story starring a girl named Becca and a boy named Eduardo, that's not going to fly. Make sure it really is your idea-- a fresh take on a theme you've encountered, or the perspective of a minor, easily re-imagined character, or a different direction to go with a similar story.
Finally, don't just sit around and wait for inspiration. You're wasting valuable writing time! Get out there, experience some life. Read a book. Google story prompts. Read a blog. The muse may never hit you with her Magic Inspiration Stick, but you'll be too busy with all the ideas you find around you to care.
Happy Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING!!! Also excellent advice!!! Thank you so much!!
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! Keep up the good work
ReplyDelete