Harnessing your Inspiration in 2014
As 2014 begins, many authors are organizing their writing tasks and making goals. Some hope to score the big book deal and maybe a movie deal. Some hope to get a few independently published works released. Some hope to push through the epic edits of 2013′s writings. And still others just hope to make it to the end of any of their works to have the chance at entertaining the thoughts of any of the previous.
My goal in 2013 was to publish two books. Instead, I published three. In March, it was the young adult sci-thriller novel, Pieces of Me. In June, it was the inspirational fiction (based on true events), The Unseen Chronicles. Finally in July, I released my lower middle grade children’s novel (book three in the Dragons Forever series), Dragons of the Deep.
Sitting on the other side of a productive year, I’m looking back on all the people and events that inspired me to push towards my goals and obtain my plans. There were moments when I had zero inspiration to create and I struggled with germinating that mustard seed of inspiration. When I found myself at a loss for words, I used these five statements to harness my inspiration on the road to creativity.
1.) Write for Five
We’re all busy people, some more than others, but if you tell yourself to Write for Five, you will coax your mustard seed to sprout. Seriously. Your five minutes will turn into ten. Then into thirty. Then you will be ordering take-out because you forgot about dinner. Start small, and do it every day. In the car. In the school pick-up line. In the dentist office waiting on your appointment. In the DMV. On your lunch break. On the train.
Commit yourself to just five minutes a day on your creative work. Write with an app on your smart phone, your tablet, a piece of paper, anything! Hold to this time, and it will do wonders for your inspiration.
2.) Write Crap.
“Wait a minute, Eisley. No. Just no. No one should write crap.”
Ahhhh, but here is where a lot of writers get completely hung up. If you give yourself permission to write crap, you are still writing. Crap can be edited; blank pages cannot. If you can push through the crap, inspiration will follow.
In almost all of my current works, a moment occurred in the original manuscript where I hit writers road block. You know, where you stare at the computer screen or blank sheet of paper, and you just don’t know what to write? This statement eliminates such a block because I’m allowing myself to write crap.
For example, in PIECES OF ME, I was totally coming up with a blank while writing a car chase. I sat there for a few minutes, drool starting down my chin, wondering how on earth this scene was going to play out. Then I remembered, CRAP!
Perfect.
Instead of writing that scene, I worte:[EPIC CAR CHASE HERE-- EDIT], then I moved on. In doing this, that particular scene was now out of my head, and I could move through the countryside to keep with the pace of my heart and the action. Weeks later, when I was stealing my five minutes, I decided to write the car chase, and it was awesome. I had the perfect inspiration (as I’d just watched a thrilling action flick) and knew I could do this scene justice. And I did, all because I gave myself permission to write crap.
3.) Like Minds, Like Goals.
Surround yourself with positive, like-minded, creative people, people who are pressing forward with their plans and goals and positively promising that their 2014 will be epic. On days that you feel down in the dirt and struggle to even write your five minutes, go to your like-minded friend and tell them. If they have like goals, they will undoubtedly become the positive inspiration you need to get your rear in gear and put your words down on paper. They may even remind you to write crap or at least remind you that you’ve been given permission.
If you struggle at finding like minds, I suggest you join a local writers group and get an accountability partner for your writing. Use websites like Meet-Up, or search online for writers groups in your area, or join an association of writers. Google “Writers Associations” and check out one in your area. Connecting with real people with like minds is a phenomenal tool!
4.) Write it Down
Some authors struggle with too much inspiration. Their minds are going in several hundred directions all at once, and they can’t seem to focus on just one. Often, I’ve had inspiration hit for a new story smack dab in the middle of another creative project. Instead of dwelling on this idea, I simply write it down and file it in a folder on my computer, tablet, or smartphone (all synched with Dropbox). Then the idea is free to roam about the country (not around my head) until I’m ready to deal with it. This idea seems so simple, but it’s so profound because when I actually write it down, it really does free up my mind to stay in this creative universe and not wander.
If I’m in the middle of working and have an inspiration for my current work, I affix sticky notes to my desk. That way my mind can efficiently focus on the job that pays the bills, and I’m in no worry that I’ll forget whatever it was I had the idea for. Once my work is complete, I have these wonderfully colorful reminders of the things I need to incorporate in my WIP.
If you don’t work from home like I do, this might be a little off-putting to your co-workers if you write crime-fiction. I suggest you use a notebook you can close and hide away at a moment’s notice.
5.) Stop. Drop. And Read.
When you struggle with a scene or character in your creative work for more than twenty-four hours, might I suggest that you stop writing and start reading? Find a book in your creative genre and read it. Then read another. Read often.
When you read others’ inspired works, you too will be inspired. You aren’t reading to gain insights on for your own work or lift ideas from their pages into yours. You are simply allowing your mind a brief rest before diving back into your own world. Often, others’ works can inspire ideas totally unrelated to their novel, but because you’ve allowed your mind a small break, it all becomes clear, and you’re able to fully flesh out the idea you’d been stuck on.
If you challenge yourself to use these five inspirational statements, it will be almost impossible for you to hit the proverbial writer’s block. Instead, you’ll write around it and harness your inspiration on the road to creativity. Try it for a month. Write down these five simple statements, affix them to somewhere in your workspace, and allow yourself to harness your inspiration in 2014. I venture to say your readers will thank you.
Original post was seen on MariLyn Almodovar’s blog a couple weeks ago and I thought I would mirror it here are for my readers. To see the original post, click here.
No related posts.
