Inspiration is like love. You don’t get it by pursuing it directly. In fact, there’s a name for people who pursue love too directly: stalker. In less extreme cases, the words we use are almost as bad: cloying, inappropriate, desperate. And sadly, this behavior prompts the opposite of what it desires. It prompts a pulling back. It’s the same with inspiration. If you try to take the shortcut and win people over purely with your charisma, you may succeed for a moment or two, but soon you’ll be found out, and the audience will flee.
