More on Chasing Inspiration: Excerpt from my book: A Friendly Guide to Writing and Ghostwriting
If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re a waiter, not a writer.
- - - Dan Poynter
I like to live by the Boy Scout motto, Be Prepared. If you want to be a writer, I suggest that you have your smart phone or a pen and paper (old school) with you at all times so you can record or jot down your thoughts and ideas. You just never know where or when the muse will show up. She might visit you in the shower, in line at the post office, or in the middle of the night when you're sound asleep. If she shows up at the computer when you’re about to get to work, it’s a very good day.
When Pablo Picasso was boarding an airplane in Spain, he dreaded flying and he was in a really bad mood when he took his seat, grousing at everyone and pouting like a child. Once he was in the air, he gazed out the window and he was astonished to see the clouds and the earth below appearing in cubic formations. This was his inspiration for his “Cubism” period. Even Picasso was unable to predict when the muse would come but when she did, he recognized her.
Have you ever been attracted to someone who was “not your type?” Inspiration often takes a form that you weren’t expecting so you need to stay alert. A writer friend of mine was inconsolable after he read the highly lauded William Styron novel, Sophie’s Choice. The story line was so wrenching, the characters, the dialogue and the politics so authentic, he was too intimidated to face the blank page. He felt like it was a waste of time to even try. When I encouraged him to use the book for inspiration and give it a go, he said, “Why bother? Styron just did it perfectly. What’s left to say? The last thing the world needs is one more bad book cluttering the marketplace.”
My friend denied himself the opportunity to utilize something wonderful, a book he admired, to inspire and catapult him into the next phase of his own greatness. All he could do was compare himself to someone else and decide that he came up short. That’s when inspiration becomes a no-show.
When you witness a powerful performance, view a masterful sculpture, listen to a symphony or read a good book, you have choices:
• You can ignore the great work altogether. It has nothing to do with you and it’s way beyond your reach.
• You can listen to your inner critic belittling and discouraging you until you vow never to try again. Nothing banishes inspiration faster than self-judgment.
Or:
• You can revel in the magnificence of someone else’s art, the power of the music, the flow of the words and use it all for inspiration. If they did it, why can’t you?
Art is not about competition. I’m not suggesting you try to copy what someone else is doing. That’s impossible because each of us is unique and so is our artistic expression. We each have our own style and our own reason to write. But have you ever wondered what yours is? Why did you choose your particular topic? Are you aching to express yourself on the page, to speak your mind about who you truly are and what you believe? Or are you writing for acclaim? To get attention? To please someone? To get famous?
We all want success, recognition and a good payday, but writing exists in a whole other realm. You may like what you wrote, think that it’s exceptional and expect other people to love it, too, but you can’t predict what will resonate with the masses and make them feel what you felt when you were writing. There is no definitive fame or money-making formula. All you can do is be yourself on the page, completely and unapologetically, and hopefully you’ll touch the hearts of other people along the way.
This ancient story about a flute player demonstrates that sentiment:
A woman was walking through a forest when she came upon a young man sitting in a small clearing, his eyes closed, playing a wooden flute. A group of people sat in a semi-circle around him and she joined them. When he was finished, they all clapped and cheered, begging him to continue.
“Your music is mesmerizing,” the woman said. “Where do you get your inspiration?”
“I play for the people sitting here,” he said. “When they like what they hear, I feel happy.”
“But who taught you to play?” she asked. “Surely someone introduced you to the magic that you’re creating.”
“Follow me,” he said.
He led her along a riverbank, they climbed a steep hill and walked along a muddy trail until a haunting sound filled the air. A lone figure was sitting on a grassy knoll, legs crossed, playing a flute. When he was through, he sat in silence, his eyes closed.
The woman had tears in her eyes. “Is that your teacher?” she asked her guide. “Your music is beautiful, but his is the voice of the angels. How does he do it?”
“I look to other people for approval,” said her guide. “My teacher doesn't care what anyone else thinks. He plays only for himself.”
Friends can listen to you, family can encourage you, but no one can get inside your head and figure out what you want to say or how you want to say it. It's up to you to express yourself in your own way.
About a year ago, I had lost my keys in my house one day. I looked everywhere and I couldn’t find them. I called a friend to tell her how frustrated I was and she said to let go, relax, and let them find me. I sat on the couch, I exhaled and felt something prodding my back. There they were. The keys had fallen out of my purse when I was looking for something and they’d dropped into the folds of the couch cover.
When I write and I can’t find inspiration, I think about the prodigal keys. I exhale, I keep on trying until I break through and there she is, on the other side. If you feel like you're up against the wall, feeling isolated, confused, and uncertain how to point yourself in the right direction, instead of chasing inspiration, get to work and let inspiration find you.