Seeking Illusive Inspiration

Beginning writers make the mistake of waiting around to be inspired. While inspiration plays an important part in writing, it isn’t the most important part of writing. Inspiration is the result of accidental stimuli. To be truly inspired, you need to be prepared for when that happens.

This preparation comes through experience and observations. Everything you’ve done up to the moment will prepare you to be inspired. At times you may feel as if you’ve fallen into a void. The world continues to spin around you, but nothing seems to grab you. Perhaps you’ve gone into sensual overload. You’ve absorbed so much using your senses, that you can’t seem to see how any particular thing can help you in your writing.  That’s the reason that many writers feel the need to get away—to go to some exotic place to find new ideas.

Did you ever wonder where the idea of a writer going to stay in a cabin in the woods came from?
Henry David Thoreau not only went to stay in one, he built it. This so impressed the reading public that beginning writers from then on thought that they needed to do something similar in order to be inspired.

Robert Louis Stevenson came over to America from Scotland, then traveled to Monterrey, California. While he was there, he didn’t write a word. Instead, he just took it all in—the magnificent coastal scenery, the Spanish missions, and the legends he heard while visiting local watering holes. And even though he didn’t make any notes, all this got his imagination going, enabling him to eventually write his now famous novel Treasure Island.

If you try to be inspired, nothing will happen.

And, no, you don’t have to go somewhere exotic to be inspired. Under the right circumstances, inspiration can strike you in your own backyard. California Writer Armistead Maupin used to go shopping at his local Safeway Supermarket on Thursday nights—singles’ night—and while there he met some unique people in the produce aisle. These became his characters in Tales of the City, first published as a newspaper serial starting on August 8, 1974, in a Marin County newspaper, The Pacific Sun, picked up in 1976 by the San Francisco Chronicle, and later reworked into the series of highly successful books about the 1970s in San Francisco. So something as commonplace as a weekly trip to the supermarket can provide fodder for future work.

This shows that inspiration can strike at the least likely of times and in the least likely of places. It will strike you when you least expect it, when your guard is down. As a writer, you need to be aware of when this happens so that you can take advantage of it. That doesn’t mean you must rush to your computer and start frantically writing before the inspiration disappears. Instead, you should get in the habit of writing down some snippets of ideas as they come to you in the moment of inspiration. Carry a small notebook with you or jot down some brief notes on a scrap of paper or a napkin. But get it down before you forget it.

To be inspired, you have to be in the right frame of mind. If you’re trying to come up with an idea, your mind will block up. But if you just observe and enjoy, the world around you will provide you with lots of ideas and your imagination will soar.

Say Yes to Opportunity

As a writer you have to recognize when opportunity comes a knocking. And to take advantage of publishing opportunities, you have to be prepared.
   
One way to be prepared is to increase your knowledge about a subject in which you're interested. With more in-depth knowledge you’ll be able to gain insight into situations that you may choose to write about. Plus, in-depth knowledge usually leads to details that you wouldn’t have learned about earlier. These will make your writing unique and interesting, as well as open up further writing opportunities.

Opportunity may come from something a friend tells you, or perhaps you’ll overhear something while eating in a restaurant. Normally, you might not consider either important. But with a little background knowledge, you may pay closer attention to these suggestions. Avoid thinking negatively. Instead, ask yourself, “What if?”

You might feel an impulse to do something new. While routine is a good thing, it can lead to complacency. Trying a new sport, a new route for your daily walk, even reading a new type of book will alter your brain patterns enough to make you think of new ideas.

Too many writers stick with one type of subject matter or writing genre. Sometimes it helps to not only read material from another genre but to try writing it as well. This is especially useful when combating writer’s block. Getting away from your regular work can be a good thing.

Get out and experience life. You don’t have to climb mountains or ride the rapids. You may find a new outlook and new material by just going to a different supermarket. Armistead Maupin started going to a Safeway Market on Thursday evenings. He went there to buy groceries and because it was single’s night at the market. He discovered a whole side of life that he didn’t know existed and started writing about it in his column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Eventually, that turned into three novels and went on to become a hit TV mini-series, "Tales of the City." Now that was a profitable opportunity.

But if you choose to be more adventurous, make sure your body is in good enough shape to handle the extra workout. Who knows. You may just have a life-changing experience. For example, one writer started out on a week-long horse-trekking expedition in the far reaches of Yellowstone National Park. At first it seemed like any other trail ride, albeit longer and more strenuous. But as the trek climbed higher and higher, the challenges got greater and greater. Sides of those on the trek that had remained hidden began to appear. And it wasn’t their good sides. How that trek changed not only the writer but the people he traveled with became material for future articles. One that he never would have thought to write before the trek—an article on the horrendous impact of the 1988 Yellowstone wildfires—came about because he rode through the area and saw what devastation it had caused. Another article looked into what to look for in an outfitter due to problems with the one used on the trek.

And don’t forget marketing opportunities. Keeping abreast of the publishing industry will help you to recognize when certain subjects become popular or vice versa. Some writers only focus on what they’re writing, not whether there’s a market for it.

Perhaps you’ve been writing about a particular subject for a while but can’t seem to get published.  That could be because no one was interested in it at the time. But then something happens and the media is all over it. Take the situation with Russia and the Crimea for example. Has this sort of thing ever happened before? Remember the Crimean War from history class. You probably weren’t listening that day. Or Hitler’s takeover of Poland in World War II.

So if you can, take a hint from Mastercard, paraphrasing its slogan, and “Master the opportunities.”