Writing Produces Inspiration

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~Jack London.

The club part of the above quote indicates a bit of work. Action. We have to step out and do, and then the inspiration follows.

Yesterday I was transplanting liriope. I’ve been putting off the project because I knew it would be, well, work. Yesterday, after a lot of lying around and napping, thus bringing my energy level to its highest, and after a lot of rain, thus bringing the ground to its softest, I attempted the job. I thought it would be pretty easy, given the conditions of both me and the ground. I usually make that same mistake with writing, too.

I now take issue with those folks who say don’t pay for liriope, simply transplant it. Next time I’m buying it in pots.

I dug the closely matted plants and chopped them into chunks. Soon my clothes were sticking to me, and perspiration ran into my eyes. But I kept at it, because once begun, I had momentum. I enjoyed the dirt in my hands, the smell of green things, and my mind had filled with the image of how great the border grass was going to look someday. The actual work grew the inspiration.

That’s the trick: write first, then inspiration comes. It may take a bit, but I have never found the principle to fail. Then the wonderful thing–the more you write, the more your inspiration works, like a muscle. Write more, up pops more ideas. The more you make writing a habit, the more inspiration becomes a habit, too.

When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us… Ideas come. Insights accrete. ~Steven Pressfield

Blessings,
CurtissAnn