Taming Inspiration

- by ria, on Wednesday, 8th December 2010, 6:36pm

I was reading an article about creating articles recently, where the writer said he can only write when he’s inspired. He gets an idea and if he doesn’t go with it straight away it fizzles and he stops working on it. He said he’s so driven by this wave of inspiration that if he stops in the middle, he can’t continue when he gets back to it because the inspiration is gone.

I completely understand where he is coming from, but I don’t agree with him. I used to be like him, waiting for inspiration and once it hit, sitting down for a 7 /8 / 12 hour stretch to try to get the whole story (or drawing, it used happen a lot with drawings) done before I had to stop working on it for the night. Usually if I didn’t get the piece finished by then, it never got finished. I get the impression a lot of young writers work this way.

The bad news: it doesn’t work. If you want to write a novel, you have to be able to take the inspiration and tame it so that you can use it whenever you need it. You must be able to draw that creative / excited energy out for the entire length of writing the novel, which could be a year or more. Any published author will tell you that writing a novel takes persistence and a strict schedule more than inspiration. That flash of brilliance is just enough to get you started, it’s up to you to take up the idea and carry it through to completion.

‘But how do I do that?’ you ask. Self-discipline, a good writing schedule and deep understanding of your story and characters helps. Really, you are the only one who can answer the question. I guess you need to ask yourself how much your story means to you, how strong is your desire to finish it. For me, I want to be a writer. I’ve wanted it for a long, long time. That need to be published is what keeps me going; you have to figure out what drives you, and use that to push yourself along when the inspiration wears off.

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category: thoughts, writing

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Adventures in Book Binding Part 2

- by ria, on Wednesday, 8th September 2010, 4:37pm

As I write this, I have glue stuck to the tops of my fingers and cotton wool stuck to that.  I did the cotton wool thing on purpose so my fingers wouldn’t stick to the keyboard. Anyway.

I may have left off on a bad note last week, but fear not. All turned out well the next day. As with stories, home-publishing seems to need more than one draft before things work out. Book binder draft2 worked. I am in the process of binding a copy of my book right now. So, this is going to be a bit of a revelatory post. A revelation for me, that is. One that I’m going to share with you now.

I think I have been drawn into the idea that I am helpless. Marketing and advertising tells me how I should be, so I get to wanting to be that way. This suits the companies who own the marketing and advertising departments, but it’s not really best for me. I am losing my creativity to ideas that aren’t mine. I may think I am a writer, I am one of the most creative people in the world. Yes, and I am also just like everyone else. If I need something, the first thing I think is, “where can I buy this.”

Thankfully, I don’t have a lot of money, so purchases tend to be things that are necessities. Most everything else I can do without. Or I can make for myself. Like my book binder. I used things I found around the house to make it. Old bits of shelving we weren’t using, an old drawer. Even my tools were other implements pushed into service as tools. A pen knife as saw, peeler as planer, paint from an old tin that’s been lying around for ages.

Ok, this post has gone completely off topic, but what I’m trying to say is: don’t let the world stop you getting what you want. You are creative, so be creative. Let your imagination help you when it can. Last Wednesday, my binder wasn’t working out for me. Last Thursday I tried again, a different way, a way that worked. Today, I printed draft 3 of my novel and glued the spine. Tomorrow I will have a bound book.

I think you have to have the same sort of persistence when it comes to writing. If something isn’t working, just try again a different way.

And to give you an idea of how my binder turned out, here’s a photo:


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category: publishing

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