by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
What is inspiration? I don’t think ‘inspiration’ is synonymous with ‘ideas’. I get ideas and don’t feel necessarily inspired.
To me, inspiration is more of that creative rush or creative energy and passion. It’s being in the zone and writing until your wrists and hands are numb or sore. It’s trying to jot down a tsunami of ideas or even a whole plot before it disappears into the far reaches of your brain.
I rarely write while feeling inspired. When I write, I usually feel as though I’m working very hard at it. But the end result still works out…there’s still life in my words and in my characters. The dialogue can even still be funny (I write humorous mysteries), even if I’m not ‘feeling it.’
I think the whole concept of the muse does something of a disservice to writers. It may make writers feel as though they need to write when inspiration strikes instead of simply making time every day/week to make progress on their stories, regardless of how they’re feeling.Continue reading