Write, Don't Wait for Inspiration
Let's move beyond this idea of a separate realm of artistic inspiration
So the other day Robert Towne, writer of Chinatown and other well-regarded film scripts, died. His obituary in The Guardian ended with this quote: “I’ve identified fishing with writing in my mind… because you think: ‘God damn it, nothing – not a bite today. Nothing is happening.’”
Then I was looking up something and came across this piece about writer Rachel Kushner where she is asked how to get into the “trance-like state” where as a writer, she can “notice something that nobody else might” and that “most days it’s a bust, but some days it isn’t.”
The inspiration of the muses
It struck me that these are two examples of the idea that writing is dependent on opening yourself to a sort of divine inspiration that may or may not strike, and the writer is somewhat at the mercy of the gods in terms of whether they will be able to access that inspiration on any given day. It’s not too far from the old idea of waiting for the muses to drop an idea into your head, and if the muses aren’t feeling it that day, why, you’re just plain out of luck.
Writing as working process
I might have felt that way at some point, but through my actual writing I have gotten beyond that and developed a process that allows me to keep working and remain productive without having to rely on the fickle touch of divine inspiration.
I should also preface this by saying that Towne wrote a screenplay considered by many to be the best of all time and Kushner went to Harvard and was published, while I am the writer of a self-published series retelling the medieval Arthurian legends that is not selling in the millions (but adored by my readers!), so let us acknowledge that before you consider my advice.
Get something down
I’m now of the firm belief that if you get something down on the page, you then have something to work with. Even if it’s awful, you can improve it or know what you don’t want. If you have nothing, you have nothing to work with, and are in that state of waiting for the divine inspiration to strike, which leads quickly into anxiety, self-recrimination about not being smart or worthy enough, compounding of terror about not being able to produce and eventually leaving to get coffee or watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan for the 43rd time.
If you have something down, you might say it’s awful (or you might say it’s pretty good!) but you are in control, and you’re not in that state where you’re saying “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I access inspiration? It’s because I don’t eat organic and drink green tea!”
That’s it. I don’t want this to be too long. All I wanted to say is let’s move past this conception of divine inspiration where the gods take a dump in your head because it’s not helping you or anyone.
