Or perhaps just words…without the wisdom. But if your goal is to write a sweet paranormal romance or paranormal cozy mysteries or your journal entry for the day or your grocery list, you do have to actually sit down and write it. Sometimes that’s hard. A fact Goodreads in all it’s wisdom has recognized, because it’s one of their standard questions for GR authors.
Goodreads Question: How do you get inspired to write?
My incredibly wisdom-filled response…
Sit down and do it = ) If I waited for inspiration, I’d write less. A lot less. When inspiration strikes–in the form of conversation snips, character names, story ideas, or series concepts–I write them down, but mostly I write based on a schedule.
When I’m not feeling the sweetness of writerly love, I plant my bum and make myself write for a certain period of time. If I’m not on a roll after the allocated time has elapsed, I stop and do something else. And then rinse and repeat.
But I’ve spoken with a lot of writers, and many have different recommendations. You have to find what works for you. A few that have worked for myself and others:
-Pick your most productive hours in the day and always schedule time to write at that time of day. If you don’t have the luxury of setting your own schedule, then at least schedule the time–preferably when the fewest distractions are present.
-Write to a deadline. Some people work better under pressure.
-Create a “starting to write” ritual. Prepare coffee, clean off desk, retrieve laptop from recesses of house, dance a lucky jig, write. Or, you know, whatever works. But do the same thing over and over so your writer brain starts to kick in when you follow those steps. I have a blog post on this somewhere where I compare writing to running a trailing dog. Will link if I can find it. (Written by my other pen Kate Baray.)
-Pick stories you actually want to tell.
Most importantly, don’t wait for inspiration. Hunt it down, sucker punch it, and then sit on it so it doesn’t run away.
And that was basically my Goodreads response. Like how I switched inspiration to motivation? Because really, if we all sat around waiting for inspiration…hm, no books? fewer books? less awesome books? I’m not sure, but I am sure it wouldn’t be good.
Till next time! ~Cate
