Inspiration

Hello, Blog Universe! I'm back.

Actually, I didn't intend to take off the entire month of June which I basically did. When I returned from Italy, I found so much writing work waiting for me. Between fulfilling all the contracts offered and trying to get a couple of pages on my mystery done each day, I just didn't have the energy or brain power to blog.

Today is the first day of a new month, and it's a great day to return to blogging.

Since it's Sunday, let's get back on track with my first of the week inspiration, a quotation from Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate of the United States.

"If you wait for inspiration, inspiration's going to go away and look for more fertile ground to work with."

Now, if you are an aspiring writer, chances are you view writing as something done when the "muse" is communing with you. There's something you don't know that professional writers do. Inspiration comes to those who write consistently, every day.

Professional writers don't wait for inspiration before hitting the keyboard. We know that the part of the brain that spews words is like an old-fashioned water pump. If you don't know how one of those water pumps work, let me enlighten you.

The pump has a long, cast iron handle. You pump the handle up and down vigorously. After a few seconds of pumping, water spurts out - unless the pump hasn't been used in a long time. If the pump isn't used regularly, you may have to pump and pump until your arm muscles scream in protest and you're out of breath. It takes a long time for that water to spurt out. Sometimes, you even have to prime the pump by pouring water into it in order for it to start pumping water out again.

That's how writing works. When you write every day, it's easy to get that outpouring of words. But, if you write every now and then, when inspired, it takes a lot longer to get the words flowing. Many professional writers leave nothing to chance. They prime the pump every day by leaving a dangling thread that can easily be picked up the next day. They also may prime the pump by reading over what they wrote the previous day, editing it a bit, and then diving into the current day's writing.

Sometimes, writers who don't write regularly have a difficult time getting the words to flow. Sometimes the flow is less than a drizzle, only a drip or two. If they give up then, it's even harder the next day. Sometimes if they don't persist and keep pumping that handle and priming that pump, the flow dries up completely. The longer they go without producing a flow of words, the harder it gets to squeeze a word out.
That's when a writer says they have writer's block.

I dont' think I've ever heard of a daily working writer with writer's block.

"If you wait for inspiration, inspiration's going to go away and look for more fertile ground to work with."