Inspiration

In studying writing, and in looking at my own experience, I’ve found that the concept of inspiration sounds more important, and more difficult to achieve, than it really is.

As a teacher, I am constantly required to create and adapt lessons.  

Believe me, I don’t always feel inspired to write a lesson.  I write it because I have to; the class is going to happen, and I need a plan.  I don’t want to be caught unprepared.  (Also, I don’t want to make excuses to my bosses.)

Sometimes, I am stuck (pressed for time, or just unsure of how to approach a lesson).  When that happens, I borrow a lesson plan from someone else, or purchase pre-made lesson materials sold by other teachers.  That’s so helpful, even if I don’t use the plan exactly the same way another teacher did.  It gives me ideas, and yes, inspiration.  Then I am unstuck, and I can forge ahead.

I got through my graduate teaching program in a similar way.  We were expected to write many papers, and sometimes I didn’t feel very inspired.  I felt stuck then, too.

To get started, I would promise myself that I could write an awful paper, as messy and as quickly as possible.  Then I could clean it up later.

“It’s OK,” I would tell myself, “just write a bad paper for now, and figure it out later before turning it in.”  Since I had a paper due most weeks, I had this talk with myself rather frequently.

What happened was that, usually, the actual writing part wasn’t too hard.  Once I sat down and made myself get going, I broke through and gained momentum.  I got it done.

The results weren’t too bad, either.  I could do some proof-reading and editing, and turn in a decent paper.  It was always possible to create the necessary work.  

And I did that over and over again, until I successfully graduated.

But what do I do when I am working on a personal, creative project?  At home, I don’t have a boss to answer to, and I don’t have a room full of students staring at me and expecting me to do my job.  The pressure has to come from within.

The way I get inspired is just to make myself start.

I still procrastinate.  I fight against that often, but I don’t always win.  It almost never makes me feel better, and in fact, it causes stress.  That’s why I keep working to strengthen myself against procrastination.  

And it’s great when I win against procrastination, and I do the work, write the chapter, or whatever it is that needs to be done.  

Do you know when I feel better?  When I get my work done.

I should add that I do, frequently, feel inspired to write.  It’s usually caused by some random event or thought that occurs naturally during my day.

For example, I’ll be driving to work, and musing about the previous day, and I’ll think up a chapter that I should add to an upcoming project.  Or I’ll figure out how to improve something that’s been bugging me, and start making notes for an upcoming online course.

The same thing happens with my creative work and my career work.  The inspiration does not usually show up when I am trying to “get inspired.”  The inspiration sometimes shows up randomly, and if not, it shows up along the way while I’m working.

I don’t think it’s a bad sign if we creatives don’t feel inspired.  It’s just … normal.  Our feelings of creativity and our inspiration will ebb and flow.  The important thing is that we just keep creating.  

We have to decide that we don’t need inspiration to get to work.

P.S. The "messy paper" idea is included in my book, "Study Skills Survival Guide," click the title for the link.