When I didn’t write, I used to say I was waiting for inspiration. Which in turn meant that I really didn’t write a lot. It was just an excuse. I was procrastinating because I was waiting to be brilliant. But it doesn’t work that way. If you want to find inspiration, you need to work on your craft.
Inspiration exists but it has to find you working.
Pablo Picasso
I know we can sometimes get into a funk about writing. Even as I write this I’ve spent the last four hours “catching up” on other things.
- My emails
- Reading other blog posts
- Folding laundry
- Social Media – especially Following my Pinterest plan courtesy of the Blog Share Learn 15 Minute Pinterest Strategy.
- Searching out new places to go in the Orlando areas
- Playing games on my phone
- Feeling guilty that I’m not writing (Oh, what a time waster that one is!)
But it really is all about putting your butt in the chair or in front of the easel or craft table, etc. and actually doing some work. Even if it’s awful. Even if you’re struggling with creating fresh and new work. Just get to your workstation and start. Let inspiration find you working.
Sometimes, for me, that’s sitting on the floor with a notebook in my lap and a pen in my hand as I write paragraphs of mostly nonsense that are waiting for my editor side to make some sense of. Other times, it’s working on the laptop, piecing it all together into a post.
To keep you going, here are some of my favorite inspirational posts. Use them to motivate you or use them as a creative muse or prompt. Just use them! 🙂
The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible;
and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Francis of Assisi
Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.
Bruce Garrabrandt
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou
To practice any art no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.
Kurt Vonnegut
Creativity is a habit and the best creativity
is the result of good work habits.
Twyla Tharp
There is no science in creativity. If you don’t give yourself room to fail,
you won’t innovate.
Bob Iger
Creative thinking – in terms of idea creativity – is not a mystical talent.
It is a skill that can be practiced and nurtured.
Edward de Bono
Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.
It’s self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy.
You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.
Ray Bradbury
This morning I still have a lot of work to do, I see that it isn’t easy
and will no doubt become much more difficult, yet have
unfaltering hope that I’ll succeed, and I’m also convinced
that I’ll learn to work by working and that
my work will become better and more substantial.
Vincent Van Gogh
Hi, Jennifer – Being a “clear the decks first” kind of gal, I can relate to so much that you have written in this post. Thank you for the inspirational quotes. Many of them are new to me. It is motivating to know that others whom we greatly admire have gone through the same thing! #MLSTL
I did a previous post about writing quotes from great authors. Where they write, how they write, etc. And basically, what comes through each of their quotes is “just go and do the work, it’ll come.”
I can relate to looking for inspiration and procrastinating Jennifer. Great quotes #MLSTL Will share
Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer. I appreciate it.
I juggle a 4 day a week busy job with novel writing and can’t afford to wait for the muse. Because I do the day job from home on Fridays, my writing day, I go to a coffee shop in the morning – just to separate my creative work from my corporate work. I also maintain a notebook where any idea whether it be a newspaper article that’s taken my fancy, an occupation or a character name is jotted in. It all helps. #MLSTL
I keep a journal (actually a Moleskine) on hand to capture my day, my thoughts, my first drafts, my whatever. I like that you maintain separate spaces for the day job and the creative job.
I’m a Moleskine girl too… yeah I have to separate the two symbolically as it comes from a different part of my brain & I use the same workspace the rest of the time. Weird what we do, hey….
I used to be a corporate manager and actually kept two different Moleskines one for the corporate job and one for the blog job. You have two different spaces in your house, I used to have two different places to keep my two different types of work notes.
Lol…and absolutely yes.
Hi Jennifer – I like to be a couple of weeks ahead of myself at least with my blogging – that way if I have days when I’m feeling a bit blah about blogging I can step away from it all and do other things. I’d fail dismally if I had to put something up with nothing in my head and the stress would suck the joy right out of blogging for me. I find if something catches my eye I’ll pop it into a draft post and then flesh it out down the track – that way there’s always a few ideas simmering in the background.
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 🙂
I think I do something similar, but mine are kept in my journal. I like to draft out posts on paper first.
Hi Jennifer, I’ve started keeping a couple of notebooks around the house to jot down those random (but totally inspired!) thoughts/ideas as I go about my day. But, when I’m in the office, which is also in my home, and it’s time to hunker down and write or create a product, I turn off all the distractions and get myself in the zone. #MLSTL and shared on SM
Those are great quotes! TFS!
Thanks for stopping by, Amy.
Great quotes, Jennifer! New to me. I added the Pinterest link to my Reading list. Inspiration comes to us in various forms and at different times. I find the concept of Creativity very intriguing. Thank you for a thought-provoking post. #MLSTL
I’m glad you like the quotes. I love learning about creativity and sharing what I learn.
My best inspiration comes from “doing” nothing!
I understand “doing” nothing. But I also consider that working because you stepped away to let an idea percolate while you were doing something like dishes or walking. There’s a purpose (and work) in that process.
I think we’re all guilty of procrastinating. I’m much better at getting things done if there’s a deadline even if it’s just my husband coming home from work I spring into action.
Yes, I can work well under pressure. But I do find a pleasure in being able to work in advance.
I particularly like the first quote by Picasso. Once you’re actually working, the inspiration tends to flow.
I’ve been there! It’s amazing how many thing I can find to do when I feel I “should” be writing.