Finding the Inspiration to Write
Observe and respond, look at the world around you and form an opinion. Record that opinion then challenge it, never accept the status quo and question everything.
Seek out arguments and develop a stance, understand alternative viewpoints which enable you to expansively discuss things from differing view points. Write things which juxtapose your arguments entirely, it will enable you to understand why you hold certain beliefs while simultaneously challenging them. Burn down strawmen even in your own beliefs.
Challenging deeply ingrained beliefs is hard but it lets us grow and understand. We can see why we are who we have become while reflectively reminiscing who we have been. Reflection allows us to witness our growth. We traverse the days not noticing the subtle ways in which we change. By recording things over time we can see the ways we have changed and the ways we haven’t. We can understand what is important to us today and what wasn’t yesterday. Both can inform the future we record.
Speak to people you don’t agree with, they are far more valuable than those who will brazenly agree with your beliefs. Challenge and scare yourself, open yourself up to the possibility that you are wrong. embrace the adventure while becoming cognisant of a whole new work. Everything isn’t meadows and butterflies so understand the underlying reasons why. Ask why things are the way they are and never accept that it is because that is the way things have always been. Break down preconceptions and burn long-held beliefs to the ground. The world is changing you are either riding on the crest of the wave or being downed below.
Consume content and never stop. Your mind will grow from the variety of experience. Look at the success other people have with their own writing styles and develop you own. Become distinctive and differentiate yourself. People will gravitate towards you and enjoy not just what you write but how it is conveyed. Tell stories in your own words and never try to be someone or something you are not.
Imagine every day. Write down 10 ways to change the world or 10 plot ideas or themes you want to cover or 10 words you have invented. Imagination is a muscle which can be grown if you train and exercise it. Take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere; everything can be your muse. You may see the joy on the face of a postman and develop an alternative reality or see a lost item at a bus stop and construct its back story.
Stories are all about narrative. Create a universe in which your story can operate and build a distinctive sphere in which your words live and you characters can grow. That is universally applicable regardless of whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction.
Never be afraid to share your opinion on things that matter. Your opinion colours a story. Reported journalism is devoid of personality and your works should reflect you or the mood you are trying to portray. The richness of human experience is exponentially increased by understanding feelings they can relate to. Paint a picture with your words.
Define a period where you will always be free, create a habit, block it off in your calendar. Define an hour everyday where you can escape to your own world and just write; clear you mind and focus. For me this hour is at a time where I know nobody will get in the way and i wont be distracted. I get it out of the way before anyone else is up to even know it has occurred.
And always write with passion and Grit. Perseverance will result in the creation of better content not waiting for the perfect story. Soldier through those period of low morale and a lack of inspiration. Writing more will always results in the creation of more content. If 10% of your word is incredible, 10% of your work will remain incredible if you increase you production time ten. Which will result in 10x the volume of incredible content.
Below is something which has always inspired my writing:
A ceramics teacher announced he was dividing his class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right graded solely on its quality.
His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would weigh the work of the “quantity” group: 50 pounds of pots rated an A, 40 pounds a B, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an A.
Well, come grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity!
It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work — and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.
The moral of the story is you can only become a master by obsessively doing something.
So write and write often. Fail and Learn. You’ll improve,grow and create incredible content.
