the enchanted 15: inspiration and effort

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.-Jack London

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.- Samuel Johnson

Inspiration and Effort

One of the consistent motifs in this concept of writing in 15 minute blocks, is that you write with discipline and in habit despite inspiration.  All of us who enjoy writing, who might attempt to actually produce something of consequence, likely got the idea because, at least once, we experienced inspired writing, at some point or another.  The kind of writing that pours from you, seemingly without effort, stories that form themselves like respiration, words that slide into perfect context and rhythm without the least bit of strain and hassle on your part.  

It is as if the story, essay, script, or paper writes itself.  

I very much doubt you would even be reading this if, for you, as for most people out there, writing is always 100% effort.  For you, writing is something that, at least occasionally, flows.  In fact, for some of you, writing has been, at one point or another, an ecstatic experience of complete unity and seamlessness.  An experience when you forget yourself and time gets away from you.  You believe 15 minutes has past and you look up to realize that you've been writing for three hours.  Perhaps, people often get mad at you for being late or for telling them that you'll "be right there" and then, you never arrive, because you are writing.  

If you are one of these people, then there is a huge problem you can encounter within writing, that can, if you are not careful in your understanding and treatment of it, destroy the good work that you can do with that ability.  Read on. 

If you are one of these people, a writer who is at least occasionally an inspired writer, it is not less important that you develop a strong writing habit but more.  Because look: as much as we might not care to admit it, there is a childlike emotion involved with this.  Inspiration has historically been described as being visited by the Muse.  When you are visited by the Muse you can feel special, chosen, and like part of an elect.  You actually feel loved as your write because the writing comes easy and that must mean that you are loved.  

The problem is, if the next time you sit down to write, the Muse is not there, it is not simple frustration.  You feel bereft.  As if your boyfriend or girlfriend hasn't called or as if your best friend forgot your birthday.  And now, this is irrational, but you begin to wonder what you did to deserve such abandonment.  

Suddenly, coming to the page, is not just difficult, it is painful.  It's like coming to a bar looking for the person who stared at you from across the room, and made you feel a heat under his or her gaze, and so, you return hoping that he or she will be there again, just so you can feel that feeling again.  And your eyes search the room but you never see the gazer again. And though, you didn't really know the person ever, inexplicably, you feel...

Loss. 

Some of you might find this totally ridiculous.  But I know there are a lot of you who know exactly what I am talking about.  (And then of course there are some of you who will PRETEND to find this totally ridiculous and WISH you didn't know exactly what I was talking about because it makes you feel foolish, but secretly, I know you do.)  If these feelings sound familiar to you, at least a little bit, then, if you are failing to come to the page, you do not fail to produce because you are lazy or because you do not have the time.  No, it is because you fear loss, you fear abandonment.  You fear uninspired writing, not because it is hard work, but because having to work without inspiration means that you are not worthy.  

But here's the deal, and I promise you, with the promise of one who knows that it is true, you are not unworthy because you write while uninspired, but more worthy.  It's a trick, you see, because inspiration, or rather The Muse, is very, very sensitive.  It doesn't want to be used for cheap thrills you see, so it will test you.  It will play games with you.   Showing up to work, even when The Muse hasn't called, or The Muse has long been absent, only proves your love.  Then when The Muse returns, The Muse returns with greater and greater faithfulness. 

There is a term that the Zen philosopher DT Suzuki used to describe the kinds of experiences meditation can produce in the individual.  It is called "habitual intuition"--by which he means, among several other things, is that we all have flashes of intuition as human beings, but if you meditate you cultivate a habit of intuition that begins to inform even the most basic every day occurrences in our life.  I suppose, ideally, those habitual intuitions begin to string together into a whole until we are living an entirely inspired life.  

I'm not sure many people in history have achieved that but it's worth the effort to try.  

I use this idea of "habitual intuition," um, habitually.  Okay, what I mean is, I've used it to understand a lot of different people, experiences, and things.  And I especially use it to understand how my writing skills develop.  Inspiration comes and goes, because The Muse is insecure and that makes The Muse fickle.  But my effort as a writer, is what makes it safe for The Muse to come back and stay awhile.  My effort meets inspiration and then, that, that is when mountains are moved.  

Try using this idea: imagine that when you sit down to write, all you are doing is making deposits in the bank, and you know with certainty it will grow.  If it is a barren 15 minutes and only two sentences come out so be it.  It doesn't mean anything at all--it doesn't mean that you will never feel that rush of inspiration again, it doesn't mean that it will always be this hard.  It doesn't mean that The Muse has dumped you. It simply means, that you are putting in due diligence and faithfulness. 

It means you are letting The Muse know it's safe to return, and that you are looking for more than cheap thrills.  That is when The Muse and you can move from infatuation to relationship.

That is when the work you were meant to do begins to form, mature, and grow.  

That is when your writing is open to life.  

Comments

[Suzy]

Love this--it's all good...that last line is so damn good.