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williamlwolf89 · 4 years ago

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Writing Inspiration: 99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write in 2020

Need some writing inspiration? You’ve come to the right place.

Ugh, it happened again.

Another week or month has passed, and you’ve made zero progress on your writing goals.

Deep down you know your writing is important, but you can’t take consistent action.

What’s really going on here?

The truth is, you don’t feel inspired.

You can’t help but marvel at other writers who do persist, and have a large body of work you can’t even fathom achieving.

How do you get there?

How do you find the inspiration you need to stay the course long enough to become the prolific, popular, and successful freelance writer you dream of becoming?

The Dirty Little Lie You Tell Yourself About Writing Inspiration

If you’re struggling to find writing inspiration, you might be guilty of “believing in magic” when it comes to your writing process.

People who fail to do the things they say they want to do believe in fairy tales, like this one:

One day, for no reason whatsoever, I will find the ultimate source of inspiration that will carry me through to the end of the writing career rainbow. It will happen in an instant, and I’ll never have to “start over” again.

They believe successful writers have “made it,” and have no problem staying motivated because they’ve “arrived.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Regardless of how successful you are, there will be days you feel uninspired. In fact, what once seemed like a passion-filled calling can turn into a bit of a slog after a while.

Professional athletes love the game, but they don’t necessarily want to train their bodies every single day.

Business owners love money and recognition, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the process of getting their business off the ground.

You love expressing yourself with words, but you won’t necessarily enjoy each and every writing session.

You have to learn to inspire yourself every day if you want to turn pro and become a popular author or successful writer. To keep your inspiration fresh, you’ll have to find various unique ways to get inspired.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, I have 99 different writing ideas — use them whenever you’re struggling to turn intention into action.

So here’s how to get inspired to write:

1. Do the One Thing They Always Tell Writers Not to Do

Watch T.V. Some of the best writing in the world can be seen in the scripts of your favorite shows. Pay attention to the dialogue, listen for the clever storytelling methods, and use them in your own writing.

Use the ideas of the show creator and the personalities of the characters to get inspired. Think about what goes through Don Draper’s mind when he writes an ad on Mad Men or the way Carrie Bradshaw wove her own life into her daily column on Sex and the City.

Once I paid attention to the writing in my favorite shows, I drew inspiration from the stories and turned a seemingly useless activity into creative fuel.

2. Read Your Old Love Letters

If you’ve been writing for a while, you must have gotten a compliment or two about your work. Keep a file with positive comments you’ve received about your writing. Whether they’re emails or blog comments, reading over compliments you received and hearing how you’ve helped people will motivate you.

3. Embrace Your Insignificance

In the grand scheme of things, you’re insignificant. Nothing you do “matters,” except that it matters to you. Go for it, because you have nothing to lose.

4. Make the Subtle Shift from Goal-Setting to Habit-Forming

Goals give you inspiration by providing an end point, but habits weave inspiration into the core of your being and make it automatic.

Instead of saying, “I want to finish my manuscript,” say “I want to write 30 minutes per day.” The second statement comes without the pressure of expectation. You’re just putting yourself in a position for continual inspiration.

Habits trump goals every time. The most prolific writers aren’t the most goal-oriented. They’re built to show up every day and do the work.

5. Tell Yourself You’re Not Good Enough

Try a little reverse psychology on yourself. Try to convince yourself you’re not good enough, and then get offended. Of course you’re good enough! You were born to write. Trick yourself to put a fire in your belly and get inspired.

6. Start a Chain Gang

Buy a calendar. Mark an x on the calendar each time you complete a writing session. When you complete a few days in a row, the x’s start to form a chain. The longer the chain grows, the more inspired you are to keep writing. Picture a calendar with 29 days marked off. You’d almost certainly write on day 30, right?

Visuals and imagery are powerful. Seeing a representation of the work you put in will inspire you to keep working.

7. Become the G.O.A.T.

Focus on becoming so great you can’t be ignored.

Most writers are worried about what the competition is doing and idolize their favorite writers. Instead, you’ll focus on being so good the competition will start to watch you. Embrace the attitude of Michael Jordan in his first few seasons. He knew the league was going to belong to him before it actually did. He put his head down, did the work, and demolished the competition to become the Greatest of All Time. You can be the same.

Put your head down, write, and one day people will say “Who is this?”

8. Take a Dump

Have a bowel movement. I first learned this unusual writing tip from James Altucher. He says if your body isn’t “clear,” your mind won’t be either. You may also come up with some interesting ideas while you’re, erm, indisposed.

9. Embrace Your Inner Hulk

Get angry. Anger is easy to express. When you’re angry you know exactly why something pisses you off. What pisses you off about the world, your niche, or life in general? Vent your frustrations and your powerful words will pour out.

10. Become a Better Writer Without Becoming a Better Writer

Have you ever seen a professional athlete who’s in a slump? Nothing about his routine changes, he plays with the same quality teammates, and the team is run by the same coaching staff. Later, you find out he was having personal issues and that was the source of his decline.

Look at Tiger Woods. He never recovered from his personal scandal. What does that tell you? It tells you life outside your craft is just as important as practicing it, if not more.

Think about how many aspects of your life can affect your writing. Your diet, exercise routine (or lack thereof), relationships with friends and family, and stress level are a few among many factors influencing your writing. When you lack inspiration for writing, look at other areas of your life. If those aren’t going well, your writing will suffer.

11. Make It Impossible to Edit While You Write

Write with the monitor off or with white text. This is the definition of writing a crappy first draft. When you can’t even look at the words on the screen, you won’t be able to enter into self-editing hell while you’re writing. You’ll let loose and write with reckless abandon. Afterward, you can clean up the carnage and make it pretty.

12. Imagine Your Worst-Case Scenario

Think about the worst-case scenario in terms of your writing career and decide you can handle it. Fortunately, the negative consequences are more emotional than tangible or financial in terms of things like writing a book. At the very least, you’re out of a small investment and your ego will get a little dent. You can’t sell negative books. Your worst pain will be the feeling of rejection. Although rejection is a tough pill to swallow, you face bigger dangers in life without fail, like getting in a car and driving it, without batting an eye.

13. Start Acting Like a Child

What advice would a five-year-old give you about your writing? Would they tell you to focus hard, create solid outlines, and hit your daily word count? No. They’d tell you to have fun.

Remember fun? When you were a child, you only cared about exploration. You didn’t waste time worrying about the future. The present was all you knew. I get it. You have “big dreams,” but if you take yourself too seriously, writing will get rote.

If you’re feeling stuck trying to edit your manuscript, write something ridiculous. Write something totally unrelated to your niche for pure fun with no intention of publishing it. Act like a child and watch your curiosity and creativity flourish.

14. Dumb It Down

Stop trying to sound smart. Once you realize you don’t have to write with tons of flowery language and words that could be replaced with simpler words, writing gets easier. People enjoy straightforward writing better anyway.

15. Make Money Your Muse

Take writing jobs as a freelancer if you’re looking to get writing without having to come up with your own blog post ideas. As a freelancer you’ll work within the guidelines of what your client wants. This offers the benefit of making money, plus you’ll develop a writing habit along the way.

16. Use your 9-to-5 to Fuel Your 5-to-9

Scott Adams, most known for his cartoon strip Dilbert, used real-life experiences from his job as inspiration for his work. Charles Bukowski wrote a novel loosely based on his own experiences as a post office employee. Even mundane jobs like these can inspire you to write something interesting about them. Some say you should write what you know. What do you know better than the activity you perform 40 hours per week?

17. Discover the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Create an immaculate space for your writing. A cluttered environment clutters the mind. When you’re in a clean space, you can feel it. That feeling can translate into a calm and focused state of mind while writing.

18. Don’t Believe the Myth

Remember this phrase from Jerry Seinfeld: “Writer’s block is just a made-up excuse for not doing your work.”

19. Sign Your Life Away

Create a contract with yourself. Make an actual signed document stating what you’re going to accomplish with your writing and place it somewhere prominent.

Imagine you’re sitting down to write and you look up to see an agreement you made with yourself, not just mentally, but physically. Wouldn’t that inspire you to hold to your commitment?

These little “nudges” might seem trivial on their own, but combining them changes your environment and makes it more conducive to productivity and creativity.

20. Make Your Writing Career a Family Affair

Communicate your goals with your family and friends. Writing takes up time, and if you’re not clear about your intentions, your spouse or loved ones can start to resent and even become jealous of your writing. Let them know it’s important to you, set boundaries for when you’ll write, and when you’re not writing make sure you’re 100 percent off, meaning you’re spending time with the people you love and not in your head.

21. Get Meta

Write about how you feel about your writing. One of the most successful posts I’ve ever written talked about my struggles with writing. It was meant to be a venting session, but I realized it was worth sharing. Like anger, frustration leads to expression.

22. Converse to Create

If you listen carefully, the conversations you have with other people can inspire you to take something they’ve said and run with it. Listen intently, and see if there’s anything in your dialogue that sparks interest or could be used as a writing topic. Cormac McCarthy said he used actual conversations with his son in the bestselling novel The Road.

23. When Inspiration Fails, Try Desperation

Turn your pain into passion. If you feel the dull monotony of sitting in a cubicle every day pushing papers, working in a factory on the assembly line, or any other job that isn’t being a full-time writer, use that desperation as fuel. Sometimes inspiration isn’t enough. Sometimes you have to get fed up to do the work.

24. WWJD

Ask yourself, “What would Jon do?” If you’ve been following Jon Morrow’s work for any amount of time, you know he has a no-excuses attitude and is driven to succeed. Would Jon give up on a writing session if he wasn’t “feeling it?” Would Jon cry in the corner about someone leaving a negative comment on his blog post? When in doubt, do what Jon does and bang out 1,000 words per day no matter what.

25. Create to Connect

Even if you have just a few readers, get to know them. Send out an email to your tribe telling them they can each get 15 minutes on the phone with you to talk shop. Add prompts to your blog posts to encourage readers to share their lives with you.

When you create with the intention of connecting with other human beings, it inspires you to work that much harder, because you can feel the person on the other end of the screen.

26. Become the CEO of You, Inc.

Come up with a name for your publishing company. Perhaps you don’t have to go as far as creating an LLC, but do something to establish what you do as an actual career and not just a hobby. If it means spending $25 to get business cards printed, so be it. Something in your mind has to transition into feeling and acting like a pro.

27. Don’t Follow in the Footsteps of Great Writers

Let go of your need to be the next great author. When you compare yourself to the likes of Hemingway, Plath, or Murakami, it’s hard not to get discouraged about your own writing. Focus on becoming the best writer you can be. There are plenty of successful — and financially independent — writers who aren’t legends, but are pretty damn good. Become pretty damn good.

28. Do the Math

Remind yourself: each time you sit down to write you’re ahead of 99 percent of other aspiring writers. Most people do nothing. They talk, wish, and wonder. The mere fact that your fingers are touching that keyboard makes you special.

Inspire yourself by reminding yourself you’re part of an exclusive club — the doers. I get inspired when I realize the steps I’ve already made go way beyond those of most people. Once your foot is in the door, step all the way through.

29. Answer Random Questions from Total Strangers

Answer questions on Quora. Users on Quora ask questions about topics ranging from personal development to health to what Kim Kardashian’s favorite color is. Other users on Quora answer these questions. Many authors and bloggers use Quora to practice their writing by answering questions. You’re also allowed to leave links in your Quora responses, and many people drive traffic back to their websites through using Quora.

30. Get Zen, Then Pen

I meditate for 20 minutes every morning before I write. When you wake up, you usually start the day feeling anxious. The practice of meditation helps relieve stress and clears your mind of negative thoughts. You’ll feel refreshed before you pen your first word.

The headspace app comes with a series of guided meditations you can use to start fresh every day.

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has a great introductory post on how to form a daily meditation habit. He also happens to be one of the most prolific and successful bloggers in the world. Coincidence? I think not.

31. Choose Quantity Over Quality

Write ten ideas per day around your writing. They could be ideas for new blog posts, book titles, and book sections or chapters. By the end of the year, you’ll have 3,650 ideas. Most of them will suck, some will be good, and a few will be amazing. Your creative muscles will be strong, and you’ll have endless material to write about.

32. Teach an Old Draft New Tricks

Revise an old piece of writing. This has a two-fold benefit. First, you’ll realize how much you’ve grown since writing that piece, which will give you the confidence to know you’ll improve in the future. Second, if you really add some beef to it, you’ll have a brand new piece of writing to share with the world.

33. Surround Yourself with Great Work

I once visited an art museum that had a photography section. It was filled with famous photos of famous people by famous photographers. I lost complete track of time and was immersed in the photos. When I left the display, I felt almost dizzy. That day, I went home and wrote a couple thousand words in a way that seemed effortless. Seeing great art in other forms can inspire you to create great writing yourself.

Visit a gallery, go to an opera, or watch a play. Feel the passion and inspiration from the artists you just watched, and use it in your own writing.

34. Put a Pot of Gold at the End of Your Rainbow

Setting writing goals doesn’t often work. The reason why they don’t work is because we don’t like to work! We want results. It’s why workout DVDs are called Beach Body or Six Pack Abs in Six Weeks instead of Exercise Regimen for your Core. You know you’ll have to do the work, but the results are what compel you to get started.

Create statements around the rewards you’ll reap from your writing and the results you want, e.g., “Writing my book will give me the money, attention, and sense of accomplishment I’ve always longed for. ” When you think of setting goals and building habits in terms of the rewards they’ll afford you, you’re more likely to follow through.

35. Drink Rocket Fuel to Skyrocket Your Inspiration

Drink coffee. Coffee has fueled the creative inspiration of writers for centuries. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write well without it.

36. Journey into the Wild

Go for a walk in nature. There’s an odd connection between walking and inspiration. There’s something about wandering about that stirs up random thoughts in your mind. Ideas come to you when you aren’t so focused on them. A walk in nature will distract you with its beauty enough to make room for the muse to sneak up on you.

37. Switch Your Scenery

There has long been a link between travel and writing. Seeing new parts of the world is inspiring in and of itself, plus it will surely give you new material to write about as well. Or, heck, just go to your local coffee shop to switch things up.

Even if you can’t make a physical trip, just spending a few minutes visualizing an exotic destination can provide valuable writing inspiration.

38. Devour People’s Brains

Read. Read. Read. You can’t be a great writer without being a great reader. Read a wide range of material. If you write non-fiction, sprinkle some fiction into your reading and vice versa. Reading widely opens new doors in your brain and helps you make odd connections between ideas.

I just finished my second book. I pulled and wove in ideas from billionaires, dead Roman emperors, and Harvard psychologists. I didn’t go searching for the information. I conjured it from the recesses of my mind while writing, because I’ve read 100 books in the past two years. It’s like Neo in The Matrix where he “downloads” the ability to fight in Kung Fu style.

With reading, you can “download” hundreds or thousands of years of human experience and use it at your disposal.

39. Write in This Insanely Inspiring Environment

Write in a bookstore. Writing in an environment surrounded with words is inspiring. Go to your favorite section and browse the titles. Seeing the names on book covers will cause you to picture your name on your first or next book, and you’ll be ready to pen your masterpiece.

40. Put a Gun to Your Head

I submit guest post pitches to various blogs before I feel ready to write them. Once my pitches get accepted, I can’t quit. As you know, it’s a big no-no to flake on a guest blog owner, and I’d never want to ruin my reputation. Finding situations that force your hand can keep you from sitting on the fence.

41. Search for Instant Inspiration

A quick Google search can give you inspiration by spoon-feeding you endless ideas for your writing. If you’re stuck on a topic to write about, do a search about your subject and run with the results. You don’t have to come up with new ideas by yourself all the time. You don’t even have to use the ideas you find to create a finished result.

The process could serve the purpose of getting your fingers moving, which is the most important step.

42. Chase the Muse

Inspiration can be tricky to capture.

To maximize your chances of spotting the muse, come up with clever writing prompts. For example, you can come up with a writing problem you’re trying to solve right before bed, let it stir in your subconscious mind while you sleep, and wake yourself up in the middle of the night and jot down what comes to mind in your hazy subconscious state. You can set prompts on your phone to randomly write whatever comes to mind at the exact time.

Carry a pen and paper with you everywhere you go to capture ideas as they come. It seems mechanical, but careful planning can inspire you to create more.

43. Star in Your Own Montage

Visualize yourself putting in the work it takes to become a great writer. Visualizing the type of outcome you want is effective, but visualizing becoming the type of person capable of achieving those outcomes is even more powerful. Take a few minutes every day and visualize yourself being in a state of flow and writing effortlessly.

It’s like picturing yourself hitting the game-winning shot. If you can see it, you can believe it.

44. Find a Tango Partner

In a rut? Find a writing partner to keep you accountable. Working with someone who’s “in the trenches” like you will help both of you inspire each other. There’s strength in numbers.

45. Find Inspiration in Your Rear-view Mirror

We’ve all had moments in life we cherish. Why not use those moments as inspiration for your writing? If you’re feeling stuck, try to remember an amazing moment in your life — time spent with your children, a vacation you went on, your wedding day — and write about that. The moment will inspire you to write because the moment itself is inspiring. If it was a pivotal moment in your life, you can recall how you felt and what the atmosphere was like.

46. Eviscerate Your Excuses

Find examples to eliminate your excuses. The undisputed heavyweight champion of blogging, our very own Jon Morrow, isn’t able to use his hands, and has written blog posts read by millions. Stephen Hawking moves his cheek muscles to write. You have writer’s block? Boo hoo.

If seeing examples of people with legitimate obstacles thriving at what you do doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will. You’ve been blessed in one way or another. Regardless of what you don’t have, you have something someone else would kill for. Be grateful and use your gratitude as a well of inspiration to create.

47. Join a Local Gang

If one partner isn’t enough, you can join groups of writers to increase the effectiveness of group support. I’m part of a local writers’ club where we meet in person, and I’m a member of an online community of writers. We share insights and tips, and keep each other motivated.

48. Fake Your Own Death

Write your obituary. This exercise provides a two-fold benefit. First, you’re putting words on the page. Second, you’re thinking about the type of legacy you want to leave. My guess is you want “renown writer,” or at least “writer,” somewhere in the description. It will remind you of your ultimate mission and the fact you’ll regret it if you fail to follow through.

As best-selling author Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.”

49. Tune In to Tune Out Writer’s Block

Listening to music boosts your effectiveness in many areas such as exercise. It’s also a great tool to inspire your writing, as long as you don’t make it a distraction. Some writers have been known to play the same song on repeat while they write, saying it gives them a calming sense and the music fades to the background while they write.

Music has been known to “set the mood” in more ways than one. Pick an inspiring song and let it inspire you to write.

50. Choose the Opinion You Like Best

Have you ever looked at the same piece of writing at different times and had two different opinions?

It’s okay to toot your own horn (in your mind) when you’ve penned some damn fine words. In fact, you should do it every time you feel good about your writing to keep the inspiration going.

51. Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

Get your fingers moving. The act of typing itself can lead to a flow state and productive writing. Sometimes, I’ll start a blog post by typing “I don’t know what to write about,” just to get my fingers moving. The staring at the blank page without typing contributes to writer’s block.

52. Get Back in Touch with Your “Why”

Remember your why. Did you get into writing because you wanted to improve people’s lives? Do you have interesting stories to share? Do you want to entertain people? Go back to the source of inspiration that made you want to write in the first place. Revisit it often.

53. Find Writing Inspiration in Dark Places

Life throws curve balls at you. While you can’t avoid certain situations from happening to you, you can use them as sources of inspiration to create.

In an extreme example, Viktor Frankl used his experience in a Nazi death camp as inspiration to help others through his writing with his book Man’s Search for Meaning. You can let negativity overwhelm you, or you can use your experiences to inspire yourself in a cathartic way through your words.

54. Remember that Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Have you ever had a loved one go on an extended trip? When they come back, you’re overjoyed to see them, and you cherish the moments you have together a little bit more than usual. Why not create instant inspiration by doing the same with something you wrote?

Take a draft you’ve worked hard on and “lock it away” for a week or two before you revise or add to it. If you distance yourself from it for a bit, you’ll be inspired to jump back into a relationship with it, just like a loved one coming back from their trip.

55. Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

Think about something that was once hard for you to do, but you now find easy. When you’re struggling to put together an introduction, edit the chaff from your sentences, or transition between points, remember that practicing these things will lead to a point where it becomes second nature.

56. Picture Your Name on a Best-Selling Book

If you’ve never written a book before, go to Canva’s free book cover maker tool and create your own custom book cover. Stare at it and imagine how it will feel to have a published book with your name on it in the future. The first time I held a copy of something I created, I was euphoric. I continue to chase that feeling each time I write.

57. Let Life Inspire Art

If you want to make your writing more interesting, make your life more interesting. If you’re feeling frustrated, step out into the world, enjoy it, and let your experiences compel you to write again.

58. Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Enter a writing contest. Writing contests often pay for top prize winners. There’s one incentive.

The popular writing blog The Write Practice hosts writing contests multiple times per day. During its most recent contest, the blog partnered with Short Fiction Break, which displayed every single piece submitted to the contest. They encouraged writers in the contest to comment on each other’s pieces and get to know each other, which created a hotbed of inspiration.

Knowing you’re a part of something larger than yourself can be inspiring. Use a writing contest to show the world what you’ve got.

59. Act Like a Hollywood Script Doctor

Rewrite a dissatisfying ending of a popular movie, short story, or book. It’ll get you in the mood to write because you’re familiar with the subject matter. If you have the gall to rewrite a popular story, you should be confident enough to create your own.

60. Don’t Fall into the Routine Trap

Write when you’re most creative. You don’t have to be a morning person to write well.

Some people are more creative at eleven at night. Blindly copying routines that don’t suit you is a surefire way to fail. Create an environment and schedule that aligns with your strengths.

61. Make a Creative Pilgrimage

This may seem a bit drastic, but moving to another city can inspire you to be more creative.

In his book Where Good Ideas Come From, Stephen Johnson claims that moving to a more populated city fosters creativity through “superlinear scaling,” which is a fancy way of saying that the more people you’re exposed to, the more creative you are. Maybe you’re not in a position to move, but if you’re young and mobile, perhaps you should take your talents to the Big Apple or out West.

62. Exercise Your Neurons

Your brain needs exercise like any other part of your body. If you’re not feeling inspired, try playing some games that involve words. Hitting a triple word score in Scrabble can remind you of your creative writing prowess. The education company Lumosity has a line of brain games that help you increase your vocabulary.

One of my inspirations for writing is the words themselves. I was one of the weird kids who looked forward to vocabulary tests, because new words excited me and stimulated my brain. Play brain games with words to inspire yourself to pen them.

63. Cast Yourself Away

Go on a thinking retreat. Bring books to read, but no electronics. Spend time alone to be with your thoughts and consider what steps you want to take in your writing career. Bill Gates does this for two weeks every year to crystallize his vision for Microsoft’s future as well as his charity foundation. You’re not a billionaire with unlimited free time, so a day or two will suffice.

64. Use These Two Words as Inspiration

Interesting questions lead to interesting answers. Many of the best pieces of writing started with the phrase, “What if?”

Use hypothetical questions to inspire new ideas. For example, you could ask, “What if I wrote a piece saying the exact opposite of what most people believe about _____?” or “What if we lived in a world where everyone was bluntly honest all the time?” These types of questions create open-ended areas to explore, giving you new material to think about and write about.

65. When in Doubt, Ship

Seth Godin has written 18 books, and has been quoted as saying, “I feel like a fraud as I read you this, as I brush my teeth, and every time I go on stage. This is part of the human condition. Accept it. Now what?”

Other creative people like Neil Gaiman and Tina Fey have reported feeling the same way, regardless of the amount of work they’ve put into the world.

What’s the difference between them and the people who let their inspiration die? They ship.

They put their work into the world regardless of how they felt about it, and it paid off. If they can create while plagued with doubt, so can you.

Look far and wide for examples of successful writers and you’ll find one common denominator — and it sure as heck isn’t procrastination. It’s shipping. Let their stories inspire you to do the same.

66. Let Technology Lend a Helping Hand

Use idea-generating tools from companies like Hubspot and Portent’s Content. With ready-made ideas and headlines, you should have everything you need to get started.

67. Be a Little Creepy

Have you ever looked at a couple across the room at a restaurant and wondered what their lives were like?

Have you ever walked past an older person at the park and thought about what crazy experiences they’ve had?

People-watching can be great inspiration for writing. You can observe people you don’t know, and let the mystery of their lives inspire you to write a story about what they could be like. It’s part writing exercise, yes, but knowing you can draw material from anywhere is inspiring.

68. Eat a Sh** Sandwich

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

He was referring to what many, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, call a “shit sandwich.”

If you don’t love something enough to go through pain for it, you don’t really love it. Your shit sandwich is the one thing you cherish so much you can endure for it. How is that inspiring? Well, if you’re capable of going through heartache for something, it has an inspiring quality drawing you to do so, or else you wouldn’t do it.

Is writing your shit sandwich? If so, get really hungry, because life is going to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet.

69. Say “Hi, My Name Is _____”

Attend a conference for writers in your niche. You have to be careful with conferences because they’re a waste of time if you go without any predefined goals, but they’re great for meeting and affiliate yourself with industry insiders and the atmosphere of the event will make you want to perform well when you get home.

70. Go to the Source

Reach out to your favorite writers and ask for advice. Many people do this, but they do it the wrong way.

First, send them a message simply thanking them for the work they’ve done and leave it at that. Tell them how you’ve implemented something they’ve taught you. After your initial outreach, come back later and ask a specific question regarding a situation. Don’t just say “let me pick your brain.” Most are willing to help if they’re not too busy.

Some won’t respond, but others will. Use their words as inspiration, follow up with their advice, and let them know when you’ve implemented it.

71. Get Yourself Some Education

Take an online course on writing. I took Smart Blogger’s Guest Blogging Certification Program. Before taking the course, I wouldn’t have had the guts to pitch big-name blogs. I thought they were “off limits.” Seeing examples of people who went through the course, some of whom built million dollar businesses with the course being the catalyst for their growth, inspired me to level up my game.

Finding the right online courses by the right instructors makes a world of difference. Having a laid-out blueprint for success gives you confidence to follow through with the steps required to build something valuable.

72. Pat Yourself on the Back

Take a piece of writing you’ve done and evaluate it based solely on what you like about it. Even if it’s just one sentence. Find something to highlight as inspiration to keep writing in the future.

73. Follow The Artist’s Way

Use stream-of-consciousness writing like Julia Cameron’s famed morning pages to get your creative juices flowing. Many writers swear to this strategy, saying it unlocks the creativity hidden in their subconscious minds.

74. Find Inspiration in Everyday Heroes

I once listened to a podcast by serial self-publishing author Steve Scott. He was recapping the strategies from his latest book launch, which resulted in $60,000 in royalties.

Hearing his story was inspiring because he isn’t Malcolm Gladwell. He started self-publishing books and kept doing it until he figured out how to become one of the best. He’s what you would call an ordinary person doing something extraordinary in the publishing world. There are many examples of self-published authors you can use as inspiration. Find them on Amazon and read their stories.

Once you know it’s possible to make a killing without the gatekeepers, you’ll be inspired to do it yourself.

75. Embrace Your Inner Barbara Walters

Interview people in your niche about a topic you’re interested in. Creating profiles of other people might seem less daunting than coming up with a topic from scratch. You can use their stories in your books or blog posts.

76. Dare to Be Different

Embrace your inner weirdo. Your idiosyncrasies and strange ideas are what make you you. Don’t be afraid to show them. The more personality you put into your writing, the better.

77. Throw Your Big Hairy Goals in the Garbage

When I encounter someone who has a puffed-up chest and talks about what they’re going to do, I know they’re going to fail. Most “grand missions” end abruptly. To stay inspired, gain momentum. To gain momentum, create the smallest goals possible. Your brain likes to “win.” If you set laughably achievable goals and succeed, your brain equates it with making progress. A series of small wins is better than no wins.

For example, if your goal is to write 250 words per day, and you reach it every day for a week, it will inspire you to either write at the same pace again or up your word count. If instead, you’d started out by setting a goal of writing 1,000 words per day, you could’ve gotten discouraged and quit. The first goal inspires you to continue, while the second is demotivating.

78. Stop When You Hit the Sweet Spot

Cut your writing short right when you’re in the groove. Pick up where you left off the next day. You’ll be inspired to dive back into the page because you’ll have been thinking about where you left off.

79. Sleep with the Enemy

Make friends with fear. The sooner you stop expecting fear to go away, the better off you’ll be. Remind yourself that fear is a sign of you doing something amazing with your life — something most others won’t do.

Fear is the enemy of inspiration, but thriving in spite of your fear is inspiring. If you’re afraid of being criticized, hit publish anyway and feel inspired from overcoming the hurdle. If you fear your writing won’t be captivating, press through and ship, because one day you’ll write something people will love.

Action is the best deterrent to fear, but it never erases it. Each step you take forward alongside your fear will inspire you to do it again and again.

80. Bore Yourself to Death

You stare at the blank page and nothing comes to mind. You feel blank and stuck. You’re bored.

Good.

Boredom filters out the pretenders from the contenders. Sometimes inspiration won’t sneak up on you until you stop looking for it. If you stop trying to force the situation and let the words come to you, they’ll come. Those writing sessions where you’d normally quit after ten minutes of boredom may bring a creative breakthrough at the eleventh minute.

81. Literally Write for One Person

The idea of writing for one person has been offered time and time again, but what if you went into insane detail about the person you’re writing for?

Instead of writing for “a member of your target audience,” come up with a customer avatar even an experienced marketer would find a bit obsessive.

Something like:

“Mary Elle Christiansen is a forty-year-old woman with two children — Jeremiah, 14, and Deanna, 11. She lives in Cranston, Rhode Island. Every morning after dropping the kids off to work she visits her favorite breakfast spot, Harriet’s Kitchen, and has a pecan maple danish with a Venti caramel iced macchiato — with an extra “half pump” of caramel.

After her meal, she settles in, opens her computer, and writes. She’s working on a memoir. Her late husband, Jim, was an air force veteran. She was an air force wife. Her entire family traveled the world together, moving from base to base. The constant motion was turbulent at times, but Mary was a supportive wife through and through. She wouldn’t be happy if her husband wasn’t. After Jim died — during a tragic flight exercise gone wrong — Mary was left with a large life insurance settlement, a pit of loneliness in her stomach, and an unrealized dream of becoming a writer she suppressed for her family. It’s just her, her children, and her laptop now.“

It wouldn’t be hard for me to write a blog post to inspire Mary Elle. Get insanely specific about who you’re writing for to the point of absurdity, and get inspired to benefit that person’s life.

82. Have an Affair

Many of the world’s most successful creators had extra hobbies that had nothing to do with their main craft. Try drawing, playing music, or making pottery. Take time to express yourself creatively without writing. Creativity fuels you regardless of its source. Add some creative gasoline to your tank to use in your writing.

83. Create a Monster in Your Lab

If you’ve been writing for a while, you have a hefty list of unfinished drafts. Instead of discarding them for good, you can find inspiration by taking pieces of each unfinished post to build a “Frankenstein piece.”

84. Don’t Trust the Opinions of Losers

Fear of ridicule kills inspiration. If you’re worried about what a reader will think of you, consider this question from the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: “You want praise from people who kick themselves every 15 minutes, the approval of people who despise themselves?” People who don’t even think highly of themselves don’t have the right to hold a negative opinion about your work.

Get your inspiration back by seeing “trolls” for what they really are — people who hate their own lives so much they want to criticise what you do in yours.

85. Stop Telling Yourself You’re a Writer

Stop only identifying with being a writer. If your identity is closely tied to being a writer, you’ll take your failure in writing as cracks in your personal character. You write, yes, but you do lots of other things, too.

86. Turn Trials into Triumph

You know what’s more inspiring than believing you can overcome obstacles? Actually overcoming them, because knowing you have the strength to do it inspires you to do it again.

Most writers fail because they avoid difficulty. Most don’t grasp the hidden inspiration in defeat. When a team loses by one point in the championship, they work even harder the next season, because they know they’re on the cusp of victory.

When a piece you write gets rejected, get inspired to prove the editor wrong. When your blog post or book falls flat on its face, get inspired to write ten times better the next time.

Real inspiration isn’t warm, fuzzy, and cute. The truly inspired are gritty, tenacious, and walk directly into the flames of disappointment and setbacks.

87. Con Your Way to Success

Become an impostor. Impostor syndrome is the feeling of being a fake, phony, or fraud who doesn’t deserve success. A great remedy for impostor syndrome is embracing the idea of being one. Write under your guise of falsehood. Realize nobody knows exactly what they’re talking about, and give up your need for appearances. Fake it till you make it.

88. Appreciate the Fortunate Timing of Your Birth

Consider the fact it’s ten times easier to become a successful writer than it used to be.

A few decades ago, to get published you needed to throw your needle into the haystack of the publishing world and hope someone discovered you. Now you can publish your own books. With the click of a button, your words can potentially reach millions of people. Technology has empowered us all.

I call this the excuse-free era because there are more opportunities than ever to find exposure.

89. Realize You’ve Already Put in “10,000 Hours”

Think of how much writing you’ve done in your life. From papers in school, to emails, to social media updates — you write all the time. When you focus on building a writing career, it’s more of a focused effort, but it’s writing just the same. Remember how much you effortlessly write in other areas of your life, and take some pressure off the writing you do for an audience.

90. Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Focus on doing one thing a little better each time you write. If you only get one percent better every day, you’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year.

Growth in writing is exponential, not linear, which means your practice won’t just make you better little by little. One day, after several weeks and months of getting better inch by inch, your skills will explode. You’ll enter a higher plane of creativity and the words will come out of you as if possessed by a wordsmith demon who scorches the keyboard with its fingers.

91. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Making an investment in your writing inspires you to create because it shows you’re serious. Being an “amateur,” isn’t always inspiring, but “turning pro” is.

How do you turn pro? You do the work, but you also treat your writing like a business instead of just a hobby. Making financial investments in your craft inspires you to live up to the image you create for yourself.

A telltale sign of someone who isn’t serious about their writing is a lack of willingness to spend money. Invest in tools to grow your website. Invest in your writing education. Invest in tools to create high-quality books. The more you invest, the more you’ll feel invested in your work.

92. Stop Robbing the World of Your Creativity

Think about your readers.

What if the scientist who was meant to cure cancer decided medical school was too hard? She isn’t only robbing herself, but the world. Your writing belongs to your readers. Your words can help educate, entertain, and inspire people. I once had a reader comment on a lull I had between blog posts. They were relying on my words to help their career.

Your words matter, and we need them.

93. Pay Your Debt

Earlier we talked about the idea that your writing isn’t for you, but for other people. This is true, but at the same time remind yourself that you owe yourself. Sure, writing can be a bit of a slog at times, but you owe it to yourself to push through the pain and see what’s on the other side, especially if you’ve already invested time into your writing career. Don’t let what you’ve done go to waste.

94. Harness the Curious Power of Envy

Have you ever been jealous of another writer for their accomplishments?

You can use your envy as fuel to inspire yourself to improve. Oftentimes when I see someone else do something I want to do but haven’t done, I turn my envy into curiosity. After seeing green for a bit, I think to myself, “How did they do it?” Then I trace their steps and reverse-engineer what they’ve done.

I’ve used this strategy to get featured on popular blogs, come up with headlines for blog posts, and add more substance to my work. Don’t just get jealous, get better.

95. Hit the Reset Button

The experience of having a fresh start was inspiring because I was re-energized with new material. You don’t want to fall into the perfectionist trap, but you can inspire yourself by carefully choosing when to start over.

96. Create Your Own Turning Point

In every book or movie, there’s the moment where the unassuming protagonist takes the call to adventure. For most of her life, she’d been somewhat of a nobody, but opportunity arises, and she finally begins the chapter of her life that changes everything.

Will this moment happen in one instant for you? Maybe not. But you can embrace the idea of taking action and starting your journey today. Get inspired by the moment, or the idea that life is fleeting. Dig dip inside yourself and conjure up whatever energy is inside you and make today the day that’s different.

97. Curate an Inspiration “Museum”

We come across inspiring material all the time, whether they’re quotes, places we visit, pieces of art, or experiences we have.

What if you created a place to document and store all of this inspiration, so you could use it later in your writing? This could be in a form of a journal or scrapbook where you collect inspiring ideas. You could keep track of things you’ve thought to yourself or heard from other people that inspire you.

When your creative well runs dry, you can look to your journal for the jump-start you need.

98. Set a Finish Line

With the first book I wrote, I gave myself a specific deadline to publish it. I woke up every day, hammered away at the keyboard with reckless abandon, and looked forward to the last lap.

I relaxed a bit on writing the next book. I told myself I’d get it done without any pressure of a deadline. The result? I worked on it on and off instead of being consistent. I didn’t get back into the swing of writing until I put a deadline on my work again.

Give yourself deadlines for your writing projects. They might seem arbitrary, but deadlines help you stay motivated to push through, and they make you treat your writing like a business instead of a hobby.

99. Boil it Down to This…

Each one of these points ties into the central message behind becoming a great writer. You have to write. Get inspired by your own deep love and need for putting words on the page. You’re the best source of inspiration for yourself.

You have the itch, the pull, the call. Use it.

Get Busy Writing, or Get Busy Dying

If you really have the itch to write, it’ll never go away,

You have two options — get inspired and get to work, or let your anxiety and insecurities grow and fester.

I know what it feels like to get stuck between the feeling of knowing you have something important to say and wondering whether you’re cut out for the task at hand.

It’s been two years since I started, and I never imagined I’d be where I am today. The same can happen for you, but not without putting in the work day in and day out until you get what you want.

Remember, whether you write or not, the time will pass anyway.

You are cut out for it.

You can make all of your writing dreams come true.

You got this. Now go.

The post Writing Inspiration: 99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write in 2020 appeared first on Smart Blogger.

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marshmallowgoop · 8 years ago

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Just some author’s notes/commentary regarding my Kill la Kill fic “comfortable.” While I might not be able to actually execute my ideas all that well, I hope some of the thought processes behind my stories are interesting explorations of the material and provide some food for thought for other fans.

Spoilers for the fic to follow (and considering this story has a maybe? unexpected ending, I would recommend reading the short before this commentary if you don’t want to ruin the surprise!)

Cultural Notes: Japanese movie theaters often have special discount days for tickets, one of which being Ladies’ Day. On Ladies’ Day (often Wednesday), women can get movie tickets for cheap (around 40% off!)

In the context of “comfortable,” though, this means that Satsuki is a bit of a bad influence, as she decides to go to the movies with Ryuko and Senketsu on a Wednesday right before what would be the end of the first term (in a trimester-system Japanese school year). This is why Ryuko notes “end-of-term exams” later in the story; assuming that Rinne-Dou High School follows a trimester system, the end of Ryuko’s term would be around July 20th, and “comfortable” takes place from July 7th through July 9th.

The date July 7th also holds significance in the story, because as the seventh day of the seventh month, July 7th could mean the Star Festival, Tanabata (I say could because calendar differences make it so Tanabata is both celebrated in July and August, depending on the region). Since Tanabata is the yearly celebration of two lovers—the stars Vega (Orihime) and Altair (Hikoboshi)—coming together when they are kept apart for all other days of the year (by the Milky Way), perhaps it’s only fitting that, in “comfortable,” Ryuko, Senketsu, and Satsuki decide to see a romantic, cheesy move set in space on the typical day for the Tanabata celebration.

Tanabata holds extra meaning in regards to Ryuko and Senketsu, as the story behind Tanabata is, much as Ryuko and Senketsu’s canonical ending, a story of two people torn apart by a force greater than them. In the case of Orihime and Hikoboshi, it is Orihime’s father, Tentei, the god of the sky—who had initially arranged for Orihime and Hikoboshi to come together in the first place!—who ultimately tears them apart. Similarly, in the case of Ryuko and Senketsu, Ryuko’s father, Isshin, literally made Senketsu for Ryuko… but Senketsu is taken from Ryuko as soon as his life’s duty is fulfilled—and there’s perhaps the implication that Isshin only ever intended for him to live that long, as Senketsu’s so-called “Infinite Absorption Ability” clearly has a set limit.

While “comfortable” obviously doesn’t follow the canon ending of Kill la Kill because Senketsu lives, the heart of the story is rooted in this idea of being taken away and separated from a loved one.

Additionally, Calpis, the drink Ryuko gets at the movie theater, is a milk-based soft drink that actually first launched on July 7th, 1919. The original packaging for the drink was even star themed to match this Tanabata launching date.

For some final notes, yakisoba-pan is as described in the fic—it’s yakisoba (fried noodles) stuffed in pan (bread) in the form of a hot dog bun. It’s pretty typical convenience-store food.

Lastly, in a Japanese public restroom, the stall walls allegedly go all the way down to the ground. As such, Ryuko and Satsuki couldn’t pass anything under the stalls.

Other References: Satsuki and Senketsu’s criticisms of the film were based off of things that Neil Degrasse Tyson has tweeted/said. (Here, here, and here.)

Theme/Character Notes: “comfortable” is probably the silliest fic I’ve ever written for Kill la Kill if you don’t count that unpublished Spongebob/Kill la Kill crossover---and in all honesty, the thing basically started as a joke---but “comfortable” somehow came to be a story with... quite a bit packed into its 12,000+ words (which also makes it the longest short I’ve ever published for the series. Who would have thought!).

On the one hand, “comfortable” was a fic inspired by the vastly underappreciated Senketsu/Satsuki dynamic. Though the two have only canonically spoken once, their rad team-up in episode 21 to save Ryuko and their similar calm, sensible, analytical personalities make them a friendship I would love to see develop. So much of “comfortable” came out of the idea that Satsuki and Senketsu would just so hit it off after the events of Kill la Kill, as I can imagine the pair having similar interests---and the kind that would probably bore the impatient, hot-headed Ryuko (especially given the fact that Senketsu actively spent a whole week of his tiny life just studying books in the library while Ryuko slept the entire time).

The idea of Ryuko having to deal with Senketsu and Satsuki being total nerds together was an amusing image, but from there the real heart and message of “comfortable” came to be: a relationship does not have to be romantic to be important or significant, and the start of a romance should not destroy all relationships that aren’t romantic.

As noted previously, “comfortable” was wholly intended to depict a platonic relationship between Ryuko and Senketsu. Though Mako interprets Ryuko’s distress at being separated from Senketsu as “lovesickness” (as is in line with her character), Ryuko is meant to be entirely genuine with her insistence throughout the fic that she and Senketsu aren’t “like that.” It’s not that Ryuko’s jealous of Satsuki---she’s scared:

It’s only when streaks of morning punch her in the face that Ryuko thinks back to her dreams and Junketsu and then Senketsu covered in blood that she knows it’s not jealousy at all, what’s kept her up all night.

But the truth certainly doesn’t make her feel any better, and if she could only get some damn sleep, she’d just stay in bed all day.

One of the biggest things I was Unsure about when writing the story was not explicitly mentioning Ryuko’s fear. I worried it would be too much Telling, but I wonder in retrospect if it would have been better to directly delve into Ryuko’s fear rather than just leave it at this.

But the intention was that the way Senketsu and Satsuki hit it off so well---and how it’s Satsuki who comes up with the idea that Senketsu can change his form, as well as Senjin-Shippu---makes Ryuko fearful that Senketsu would see Satsuki as a million times better than her and would leave her behind. Ryuko’s fears are especially intensified with her guilt over the Junketsu incident, which is the reasoning behind the nightmare in the bathroom:

“Come on, Ryuko…” her reflection says. It has the most shit-eating grin on its face, and its eyes are wild and manic, the lids painted scarlet. “Did you really think he would want to stick with you?”

It laughs some more, and Ryuko backs away. She leans against the wall, pulling at the blue-edged collar that brushes uncomfortably against her cheeks, but it’s stuck, stitched on, and this time, no amount of tearing or snapping seems to get it to budge.

The expression in the mirror darkens. “You’re so damn annoying,” it says. “Actin’ all high n’ mighty, like you can jus’ get away with anything you want ‘cause you think you deserve it.”

Ryuko stops struggling. Her reflection glowers. “But here’s the thing, princess. You can’t erase what you did.”

Ryuko can’t “take back” how she ran away from Senketsu and nearly killed him, so she thinks, well, it’s no wonder that Senketsu wouldn’t want to be with her. She’s terrible and just brings harm to everyone she loves. It’s not Senketsu’s fault for having some sense.

But Ryuko cares immensely for Senketsu, of course. She swore once that she’d never take him off again (episode 22), which isn’t even subtle in its implication that she wants to spend the rest her life with him. Though Ryuko thinks that it’s maybe for the best for Senketsu to never want to be with her again, she’s still is horrified at the thought.

After all, Ryuko had a reoccurring nightmare throughout the series that she’d lose Senketsu---and she always woke up screaming. As I mentioned in my other post about “comfortable,” “[Ryuko] has a history of being abandoned by her loved ones or betrayed by people she wanted to be friendly with (her dad, Maiko Ogure, the Fight Club situation),” so the idea of even Senketsu, whom she has been through so much with, and whom she’s so terrified of losing, leaving her? It’s debilitating.

And the (intended) saddest thing is, Ryuko tries to tell herself that she’s beyond feeling upset about being left alone because she’s been through it so much:

And what the hell is her problem, anyway? She’s not five years old anymore, Ryuko tells herself, calling her dad from her dorm every night and twisting that damn phone wire ‘round and ‘round her fingers as he doesn’t pick up. She’s not fifteen anymore, listening to punk-ass bitches she woulda swore were on her side talking shit about her (and going outta her way to break more noses than anyone probably should).

But when Ryuko pulls her sheets completely over her head, to cover herself in total darkness, to hide away from her family and a shadowed wardrobe and abandoned hanger, sleep still only comes to her in short, nightmarish fragments full of Maiko Ogure and Fight Club and dinners all alone.

Getting to the conclusion of the fic, in a drafted outline for “comfortable,” I wrote:

When they come over, Satsuki announces that she and Senketsu are dating now. Ryuko’s mouth falls open. Then she laughs at the absurdity of Satsuki Kiryuin dating Senketsu. But then she gets sad at the realization that it’s true: Senketsu would rather be with Satsuki than her. She voices this and Senketsu and Satsuki disagree. It’s not about who he likes better; he just gets different things from the both of them. Ryuko is his soulmate. Satsuki is his girlfriend.

And while the idea of “it’s not about who he likes better” didn’t totally make it to the final draft (another case of “it feels like a bit too much Telling”), that concept largely sums up the overall message of “comfortable.” Senketsu being romantically involved with Satsuki doesn’t mean he’s going to abandon Ryuko like she fears, and it doesn’t even mean that he necessarily likes Satsuki better: it just means that he has a different relationship with Satsuki than he does with Ryuko---and that doesn’t make his relationship with Ryuko any “lesser” than his relationship with Satsuki!

And as I wrote up before, “When Senketsu assures Ryuko that he’d never leave her in the end, the idea was that Ryuko realizes she doesn’t have to be afraid: this time is different, and Senketsu is different. He’s not going abandon her no matter what.”

In a piece of symbolism that may have just been executed totally horribly and is pretty cheesy, I tried to express these ideas with the yakisoba-pan. The first time the yakisoba-pan appears in the story, it falls apart in the trash (just as Ryuko fears her relationship with Senketsu will fall apart). When the yakisoba-pan appears again in the end, it’s super neat and kept together, because Ryuko and Senketsu’s relationship isn’t going to be destroyed and Senketsu isn’t going to leave Ryuko behind---the bun and the yakisoba aren’t going to be separated. They are “two in one.”

Moving away from the main theme of “comfortable,” the story was also meant to expand on Senketsu’s “humanity.” Though I love Ryuko/Senketsu (and this story was honestly a little hard to write because of that love!), Senketsu is his own person, separate from Ryuko---and he can have his own love life and adventures separate from her, too. It doesn’t have to be just Ryuko who’s considered a potential suitor for him!

I also wanted to build on the “outgrowing sailor uniforms” concept by noting that Senketsu would also outgrow being a sailor uniform himself---which I think fits much more with the series than the actual message that it went with, because Ryuko and Senketsu grew together, but that’s my endless salt for ya.

And when Ryuko finally returns her sister’s clothes, and goes to come back into her own, she thinks that someday soon, she will be too old for sailor uniforms, and Senketsu will be too old to be sailor uniforms, too.

But right now, on the brisk, balmy morning of July 9th, Ryuko is still in high school, and still a teenage girl, and she thinks, she’s going to enjoy that for as long as she can.

And she’s glad, and satisfied, and so damn comfortable, that she doesn’t have to say a word to Senketsu about any of it, as he comes to her, and she comes to him, just as they always had.

And as a final note, the ending of the story was also a reference to a bit in the second Drama CD, where Ryuko notes that she forgets sometimes that she’s not yet an adult, but still a high school girl. As such, I wanted an ending where Ryuko just gets to enjoy being a high school girl and happy. There’s no need for her to rush.

#shut up goop #writing #ramblings #strings and threads #klk fic #tldr this 'joke' became 2much...#kill la kill #long post #fic commentary

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canvaswolfdoll · 8 years ago

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CanvasWatches: The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

In the fine tradition of the Franchise and also my viewing of it, we’re skipping Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya[1] and moving straight to The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, which inexplicably maintains the name order for the title.

I am often confused by Japanese names in media that’s been localized. Character names are often obvious, because speech and grammar and context makes it clear whether its the given name or family name being used by the speaker, but I’m not always clear with credits. Do publishers switch the author’s name on the book, or do they maintain it?[2]

I’m not actually sure how I want names ordered in dubs, while we’re going through this tangent. I view both arguments (Accuracy to the original text vs. Approachability to new audiences) as largely equal, so as long as the text maintains consistency, I’m satisfied.[4]

However, the actual show switches the names, making it inconsistent with the title. Poor showing, Funimation.

As for the subject of today's review, the conclusion is: I liked it! Maybe one should view it as a continuation on the rest of Haruhi Suzumiya to better catch the jokes and nods, but it’s not necessary.

Onto the analysis! (Spoilers for all of Haruhi Suzumiya, though I will try and avoid major plot points not in Yuki-chan itself.)

Right off the bat, Yuki-Chan fixes the greatest sin committed by the original source material: Yuki gets to keep her glasses!

Let there be rejoicing! Yay! Woo!

In fact, glasses are used as a subtle narrative device, making them a required prop.

The anime is adapted by a comic written by Puyo, who also created the Haruhi-chan comics that were adapted into animation themselves. Haruhi-chan was an extensively goofy version of the Haruhi canon, and includes its own ongoing interpretation of the plot and characters.

Yuki-chan sits in a comfortable midpoint between realistic and cartoonish, with a good balancing of tone, and brings elements from both Haruhi-chan and Nagaru Tanigawa’s source novels. The comedy’s good, the drama’s good, and it flows well between them.

The setting itself comes from one of my favorite ways to find inspiration: looking at the throw-away details of other narratives, and exploring the logical extreme.

In this case, what is it like in the other world created for The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya?[5] What stories can be told when you grab Haruhi, strip her of god powers, and set her over there, and settle everyone else into normal human forms?

This is an exercise I think writers should take more often. It’s a common trope in fanfiction for a reason.[6] Stories are often built from extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, but good characterization should prevail even if you take away the magic and monsters, and set everyone in a coffee shop. How do Yuki and Kyon get along when they aren’t saving the world?

And, more interestingly, who is Yuki when she’s no longer a Humanoid Interface for the Data Overmind?[7] Because it’s equally valuable to consider what changes when you remove elements from characters.

What does change is Yuki becomes the shy, bookish (well, video game playing) girl that would be her common trope. But she’s also oddly voracious in regards to food, and has her share of quirky behaviors to match those of, say, Tsuruya.

This version of Yuki is also notably the first Moe character to actually appeal to me. I am invested in Yuki, and want her to succeed!

Because one of the opening conceits is a lack of Haruhi, (at least initially. Ms. Suzumiya does, of course, always find a way) Yuki’s literary club doesn’t get forcibly hijacked into the SOS Brigade, though it is at risk of closure due to lack of members. Also, as a nice meta gag, the production team’s name has been switch from ‘SOS Brigade’ in the closing credits to ‘North High Literary Club’.[7]

When we open the series, only Yuki and Kyon from the original cast are immediately present, along with Ryoko Asakura, who originally only existed long enough to attack Kyon with a knife and be deleted by Yuki, so as to show off what sort of power and danger Yuki and her contingent presents.

Since there is no Data Mind, Ryoko gets to be a main character, and thus act as a major change to the dynamics we’re used to. She’s a lower energy member of the ‘enactors’ end of the cast. Motivated by her friendship by Yuki, and a caring individual, she is still one of the few characters able to stand toe to toe with Haruhi without risk of being swept up into something against her will.

Her element of wackiness, however, is gleefully displayed during the first episode when, while shopping for the Literary Club’s Christmas Party, the trio encounters Mikuru and Tsuruya, to continue making the most of characters that didn’t get to fully shine during Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and someone needs to be pushing Mikuru into situations.

Tsuruya and Ryoko begin pitting Yuki and Mikuru against one another for Kyon’s affections, before competing against one another directly, forming a friendship, and pretty much enlisting Tsuruya and Mikuru into the literary club.

Luckily, Mikuru is allowed out of the love triangle for this story. She’s still the soft spoken eye candy, but even that element’s toned down. Honestly, Mikuru could’ve been cut without making much difference, but we do need the full brigade eventually.

No, this time the love triangle (still pointing into Kyon) is a fight between Yuki and Haruhi!

Haruhi rejoins the dynamic by leaping out of snow-covered bushes in a post-credits scene of episode two, then collapsing on the ground. In this reality, a lot of the big events remain, but the details are shifted so that fantastic elements are no longer required. Kyon was still present when Haruhi drew her message on school grounds, but he was present as his middle schooler self, it doesn’t lead to Haruhi’s god powers, and the lack of Future!Kyon means Haruhi isn’t inspired to go to North High, and instead enrolling at a Prep School stationed at the base of the hill.

It’s also notable that Haruhi attempted to recreate the event during the series, but this time it’s a ploy to capture Santa Claus[8], and drafted a passing Yuki into it. It takes both of them a while to realize this, as Yuki forgot her glasses, and it was dark at the time.

Obviously, Haruhi immediately sets about taking over the literary club, dragging in Itsumi (also at the Prep School, and hopelessly in love with Haruhi), closes the deal with recruiting Mikuru, and hits the other notes of the original canon.

However, this time Ryoko is there to prevent Haruhi totally running rampant. Which is likely for the best, since it’s supposed to be Yuki’s story. Which even Haruhi seems to realize at some level.

Because Haruhi’s clearly got a crush on Kyon, but he doesn’t remember the night in the courtyard. And, at the same time, Yuki’s very clearly interested (not that Kyon notices that either) and Ryoko makes it very clear that Yuki deserves her shot. After some Valentine's Day confusion, Haruhi pretty much silently concedes the competition to even the playing field with consideration of Yuki’s social anxiety.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan could be divided into three arcs, following the interpersonal issues of three characters: Yuki, Other Yuki, and finally Kyon.

Yuki’s arc is more or less what I described above, as it also needs to introduce the cast. Yuki loves Kyon,[9] who is oblivious, because of course he is. Yuki has pretty severe Social Anxiety, however, and thus can not spit out her feelings, even while sharing a coat during a Christmas Party, or during Valentine's day, or during a club trip, even while being cheered on by the other club members.

Poor girl.

There’s the usual misunderstandings, fear of ruining a perfectly functional friendship, distractions by Ryoko and Haruhi, and plenty of ship teases.

Still, the stretch of episodes is filled with plenty of Haruhi-Chan style humor and chibified moments. I also found myself, in a rare instance, noticing the background music, which was all lovely.[10] It’s standard romance material, which isn’t a genre I usually seek out, so the first nine episodes were both fresh enough to me, and with well executed comedy.

Then, after the credits of episode Nine, Nagato is involved in a car accident. We don’t see the impact, so there’s just enough ambiguity not to make the audience question the results.

We do know Yuki’s glasses are knocked off and bent. Oh no!

But don’t worry, Yuki has a back up pair of glasses.

Also, she’s got some level of brain damage now, altering her personality to be very similar to the Yuki we know from past material. Thus enters Other Yuki. Marked by the slightly different glasses she wears.

Told you they’d be significant.

Thus we enter a more psychological and ponderous arc. Starting with an episode entitled ‘Someday in the Rain’.[11]

This Other Yuki has the memories of Yuki Nagato, of course, but feels a disconnect from them and her life from before the car accident. With that disconnect, her emotions are also gone, leaving a monotone and subdued character in. Her interests also turn from video games to books.

Or, in other terms, the Data Overmind Yuki. Though not really. I’ll come back to this.

She attempts to go undetected, living Yuki’s life, trying to leave it in the same shape as she found it.

Though it doesn’t work on her closest friend, as Ryoko asks ‘Who are you, and where is Yuki Nagato?’

Which is a very dramatic way to phrase that, Ryoko!

So, for a short spell, I theorised that maybe this is the Humanoid Interface Yuki stepping in for the period covered by Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. However, they didn’t put in any other clues to that interpretation, and the healing process that gradually brings back Yuki makes it essentially untenable as a theory. This series is severed totally from the Prime Timeline.

Yuki explains her situation to Ryoko, who drags her to see a dang doctor, like, come on girl, that’s step one. The doctor confirms there’s no apparent damage, and that Yuki merely needs time to recover, including plenty of sleep.

Yuki continues to live the life of a High Schooler through exams, as Ryoko and Kyon worry over her out of earshot. They’re unsure how to feel about this Other Yuki, but resolve to do their best.

So, as Other Yuki narrates, we hear the story of a robot developing emotions and attachments, brought in by her healing, told over of the course of four episodes. This includes fearing what is essentially her death, as once she finishes healing, Other Yuki will be gone, replaced by her body’s original owner. Emotions are mixed for all involved, as of course they want their Yuki back, but they also grow attached to Other Yuki and don’t wish to see her go fully.

On what Other Yuki knows will be her last day, with only one sleep remaining, she spends time at a used book fair, then as much time with Ryoko as possible, before heading to the library to finish reading a book she checked out before she’s gone.

Once that’s done, one final task remains as sleep begins to come for her, she phones Kyon to confess her love. Also to ask him to return the book for her.

She’ll be dead in a minute, so why not?

Kyon races to meet with her before she’s gone, but finds a napping Yuki once he reaches the bench outside the library. Other Yuki is gone.

Which leaves the remaining episodes of the series to deal with the fallout of the situation. Ryoko, sad to see Other Yuki go, collects herself quickly and resumes her life. Yuki seems to have lost her memories from the period, and I don’t think anyone tells her what happened in the interim.

Kyon is unsure what to do, as he realizes he’d fallen in love with Other Yuki.

Further, Haruhi has to deduce the events, as exams had kept her and Koizumi away. She encourages Kyon to work through his confusion.

I hand the final arc to Kyon because the roles switch places from the first arc, with Yuki blissfully unaware of Kyon’s feelings as Kyon is overthinking everything. It’s an interesting turn around.

Eventually, during a festival, Kyon uses the sound of fireworks to cover up his own love confession, as a symbolic message to the Other Yuki, so that he can finally let go and move on.

Which leaves us in the stalemate we began with: Yuki loves Kyon, and Kyon is blissfully unaware, even though Other Yuki’s confession should be a hint.

And maybe it is, as we don’t get to see much more.

Honestly, I’d be satisfied if this is where the Anime Adaption remains. I know of the Manga, of course, but short of a second head injury, Other Yuki is not likely to return, and it’s her segment that gives weight and purpose to the series. We’ve told the story of both Yukis disappearing, so it’s complete in my mind.

I’d much rather the resources be put instead into continuing adapting the Haruhi Suzumiya books.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan works best as a companion to Melancholy, but I believe it’s strong enough on it’s own legs if you prefer. Yuki is an endearing character, the titular arc is a strong tale of melancholy (ha!), and it’s an enjoyable ride. So give it a go.

If you have comments, questions, or loose thoughts, feel free to contact me and I’ll attempt to meet them with due diligence. If you want to support me, my projects, and/or fund me getting a dog, please check out my Patreon. If it ever gains traction, I’ll modify it to reward people with things they like. I aim to amuse.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Funimation has secured the license, I’ve preordered it, it’ll come. [2] I’m mostly wondering about Isuna Hasekura’s[3] name, as I intend to use it for fun reference times. [3] Author of Spice & Wolf. [4] Nevertheless, Haruhi Suzumiya sounds better to my ear than Suzumiya Haruhi. That may be habit, though. [5] I am using the english title because that’s what I know it as. [6] Does Yuki-chan count as fanfiction? The lines blur! [7] Sneaking Yuki’s name into the credits would have cinched it, but, alas… [8] Possibly a nice nod to Kyon’s famous opening monologue. [9] Whose real name we still do not know, though this series explains how the nickname passed from his sister to others. [10] There’s a particular Jazz number that first crops up during the mall sequence in the first episode that recurs. I should probably search out that track… [11] Trying to use nostalgia of my favorite Haruhi episode to evoke an emotional response, eh? It worked.

#CanvasWatches #The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya #haruhi suzumiya #disappearance of nagato #CanvasReviews

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lostinpagesblog · 5 years ago

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Hello, everyone! Today seemed like a good day to do a tag, and I found this one that looked like fun!

Shout out to The Book Nut for their post inspiration!

1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Yes, incredibly so. It’s very frustrating because I wish I could, I love road trips and reading. I could get so much read during long car rides, ugh.

2. Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?

I’d say Victoria Schwab/V.E. Schwab’s writing is unique to me because in my opinion, it’s one of the best writing styles out there. She’s insanely talented at descriptions without overdoing it and crafting multidimensional characters that you fall in love with. I wish I could write half as well as she does.

3. Harry Potter Series or the Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.

Harry Potter even though the Twilight books hold a special place in my heart. I grew up on Harry Potter, my entire childhood basically revolved around it. I had themed birthday parties, I reread the books every year, I went to midnight showings of the movies, etc. Harry Potter is timeless, it has magic, and I will one day go to the theme park.

4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is it in (besides books…)?

I don’t really carry a book bag anymore. I’ve tried to downsize my purse because my shoulders would hurt from the amount of crap I’d lug around daily. I’m also afraid to transport my books very many places, even with a book sleeve.

5. Do you smell your books?

Of course, I’m not insane.

6. Books with or without little illustrations?

I don’t mind it if they don’t have illustrations. Honestly, illustrations are just an added bonus.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

I could be common and say Twilight because it fits so well here, but I think I might go with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. I haven’t read it since middle school, but I remember thinking then that they were amazing. A reread in the future might be necessary. And definitely a rewatch of the movies!

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

I really can’t think of anything for this. I could go on for hours about funny stories from the bookstore I work at, but I can’t remember much from childhood.

9. What is the thinnest book on your shelf?

I’d say it’s The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. It’s only 67 pages long, so I’d say it’s definitely the shortest book I have, therefore the thinnest.

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?

Probably The Stand by Stephen King. It clocks in at around 1153 pages, which is just insane. Will I ever read it? Maybe not. I have it on my shelf because my boyfriend’s mom told me it gave her severe nightmares when she tried reading it in college, and I became instantly intrigued.

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?

I love to write. I used to write more often than I do now, and it’s always been a goal of mine to one day be a published author. That would be endgame goals for sure. I’d love to work in publishing/editing in general, so maybe one day. I have to get over my fear of someone reading my work though, I get very self conscious about my own writing.

12. When did you get into reading?

Childhood! My mom has always been an avid reader, and I learned to read really young. I was the youngest in my elementary school to hit the “Wall of Fame” reader status, which basically meant I read and took a bunch of comprehensive quizzes based off what I read to score a lot of points. I’ve always been a reader for as long as I can remember.

13. What is your favorite classic book?

Probably The Great Gatsby. It’s the only classic book I remember reading in high school that after I finished it, I didn’t hate it.

14. In school was your best subject Language Arts/English?

It was my best one, yeah. I was also oddly good at math too, which those two subjects usually don’t coincide.

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated…what would you do?

Thank them and secretly pass it on or return it.

16. What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?

Honestly the only thing that comes to mind is The Raven Cycle series, but that’s in no way “lesser known”. The first book, The Raven Boys, gave me major childhood series vibes though.

17. What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) while blogging?

Getting distracted on my laptop. I constantly open up tabs and goof around on the Internet. Then two hours later I realize I still haven’t finished drafting my post.

18. What is your favorite word?

I always thought long odd words were the best, like effervescence or mellifluous. I do like vellichor a lot because it means “the strange wistfulness of used bookstores”, but I think it’s more of an Internet word than a real-life word.

19. Are you a nerd, dork, or dweeb? Or all of the above?

Probably more of a nerd.

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?

Vampires, they don’t have to sleep and get to live forever.

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

Shapeshifters, who wouldn’t want to change into something else?

22. Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

Spirits, I don’t particularly care for werewolves. I blame my hatred of Jacob Black in middle school for that.

23. Zombies or Vampires?

Vampires, I think zombies are boring.

24. Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

Forbidden love, 100%.

25. AND FINALLY: Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

Action packed with some love scenes scattered, definitely. I’m a bigger fan of subtle romance than anything.

And that’s all, folks. Let me know some of your answers in the comments below!

Until next time,

Today I tackled the "Ultimate Book Tag"! #booktag Hello, everyone! Today seemed like a good day to do a tag, and I found this one that looked like fun!

#ama #ask #ask me anything #book #Book Tag #book tags #books #questions #reader #reader questions #ultimate book tag

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junker-town · 7 years ago

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Cody Bellinger is modern baseball, and that’s not a bad thing

Well, it is for the rest of the National League, but the sport will be just fine.

On Monday night, Cody Bellinger mashed two home runs, and the baseball world went bananas. Every time he hits a dinger, he’s setting a new record, after all. Quickest rookie to 19 homers. Quickest rookie to 20 homers. This will go on for a while, apparently, and everyone is paying attention. Bellinger was trending on Twitter throughout the night. MLB Network broke down his at-bats. MLB.com featured a link to the video prominently on its front page. On Tuesday morning, breathless appreciations of him were published on Deadspin, USA Today, and ESPN.

It’s all Cody, all the time. And while my editors rejected this article idea ...

Here are some words that rhyme with Cody

... that doesn’t mean it won’t draw thousands of clicks one day. Saved to drafts, suckers. People love their Cody Bellinger.

Look at how excited Sports Illustrated is, for example:

WATCH: Cody Bellinger broke Gary Sanchez's record by smashing 21 homers in his first 51 games https://t.co/TiFF8sqYHf http://pic.twitter.com/z6gSBFDnAJ

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 20, 2017

However, eight minutes before sending that, Sports Illustrated tweeted out their new cover story from the ridiculously talented Tom Verducci. It’s titled “What Happened To Baseball?”, and Bellinger makes an appearance.

He’s in the last paragraph, where he’s used as an example of how baseball is changing for the worse.

This isn’t to suggest that SI is being hypocritical, or that Verducci is out of touch. It’s to suggest that baseball is caught between competing realities. Baseballs are flying out of the park. Baseballs are flying past the helpless bats of sluggers trying to do too much. Home runs are up, up, up. Strikeouts are up, up, up. The sport is turning into whiffwhiffwhiffwhiffwalkdingerwhiff, and it’s different than what we’re used to.

For all its stodginess, though, baseball has changed plenty over its history. Home Run Baker got his nickname because he lead the league in homers for four straight seasons, but his career high was 12 homers. When he retired, he was teammates with Babe Ruth, who sloughed off dinger spores and reshaped the league in his own image.

The ‘60s saw the mound get lowered because pitchers were too dominant, and the ‘70s saw the rise of fake grass, roofs, and concrete. The ‘80s were filled with stolen bases, and the ‘90s were filled with hideous logos.

Goodness.

There were steroids and new ballparks mixed in. Then the steroids were partially curtailed and the new ballparks became old ballparks. The players keep getting bigger and stronger, and the balls keep getting thrown and hit harder. Baseball is, and will always be, changing.

The question at hand is if the modern game has gone too far. Verducci bemoans the lack of action between the homers and whiffs, and he isn’t alone. My former boss spent many thousands of words on the same complaint and that was before the strikeout rates went truly bonkers around the league. If you like baseball for the deft strategy and the subtle notes and the white noise between the action, these trends are alarming.

If you want to distill everything into a crude sentence, here you go: Baseball is getting dumber. The dumb is being obscured by numbers — spin rates, exit velocities, launch angles — but it’s still obvious. Throw ball HARD. Hit ball HARD. If ball not hit hard, player in TROUBLE, but chance to hit ball HARD always come around again. This is disconcerting, I agree.

And yet, holy heck, did you see Bellinger’s home runs? The dude whips his bat through the zone with an uppercut that makes it look like every third frame was removed from the video. It’s not dumb. It’s art. It’s a delicate ballet, a triumph of the nervous system over physics.

Also, baseball go real far.

You can see the tension between the two extremes in those two SI tweets, eight minutes apart. The message of the first one:

Add them up and virtually half of Bellinger’s turns at bat, 104 of 210, served as a proxy for how the game is played these days: All or nothing.

The message of the second one:

WATCH this home run.

The first one makes me nod. The second one makes me click. This is the push and pull of baseball in 2017. We are ingesting high-fructose corn syrup, and we cannot stop.

Except, hold on. Allow me to posit a wild new theory: Things aren’t nearly as bad or different as they’re made out to be. Not yet. Even if baseball isn’t just in the middle of something temporary and cyclical — probably the likeliest explanation, if history is any guide — we are not drinking a six-pack of soda just yet. There is room for indulgence before we get to gluttony. A soda every other day is tasty, and it doesn’t have to kill you. More dingers are fine. We don’t have a problem yet. We’re fine.

If you want to justify the empty calories, check out this brussel sprout of a paragraph:

Home runs are so easy to come by that teams are more likely to just wait for them rather than be creative. Sacrifice hits are at an all-time low. Intentional walks have been at near-record-low levels the past four years. Nobody has stolen 75 bases in 10 years. The hit-and-run is an endangered play. The veteran pinch hitter has been eliminated so that teams can carry eight relief pitchers.

Sacrifice bunts are boring as hell. Even if they were good strategy, which they often aren’t, there’s no joy to be found in them. If you can get excited about a typical sacrifice bunt, you can get excited about a crafty tax deduction, and good for you. But I’m not there. Intentional walks are one of the least exciting events in baseball. The hit-and-run is fun when it works, and it’s miserable when it fails. And while I carry a soft spot in my heart for Lenny Harris and Matt Stairs, I’m not going to pretend like I’ve spent a lot of time pining for the modern equivalents.

Stolen bases are rad, though. We can agree on that. I will vote for you in a general election if you run on a “More Billy Hamiltons” platform.

Cody Bellinger is a symbol of how baseball has changed, yes. He’s not a symbol of how it’s broken. This is something to watch. It’s also something to WATCH:, in internetese. While I agree that baseball needs something more than the three true outcomes, and while I fear that the Rob Deer Fan Club has moles employed at the highest levels of the game, I’m still okay with the balance. There are more strikeouts. There are more home runs. And there are still an awful lot of baseball plays in between.

Keep an eye on the strikeouts and homers. For now, however, I will enjoy baseball go boom and big man throw rock hard. It’s a little more extreme than it used to be, but this sport isn’t unrecognizable to me.

(Now if we can just get some pitch clocks in here ...)

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richardrobertsimsuccessblog · 8 years ago

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99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

Ugh, it happened again.

Another week or month has passed, and you’ve made zero progress on your writing goals.

Deep down you know your writing is important, but you can’t take consistent action.

What’s really going on here?

The truth is, you don’t feel inspired.

You can’t help but marvel at other writers who do persist, and have a large body of work you can’t even fathom achieving.

How do you get there?

How do you find the inspiration you need to stay the course long enough to become the prolific, popular, and successful writer you dream of becoming?

The Dirty Little Lie You Tell Yourself About Inspiration

If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you might be guilty of “believing in magic” when it comes to your writing career.

People who fail to do the things they say they want to do believe in fairy tales, like this one:

They believe successful writers have “made it,” and have no problem staying motivated because they’ve “arrived.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Regardless of how successful you are, there will be days you feel uninspired. In fact, what once seemed like a passion-filled calling can turn into a bit of a slog after a while.

Professional athletes love the game, but they don’t necessarily want to train their bodies every single day.

Business owners love money and recognition, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the process of getting their business off the ground.

You love expressing yourself with words, but you won’t necessarily enjoy each and every writing session.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, I have 99 different ideas for writers — use them whenever you’re struggling to turn intention into action.

So here’s how to get inspired to write:

1. Do the One Thing They Always Tell Writers Not to Do

Once I paid attention to the writing in my favorite shows, I drew inspiration from the stories and turned a seemingly useless activity into creative fuel.

2. Read Your Old Love Letters

3. Embrace Your Insignificance

Realize the universe doesn’t care about you. Oftentimes, we lack inspiration because of fear. We’re afraid because we feel like the world is waiting for us to fail, like there’s a spotlight shining on our inadequacy. We live on a planet that’s one of billions of planets in one of billions of galaxies, each of which contains billions of stars. In the grand scheme of things, you’re insignificant. Nothing you do “matters,” except that it matters to you. Go for it, because you have nothing to lose.

4. Make the Subtle Shift from Goal-Setting to Habit-Forming

Goals give you inspiration by providing an end point, but habits weave inspiration into the core of your being and make it automatic.

Habits trump goals every time. The most prolific writers aren’t the most goal-oriented. They’re built to show up every day and do the work.

5. Tell Yourself You’re Not Good Enough

I once heard a story about a successful real estate agent who was constantly asked about how to break into the industry. He gave them all the same answer, “Don’t get into real estate. You’re not cut out for it.” He gave that answer because he knows it acted as reverse psychology for those who were cut out for it, and filtered out those that weren’t. Try a little reverse psychology on yourself. Try to convince yourself you’re not good enough, and then get offended. Of course you’re good enough! You were born to write. Trick yourself to put a fire in your belly and get inspired.

6. Start a Chain Gang

7. Become the G.O.A.T.

Focus on becoming so great you can’t be ignored. Most writers are worried about what the competition is doing and idolize their favorite writers. Instead, you’ll focus on being so good the competition will start to watch you. Embrace the attitude of Michael Jordan in his first few seasons. He knew the league was going to belong to him before it actually did. He put his head down, did the work, and demolished the competition to become the Greatest of All Time. You can be the same. Put your head down, write, and one day people will say “Who is this?”

8. Take a Dump

9. Embrace Your Inner Hulk

10. Become a Better Writer Without Becoming a Better Writer

Look at Tiger Woods. He never recovered from his personal scandal. What does that tell you? It tells you life outside your craft is just as important as practicing it, if not more.

11. Make It Impossible to Edit While You Write

12. Imagine Your Worst-Case Scenario

13. Start Acting Like a Child

What advice would a five-year-old give you about your writing? Would they tell you to focus hard, create solid outlines, and hit your daily word count? No. They’d tell you to have fun. Remember fun? When you were a child, you only cared about exploration. You didn’t waste time worrying about the future. The present was all you knew. I get it. You have “big dreams,” but if you take yourself too seriously, writing will get rote. If you’re feeling stuck trying to edit your manuscript, write something ridiculous. Write something totally unrelated to your niche for pure fun with no intention of publishing it. Act like a child and watch your curiosity and creativity flourish.

14. Dumb It Down

15. Make Money Your Muse

Take writing jobs as a freelancer if you’re looking to get writing without having to come up with your own ideas. As a freelancer you’ll work within the guidelines of what your client wants. This offers the benefit of money, plus you’ll develop a writing habit along the way.

16. Use your 9-to-5 to Fuel Your 5-to-9

17. Discover the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

18. Don’t Believe the Myth

Remember this phrase from Jerry Seinfeld: “Writer’s block is just a made-up excuse for not doing your work.”

19. Sign Your Life Away

Create a contract with yourself. Make an actual signed document stating what you’re going to accomplish with your writing and place it somewhere prominent.

Imagine you’re sitting down to write and you look up to see an agreement you made with yourself, not just mentally, but physically. Wouldn’t that inspire you to hold to your commitment?

These little “nudges” might seem trivial on their own, but combining them changes your environment and makes it more conducive to productivity and creativity.

20. Make Your Writing Career a Family Affair

21. Get Meta

22. Converse to Create

23. When Inspiration Fails, Try Desperation

24. WWJD

25. Create to Connect

It’s easy to get caught up in numbers — how many subscribers you have, how many views your website gets per month, and how many comments you receive — but remember, you’re writing for real people. Even if you have just a few readers, get to know them. Send out an email to your tribe telling them they can each get 15 minutes on the phone with you to talk shop. Add prompts to your blog posts to encourage readers to share their lives with you. When you create with the intention of connecting with other human beings, it inspires you to work that much harder, because you can feel the person on the other end of the screen.

26. Become the CEO of You, Inc.

27. Don’t Follow in the Footsteps of Great Writers

28. Do the Math

29. Answer Random Questions from Total Strangers

30. Get Zen, Then Pen

The headspace app comes with a series of guided meditations you can use to start fresh every day.

31. Choose Quantity Over Quality

32. Teach an Old Draft New Tricks

33. Surround Yourself with Great Work

34. Put a Pot of Gold at the End of Your Rainbow

Setting goals doesn’t often work. The reason why they don’t work is because we don’t like to work! We want results. It’s why workout DVDs are called Beach Body or Six Pack Abs in Six Weeks instead of Exercise Regimen for your Core. You know you’ll have to do the work, but the results are what compel you to get started. Create statements around the rewards you’ll reap from your writing and the results you want, e.g., “Writing my book will give me the money, attention, and sense of accomplishment I’ve always longed for. ” When you think of setting goals and building habits in terms of the rewards they’ll afford you, you’re more likely to follow through.

35. Drink Rocket Fuel to Skyrocket Your Inspiration

Drink coffee. Coffee has fueled the creative inspiration of writers for centuries. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write well without it.

36. Journey into the Wild

37. Switch Your Scenery

Imagine you’re lying back in a hammock in Bali. You’re surrounded by warm weather and a fresh breeze with a coconut by your side to sip on. You also have your laptop in your lap. That sounds like an inspiring environment to me. There has long been a link between travel and writing. Seeing new parts of the world is inspiring in and of itself, plus it will surely give you new material to write about as well. And even if you can’t make a physical trip, just spending a few minutes visualizing an exotic destination can provide valuable writing inspiration.

38. Devour People’s Brains

I just finished my second book. I pulled and wove in ideas from billionaires, dead Roman emperors, and Harvard psychologists. I didn’t go searching for the information. I conjured it from the recesses of my mind while writing, because I’ve read 100 books in the past two years. It’s like Neo in the Matrix where he “downloads” the ability to fight in Kung Fu style.

With reading, you can “download” hundreds or thousands of years of human experience and use it at your disposal.

39. Write in This Insanely Inspiring Environment

40. Put a Gun to Your Head

41. Search for Instant Inspiration

42. Chase the Muse

Inspiration can be tricky to capture. To maximize your chances of spotting the muse, come up with clever traps. For example, you can come up with a writing problem you’re trying to solve right before bed, let it stir in your subconscious mind while you sleep, and wake yourself up in the middle of the night and jot down what comes to mind in your hazy subconscious state. You can set prompts on your phone to randomly write whatever comes to mind at the exact time. Carry a pen and paper with you everywhere you go to capture ideas as they come. It seems mechanical, but careful planning can inspire you to create more.

43. Star in Your Own Montage

44. Find a Tango Partner

Find a writing partner to keep you accountable. Working with someone who’s “in the trenches” like you will help both of you inspire each other. There’s strength in numbers.

45. Find Inspiration in Your Rearview Mirror

46. Eviscerate Your Excuses

47. Join a Local Gang

48. Fake Your Own Death

49. Tune In to Tune Out Writer’s Block

50. Choose the Opinion You Like Best

Have you ever looked at the same piece of writing at different times and had two different opinions?

We’re quick to look at the negative opinions of ourselves and our work and believe them to be true. We accept negativity with alarming ease. Our mind can just as easily believe the good things we tell ourselves about ourselves. The next time you swing between both opinions of your writing, choose the one that inspires you. It’s okay to toot your own horn (in your mind) when you’ve penned some damn fine words. In fact, you should do it every time you feel good about your writing to keep the inspiration going.

51. Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

Get your fingers moving. The act of typing itself can lead to a flow state and productive writing. Sometimes I’ll start by typing “I don’t know what to write about,” just to get my fingers moving. The staring at the blank page without typing contributes to writer’s block.

52. Get Back in Touch with Your “Why”

53. Find Writing Inspiration in Dark Places

Life throws curve balls at you. While you can’t avoid certain situations from happening to you, you can use them as sources of inspiration to create.

54. Remember that Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

55. Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

56. Picture Your Name on a Best-Selling Book

If you’ve never written a book before, go on Canva and create a cover for an imaginary book and put your name on it. Stare at it and imagine how it will feel to have a published book with your name on it in the future. The first time I held a copy of something I created, I was euphoric. I continue to chase that feeling each time I write.

57. Let Life Inspire Art

Many imagine successful writers as people locked up in cabins with typewriters, toiling away at their work in isolation until they resurface with their manuscripts. Some of the best writers, like Hemingway, spent as much time living and adventuring as they did writing. If you want to make your writing more interesting, make your life more interesting. If you’re feeling frustrated, step out into the world, enjoy it, and let your experiences compel you to write again.

58. Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Enter a writing contest. Writing contests often pay for top prize winners. There’s one incentive.

Knowing you’re a part of something larger than yourself can be inspiring. Use a writing contest to show the world what you’ve got.

59. Act Like a Hollywood Script Doctor

Rewrite a dissatisfying ending of a popular movie or book. It’ll get you in the mood to write because you’re familiar with the subject matter. If you have the gall to rewrite a popular story, you should be confident enough to create your own.

60. Don’t Fall into the Routine Trap

Write when you’re most creative. You don’t have to be a morning person to write well.

Some people are more creative at eleven at night. Blindly copying routines that don’t suit you is a surefire way to fail. Create an environment and schedule that aligns with your strengths.

61. Make a Creative Pilgrimage

This may seem a bit drastic, but moving to another city can inspire you to be more creative. In his book Where Good Ideas Come From, Stephen Johnson claims that moving to a more populated city fosters creativity through “superlinear scaling,” which is a fancy way of saying that the more people you’re exposed to, the more creative you are. Maybe you’re not in a position to move, but if you’re young and mobile, perhaps you should take your talents to the Big Apple or out West.

62. Exercise Your Neurons

Your brain needs exercise like any other part of your body. If you’re not feeling inspired, try playing some games that involve words. Hitting a triple word score in Scrabble can remind you of your writing prowess. The education company Lumosity has a line of brain games that help you increase your vocabulary.

63. Cast Yourself Away

64. Use These Two Words as Inspiration

Interesting questions lead to interesting answers. Many of the best pieces of writing started with the phrase, “What if?” Use hypothetical questions to inspire new ideas. For example, you could ask, “What if I wrote a piece saying the exact opposite of what most people believe about _____?” or “What if we lived in a world where everyone was bluntly honest all the time?” These types of questions create open-ended areas to explore, giving you new material to think about and write about.

65. When in Doubt, Ship

Other creative people like Neil Gaiman and Tina Fey have reported feeling the same way, regardless of the amount of work they’ve put into the world.

What’s the difference between them and the people who let their inspiration die? They ship.

They put their work into the world regardless of how they felt about it, and it paid off. If they can create while plagued with doubt, so can you.

Look far and wide for examples of successful writers and you’ll find one common denominator — shipping. Let their stories inspire you to do the same.

66. Let Technology Lend a Helping Hand

Use idea-generating tools from companies like Hubspot and Portent’s Content. With ready-made ideas and headlines, you should have everything you need to get started.

67. Be a Little Creepy

Have you ever looked at a couple across the room at a restaurant and wondered what their lives were like? Have you ever walked past an older person at the park and thought about what crazy experiences they’ve had? People-watching can be great inspiration for writing. You can observe people you don’t know, and let the mystery of their lives inspire you to write a story about what they could be like. It’s part writing exercise, yes, but knowing you can draw material from anywhere is inspiring.

68. Eat a Sh** Sandwich

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

He was referring to what many, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, call a “shit sandwich.”

Is writing your shit sandwich? If so, get really hungry, because life is going to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet.

69. Say “Hi, My Name Is _____”

Attend a conference for writers in your niche. You have to be careful with conferences because they’re a waste of time if you go without any predefined goals, but they’re great for meeting industry insiders and the atmosphere of the event will make you want to perform well when you get home.

70. Go to the Source

Reach out to your favorite writers and ask for advice. Many people do this, but they do it the wrong way. First, send them a message simply thanking them for the work they’ve done and leave it at that. Tell them how you’ve implemented something they’ve taught you. After your initial outreach, come back later and ask a specific question regarding a situation. Don’t just say “let me pick your brain.” Most are willing to help if they’re not too busy. Some won’t respond, but others will. Use their words as inspiration, follow up with their advice, and let them know when you’ve implemented it.

71. Get Yourself Some Education

72. Pat Yourself on the Back

73. Follow The Artist’s Way

74. Find Inspiration in Everyday Heroes

I once listened to a podcast by serial self-publishing author Steve Scott. He was recapping the strategies from his latest book launch, which resulted in $60,000 in royalties. Hearing his story was inspiring because he isn’t Malcolm Gladwell. He started self-publishing books and kept doing it until he figured out how to become one of the best. He’s what you would call an ordinary person doing something extraordinary in the publishing world. There are many examples of self-published authors you can use as inspiration. Find them on Amazon and read their stories. Once you know it’s possible to make a killing without the gatekeepers, you’ll be inspired to do it yourself.

75. Embrace Your Inner Barbara Walters

76. Dare to Be Different

Embrace your inner weirdo. Your idiosyncrasies and strange ideas are what make you you. Don’t be afraid to show them. The more personality you put into your writing, the better.

77. Throw Your Big Hairy Goals in the Garbage

78. Stop When You Hit the Sweet Spot

79. Sleep with the Enemy

Action is the best deterrent to fear, but it never erases it. Each step you take forward alongside your fear will inspire you to do it again and again.

80. Bore Yourself to Death

You stare at the blank page and nothing comes to mind. You feel blank and stuck. You’re bored. Good. Boredom filters out the pretenders from the contenders. Sometimes inspiration won’t sneak up on you until you stop looking for it. If you stop trying to force the situation and let the words come to you, they’ll come. Those writing sessions where you’d normally quit after ten minutes of boredom may bring a creative breakthrough at the eleventh minute.

81. Literally Write for One Person

The idea of writing for one person has been offered time and time again, but what if you went into insane detail about the person you’re writing for?

Instead of writing for “a member of your target audience,” come up with a customer avatar even an experienced marketer would find a bit obsessive.

Something like:

82. Have an Affair

83. Create a Monster in Your Lab

84. Don’t Trust the Opinions of Losers

Get your inspiration back by seeing “trolls” for what they really are — people who hate their own lives so much they want to criticise what you do in yours.

85. Stop Telling Yourself You’re a Writer

86. Turn Trials into Triumph

You know what’s more inspiring than believing you can overcome obstacles? Actually overcoming them, because knowing you have the strength to do it inspires you to do it again.

When a piece you write gets rejected, get inspired to prove the editor wrong. When your blog post or book falls flat on its face, get inspired to write ten times better the next time.

Real inspiration isn’t warm, fuzzy, and cute. The truly inspired are gritty, tenacious, and walk directly into the flames of disappointment and setbacks.

87. Con Your Way to Success

88. Appreciate the Fortunate Timing of Your Birth

Consider the fact it’s ten times easier to become a successful writer than it used to be. A few decades ago, to get published you needed to throw your needle into the haystack of the publishing world and hope someone discovered you. Now you can publish your own books. With the click of a button, your words can potentially reach millions of people. Technology has empowered us all. I call this the excuse-free era because there are more opportunities than ever to find exposure.

89. Realize You’ve Already Put in “10,000 Hours”

90. Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Focus on doing one thing a little better each time you write. If you only get one percent better every day, you’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year.

91. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Making an investment in your writing inspires you to create because it shows you’re serious. Being an “amateur,” isn’t always inspiring, but “turning pro” is.

92. Stop Robbing the World of Your Creativity

Think about your readers. What if the scientist who was meant to cure cancer decided medical school was too hard? She isn’t only robbing herself, but the world. Your writing belongs to your readers. Your words can help educate, entertain, and inspire people. I once had a reader comment on a lull I had between blog posts. They were relying on my words to help their career. Your words matter, and we need them.

93. Pay Your Debt

94. Harness the Curious Power of Envy

Have you ever been jealous of another writer for their accomplishments? You can use your envy as fuel to inspire yourself to improve. Oftentimes when I see someone else do something I want to do but haven’t done, I turn my envy into curiosity. After seeing green for a bit, I think to myself, “How did they do it?” Then I trace their steps and reverse-engineer what they’ve done. I’ve used this strategy to get featured on popular blogs, come up with headlines for blog posts, and add more substance to my work. Don’t just get jealous, get better.

95. Hit the Reset Button

I once wrote 15,000 words of a book and quit. I just wasn’t feeling it. I struggled over the words over and over again, but the project just didn’t seem like a good fit. I started over completely and wrote my second book. The experience of having a fresh start was inspiring because I was re-energized with new material. You don’t want to fall into the perfectionist trap, but you can inspire yourself by carefully choosing when to start over.

96. Create Your Own Turning Point

97. Curate an Inspiration “Museum”

We come across inspiring material all the time, whether they’re quotes, places we visit, pieces of art, or experiences we have. What if you created a place to document and store all of this inspiration, so you could use it later in your writing? This could be in a form of a journal or scrapbook where you collect inspiring ideas. You could keep track of things you’ve thought to yourself or heard from other people that inspire you. When your creative well runs dry, you can look to your journal for the jump-start you need.

98. Set a Finish Line

With the first book I wrote, I gave myself a specific deadline to publish it. I woke up every day, hammered away at the keyboard with reckless abandon, and looked forward to the last lap.

99. Boil it Down to This…

Get Busy Writing, or Get Busy Dying

If you really have the itch to write, it’ll never go away,

You have two options — get inspired and get to work, or let your anxiety and insecurities grow and fester.

I know what it feels like to get stuck between the feeling of knowing you have something important to say and wondering whether you’re cut out for the task at hand.

It’s been two years since I started, and I never imagined I’d be where I am today. The same can happen for you, but not without putting in the work day in and day out until you get what you want.

Remember, whether you write or not, the time will pass anyway.

You are cut out for it.

You can make all of your writing dreams come true.

You got this. Now go.

About the Author: Ayodeji is a writing coach who helps aspiring writers develop the confidence and habits they need to make an impact and and income. Visit his page to get three free writing guides, plus a copy of his bestselling Amazon book.

99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

#Richard Roberts IM Success Mix #99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

0 notes

alanajacksontx · 8 years ago

Text

99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

Ugh, it happened again.

Another week or month has passed, and you’ve made zero progress on your writing goals.

Deep down you know your writing is important, but you can’t take consistent action.

What’s really going on here?

The truth is, you don’t feel inspired.

You can’t help but marvel at other writers who do persist, and have a large body of work you can’t even fathom achieving.

How do you get there?

How do you find the inspiration you need to stay the course long enough to become the prolific, popular, and successful writer you dream of becoming?

The Dirty Little Lie You Tell Yourself About Inspiration

If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you might be guilty of “believing in magic” when it comes to your writing career.

People who fail to do the things they say they want to do believe in fairy tales, like this one:

They believe successful writers have “made it,” and have no problem staying motivated because they’ve “arrived.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Regardless of how successful you are, there will be days you feel uninspired. In fact, what once seemed like a passion-filled calling can turn into a bit of a slog after a while.

Professional athletes love the game, but they don’t necessarily want to train their bodies every single day.

Business owners love money and recognition, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the process of getting their business off the ground.

You love expressing yourself with words, but you won’t necessarily enjoy each and every writing session.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, I have 101 different ideas for writers — use them whenever you’re struggling to turn intention into action.

So here’s how to get inspired to write:

1. Do the One Thing They Always Tell Writers Not to Do

Once I paid attention to the writing in my favorite shows, I drew inspiration from the stories and turned a seemingly useless activity into creative fuel.

2. Read Your Old Love Letters

3. Embrace Your Insignificance

4. Make the Subtle Shift from Goal-Setting to Habit-Forming

Goals give you inspiration by providing an end point, but habits weave inspiration into the core of your being and make it automatic.

Habits trump goals every time. The most prolific writers aren’t the most goal-oriented. They’re built to show up every day and do the work.

5. Tell Yourself You’re Not Good Enough

6. Start a Chain Gang

7. Become the G.O.A.T.

8. Take a Dump

9. Embrace Your Inner Hulk

10. Become a Better Writer Without Becoming a Better Writer

Look at Tiger Woods. He never recovered from his personal scandal. What does that tell you? It tells you life outside your craft is just as important as practicing it, if not more.

11. Make It Impossible to Edit While You Write

12. Imagine Your Worst-Case Scenario

13. Start Acting Like a Child

14. Dumb It Down

15. Make Money Your Muse

16. Use your 9-to-5 to Fuel Your 5-to-9

17. Discover the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

18. Don’t Believe the Myth

Remember this phrase from Jerry Seinfeld: “Writer’s block is just a made-up excuse for not doing your work.”

19. Sign Your Life Away

Create a contract with yourself. Make an actual signed document stating what you’re going to accomplish with your writing and place it somewhere prominent.

Imagine you’re sitting down to write and you look up to see an agreement you made with yourself, not just mentally, but physically. Wouldn’t that inspire you to hold to your commitment?

These little “nudges” might seem trivial on their own, but combining them changes your environment and makes it more conducive to productivity and creativity.

20. Make Your Writing Career a Family Affair

21. Get Meta

22. Converse to Create

23. When Inspiration Fails, Try Desperation

24. WWJD

25. Create to Connect

26. Become the CEO of You, Inc.

27. Don’t Follow in the Footsteps of Great Writers

28. Do the Math

29. Answer Random Questions from Total Strangers

30. Get Zen, Then Pen

The headspace app comes with a series of guided meditations you can use to start fresh every day.

31. Choose Quantity Over Quality

32. Teach an Old Draft New Tricks

33. Surround Yourself with Great Work

34. Put a Pot of Gold at the End of Your Rainbow

35. Drink Rocket Fuel to Skyrocket Your Inspiration

Drink coffee. Coffee has fueled the creative inspiration of writers for centuries. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write well without it.

36. Journey into the Wild

37. Switch Your Scenery

38. Devour People’s Brains

I just finished my second book. I pulled and wove in ideas from billionaires, dead Roman emperors, and Harvard psychologists. I didn’t go searching for the information. I conjured it from the recesses of my mind while writing, because I’ve read 100 books in the past two years. It’s like Neo in the Matrix where he “downloads” the ability to fight in Kung Fu style.

With reading, you can “download” hundreds or thousands of years of human experience and use it at your disposal.

39. Write in This Insanely Inspiring Environment

40. Put a Gun to Your Head

41. Search for Instant Inspiration

42. Chase the Muse

43. Star in Your Own Montage

44. Find a Tango Partner

Find a writing partner to keep you accountable. Working with someone who’s “in the trenches” like you will help both of you inspire each other. There’s strength in numbers.

45. Find Inspiration in Your Rearview Mirror

46. Eviscerate Your Excuses

47. Join a Local Gang

48. Fake Your Own Death

49. Tune In to Tune Out Writer’s Block

50. Choose the Opinion You Like Best

Have you ever looked at the same piece of writing at different times and had two different opinions?

51. Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

52. Get Back in Touch with Your “Why”

53. Find Writing Inspiration in Dark Places

Life throws curve balls at you. While you can’t avoid certain situations from happening to you, you can use them as sources of inspiration to create.

54. Remember that Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

55. Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

56. Picture Your Name on a Best-Selling Book

57. Let Life Inspire Art

58. Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Enter a writing contest. Writing contests often pay for top prize winners. There’s one incentive.

Knowing you’re a part of something larger than yourself can be inspiring. Use a writing contest to show the world what you’ve got.

59. Act Like a Hollywood Script Doctor

60. Don’t Fall into the Routine Trap

Write when you’re most creative. You don’t have to be a morning person to write well.

Some people are more creative at eleven at night. Blindly copying routines that don’t suit you is a surefire way to fail. Create an environment and schedule that aligns with your strengths.

61. Make a Creative Pilgrimage

62. Exercise Your Neurons

Your brain needs exercise like any other part of your body. If you’re not feeling inspired, try playing some games that involve words. Hitting a triple word score in Scrabble can remind you of your writing prowess. The education company Lumosity has a line of brain games that help you increase your vocabulary.

63. Cast Yourself Away

64. Use These Two Words as Inspiration

65. When in Doubt, Ship

Other creative people like Neil Gaiman and Tina Fey have reported feeling the same way, regardless of the amount of work they’ve put into the world.

What’s the difference between them and the people who let their inspiration die? They ship.

They put their work into the world regardless of how they felt about it, and it paid off. If they can create while plagued with doubt, so can you.

Look far and wide for examples of successful writers and you’ll find one common denominator — shipping. Let their stories inspire you to do the same.

66. Let Technology Lend a Helping Hand

Use idea-generating tools from companies like Hubspot and Portent’s Content. With ready-made ideas and headlines, you should have everything you need to get started.

67. Be a Little Creepy

68. Eat a Sh** Sandwich

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

He was referring to what many, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, call a “shit sandwich.”

Is writing your shit sandwich? If so, get really hungry, because life is going to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet.

69. Say “Hi, My Name Is _____”

Attend a conference for writers in your niche. You have to be careful with conferences because they’re a waste of time if you go without any predefined goals, but they’re great for meeting industry insiders and the atmosphere of the event will make you want to perform well when you get home.

70. Go to the Source

71. Get Yourself Some Education

72. Pat Yourself on the Back

73. Follow The Artist’s Way

74. Find Inspiration in Everyday Heroes

75. Embrace Your Inner Barbara Walters

76. Dare to Be Different

Embrace your inner weirdo. Your idiosyncrasies and strange ideas are what make you you. Don’t be afraid to show them. The more personality you put into your writing, the better.

77. Throw Your Big Hairy Goals in the Garbage

78. Stop When You Hit the Sweet Spot

79. Sleep with the Enemy

Action is the best deterrent to fear, but it never erases it. Each step you take forward alongside your fear will inspire you to do it again and again.

80. Bore Yourself to Death

81. Literally Write for One Person

The idea of writing for one person has been offered time and time again, but what if you went into insane detail about the person you’re writing for?

Instead of writing for “a member of your target audience,” come up with a customer avatar even an experienced marketer would find a bit obsessive.

Something like:

82. Have an Affair

83. Create a Monster in Your Lab

84. Don’t Trust the Opinions of Losers

Get your inspiration back by seeing “trolls” for what they really are — people who hate their own lives so much they want to criticise what you do in yours.

85. Stop Telling Yourself You’re a Writer

86. Turn Trials into Triumph

You know what’s more inspiring than believing you can overcome obstacles? Actually overcoming them, because knowing you have the strength to do it inspires you to do it again.

When a piece you write gets rejected, get inspired to prove the editor wrong. When your blog post or book falls flat on its face, get inspired to write ten times better the next time.

Real inspiration isn’t warm, fuzzy, and cute. The truly inspired are gritty, tenacious, and walk directly into the flames of disappointment and setbacks.

87. Con Your Way to Success

88. Appreciate the Fortunate Timing of Your Birth

89. Realize You’ve Already Put in “10,000 Hours”

90. Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Focus on doing one thing a little better each time you write. If you only get one percent better every day, you’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year.

91. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Making an investment in your writing inspires you to create because it shows you’re serious. Being an “amateur,” isn’t always inspiring, but “turning pro” is.

92. Stop Robbing the World of Your Creativity

93. Pay Your Debt

94. Harness the Curious Power of Envy

95. Hit the Reset Button

96. Create Your Own Turning Point

97. Curate an Inspiration “Museum”

98. Set a Finish Line

With the first book I wrote, I gave myself a specific deadline to publish it. I woke up every day, hammered away at the keyboard with reckless abandon, and looked forward to the last lap.

99. Boil it Down to This…

Get Busy Writing, or Get Busy Dying

If you really have the itch to write, it’ll never go away,

You have two options — get inspired and get to work, or let your anxiety and insecurities grow and fester.

I know what it feels like to get stuck between the feeling of knowing you have something important to say and wondering whether you’re cut out for the task at hand.

It’s been two years since I started, and I never imagined I’d be where I am today. The same can happen for you, but not without putting in the work day in and day out until you get what you want.

Remember, whether you write or not, the time will pass anyway.

You are cut out for it.

You can make all of your writing dreams come true.

You got this. Now go.

from Internet Marketing Tips https://smartblogger.com/how-to-get-inspired-to-write/

0 notes

laurendcameron · 8 years ago

Text

99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

Ugh, it happened again.

Another week or month has passed, and you’ve made zero progress on your writing goals.

Deep down you know your writing is important, but you can’t take consistent action.

What’s really going on here?

The truth is, you don’t feel inspired.

You can’t help but marvel at other writers who do persist, and have a large body of work you can’t even fathom achieving.

How do you get there?

How do you find the inspiration you need to stay the course long enough to become the prolific, popular, and successful writer you dream of becoming?

The Dirty Little Lie You Tell Yourself About Inspiration

If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you might be guilty of “believing in magic” when it comes to your writing career.

People who fail to do the things they say they want to do believe in fairy tales, like this one:

They believe successful writers have “made it,” and have no problem staying motivated because they’ve “arrived.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Regardless of how successful you are, there will be days you feel uninspired. In fact, what once seemed like a passion-filled calling can turn into a bit of a slog after a while.

Professional athletes love the game, but they don’t necessarily want to train their bodies every single day.

Business owners love money and recognition, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the process of getting their business off the ground.

You love expressing yourself with words, but you won’t necessarily enjoy each and every writing session.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, I have 101 different ideas for writers — use them whenever you’re struggling to turn intention into action.

So here’s how to get inspired to write:

1. Do the One Thing They Always Tell Writers Not to Do

Once I paid attention to the writing in my favorite shows, I drew inspiration from the stories and turned a seemingly useless activity into creative fuel.

2. Read Your Old Love Letters

3. Embrace Your Insignificance

4. Make the Subtle Shift from Goal-Setting to Habit-Forming

Goals give you inspiration by providing an end point, but habits weave inspiration into the core of your being and make it automatic.

Habits trump goals every time. The most prolific writers aren’t the most goal-oriented. They’re built to show up every day and do the work.

5. Tell Yourself You’re Not Good Enough

6. Start a Chain Gang

7. Become the G.O.A.T.

8. Take a Dump

9. Embrace Your Inner Hulk

10. Become a Better Writer Without Becoming a Better Writer

Look at Tiger Woods. He never recovered from his personal scandal. What does that tell you? It tells you life outside your craft is just as important as practicing it, if not more.

11. Make It Impossible to Edit While You Write

12. Imagine Your Worst-Case Scenario

13. Start Acting Like a Child

14. Dumb It Down

15. Make Money Your Muse

16. Use your 9-to-5 to Fuel Your 5-to-9

17. Discover the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

18. Don’t Believe the Myth

Remember this phrase from Jerry Seinfeld: “Writer’s block is just a made-up excuse for not doing your work.”

19. Sign Your Life Away

Create a contract with yourself. Make an actual signed document stating what you’re going to accomplish with your writing and place it somewhere prominent.

Imagine you’re sitting down to write and you look up to see an agreement you made with yourself, not just mentally, but physically. Wouldn’t that inspire you to hold to your commitment?

These little “nudges” might seem trivial on their own, but combining them changes your environment and makes it more conducive to productivity and creativity.

20. Make Your Writing Career a Family Affair

21. Get Meta

22. Converse to Create

23. When Inspiration Fails, Try Desperation

24. WWJD

25. Create to Connect

26. Become the CEO of You, Inc.

27. Don’t Follow in the Footsteps of Great Writers

28. Do the Math

29. Answer Random Questions from Total Strangers

30. Get Zen, Then Pen

The headspace app comes with a series of guided meditations you can use to start fresh every day.

31. Choose Quantity Over Quality

32. Teach an Old Draft New Tricks

33. Surround Yourself with Great Work

34. Put a Pot of Gold at the End of Your Rainbow

35. Drink Rocket Fuel to Skyrocket Your Inspiration

Drink coffee. Coffee has fueled the creative inspiration of writers for centuries. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write well without it.

36. Journey into the Wild

37. Switch Your Scenery

38. Devour People’s Brains

I just finished my second book. I pulled and wove in ideas from billionaires, dead Roman emperors, and Harvard psychologists. I didn’t go searching for the information. I conjured it from the recesses of my mind while writing, because I’ve read 100 books in the past two years. It’s like Neo in the Matrix where he “downloads” the ability to fight in Kung Fu style.

With reading, you can “download” hundreds or thousands of years of human experience and use it at your disposal.

39. Write in This Insanely Inspiring Environment

40. Put a Gun to Your Head

41. Search for Instant Inspiration

42. Chase the Muse

43. Star in Your Own Montage

44. Find a Tango Partner

Find a writing partner to keep you accountable. Working with someone who’s “in the trenches” like you will help both of you inspire each other. There’s strength in numbers.

45. Find Inspiration in Your Rearview Mirror

46. Eviscerate Your Excuses

47. Join a Local Gang

48. Fake Your Own Death

49. Tune In to Tune Out Writer’s Block

50. Choose the Opinion You Like Best

Have you ever looked at the same piece of writing at different times and had two different opinions?

51. Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

52. Get Back in Touch with Your “Why”

53. Find Writing Inspiration in Dark Places

Life throws curve balls at you. While you can’t avoid certain situations from happening to you, you can use them as sources of inspiration to create.

54. Remember that Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

55. Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

56. Picture Your Name on a Best-Selling Book

57. Let Life Inspire Art

58. Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Enter a writing contest. Writing contests often pay for top prize winners. There’s one incentive.

Knowing you’re a part of something larger than yourself can be inspiring. Use a writing contest to show the world what you’ve got.

59. Act Like a Hollywood Script Doctor

60. Don’t Fall into the Routine Trap

Write when you’re most creative. You don’t have to be a morning person to write well.

Some people are more creative at eleven at night. Blindly copying routines that don’t suit you is a surefire way to fail. Create an environment and schedule that aligns with your strengths.

61. Make a Creative Pilgrimage

62. Exercise Your Neurons

Your brain needs exercise like any other part of your body. If you’re not feeling inspired, try playing some games that involve words. Hitting a triple word score in Scrabble can remind you of your writing prowess. The education company Lumosity has a line of brain games that help you increase your vocabulary.

63. Cast Yourself Away

64. Use These Two Words as Inspiration

65. When in Doubt, Ship

Other creative people like Neil Gaiman and Tina Fey have reported feeling the same way, regardless of the amount of work they’ve put into the world.

What’s the difference between them and the people who let their inspiration die? They ship.

They put their work into the world regardless of how they felt about it, and it paid off. If they can create while plagued with doubt, so can you.

Look far and wide for examples of successful writers and you’ll find one common denominator — shipping. Let their stories inspire you to do the same.

66. Let Technology Lend a Helping Hand

Use idea-generating tools from companies like Hubspot and Portent’s Content. With ready-made ideas and headlines, you should have everything you need to get started.

67. Be a Little Creepy

68. Eat a Sh** Sandwich

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

He was referring to what many, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, call a “shit sandwich.”

Is writing your shit sandwich? If so, get really hungry, because life is going to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet.

69. Say “Hi, My Name Is _____”

Attend a conference for writers in your niche. You have to be careful with conferences because they’re a waste of time if you go without any predefined goals, but they’re great for meeting industry insiders and the atmosphere of the event will make you want to perform well when you get home.

70. Go to the Source

71. Get Yourself Some Education

72. Pat Yourself on the Back

73. Follow The Artist’s Way

74. Find Inspiration in Everyday Heroes

75. Embrace Your Inner Barbara Walters

76. Dare to Be Different

Embrace your inner weirdo. Your idiosyncrasies and strange ideas are what make you you. Don’t be afraid to show them. The more personality you put into your writing, the better.

77. Throw Your Big Hairy Goals in the Garbage

78. Stop When You Hit the Sweet Spot

79. Sleep with the Enemy

Action is the best deterrent to fear, but it never erases it. Each step you take forward alongside your fear will inspire you to do it again and again.

80. Bore Yourself to Death

81. Literally Write for One Person

The idea of writing for one person has been offered time and time again, but what if you went into insane detail about the person you’re writing for?

Instead of writing for “a member of your target audience,” come up with a customer avatar even an experienced marketer would find a bit obsessive.

Something like:

82. Have an Affair

83. Create a Monster in Your Lab

84. Don’t Trust the Opinions of Losers

Get your inspiration back by seeing “trolls” for what they really are — people who hate their own lives so much they want to criticise what you do in yours.

85. Stop Telling Yourself You’re a Writer

86. Turn Trials into Triumph

You know what’s more inspiring than believing you can overcome obstacles? Actually overcoming them, because knowing you have the strength to do it inspires you to do it again.

When a piece you write gets rejected, get inspired to prove the editor wrong. When your blog post or book falls flat on its face, get inspired to write ten times better the next time.

Real inspiration isn’t warm, fuzzy, and cute. The truly inspired are gritty, tenacious, and walk directly into the flames of disappointment and setbacks.

87. Con Your Way to Success

88. Appreciate the Fortunate Timing of Your Birth

89. Realize You’ve Already Put in “10,000 Hours”

90. Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Focus on doing one thing a little better each time you write. If you only get one percent better every day, you’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year.

91. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Making an investment in your writing inspires you to create because it shows you’re serious. Being an “amateur,” isn’t always inspiring, but “turning pro” is.

92. Stop Robbing the World of Your Creativity

93. Pay Your Debt

94. Harness the Curious Power of Envy

95. Hit the Reset Button

96. Create Your Own Turning Point

97. Curate an Inspiration “Museum”

98. Set a Finish Line

With the first book I wrote, I gave myself a specific deadline to publish it. I woke up every day, hammered away at the keyboard with reckless abandon, and looked forward to the last lap.

99. Boil it Down to This…

Get Busy Writing, or Get Busy Dying

If you really have the itch to write, it’ll never go away,

You have two options — get inspired and get to work, or let your anxiety and insecurities grow and fester.

I know what it feels like to get stuck between the feeling of knowing you have something important to say and wondering whether you’re cut out for the task at hand.

It’s been two years since I started, and I never imagined I’d be where I am today. The same can happen for you, but not without putting in the work day in and day out until you get what you want.

Remember, whether you write or not, the time will pass anyway.

You are cut out for it.

You can make all of your writing dreams come true.

You got this. Now go.

from Lauren Cameron Updates https://smartblogger.com/how-to-get-inspired-to-write/

0 notes

sandranelsonuk · 8 years ago

Text

99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

Ugh, it happened again.

Another week or month has passed, and you’ve made zero progress on your writing goals.

Deep down you know your writing is important, but you can’t take consistent action.

What’s really going on here?

The truth is, you don’t feel inspired.

You can’t help but marvel at other writers who do persist, and have a large body of work you can’t even fathom achieving.

How do you get there?

How do you find the inspiration you need to stay the course long enough to become the prolific, popular, and successful writer you dream of becoming?

The Dirty Little Lie You Tell Yourself About Inspiration

If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you might be guilty of “believing in magic” when it comes to your writing career.

People who fail to do the things they say they want to do believe in fairy tales, like this one:

They believe successful writers have “made it,” and have no problem staying motivated because they’ve “arrived.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Regardless of how successful you are, there will be days you feel uninspired. In fact, what once seemed like a passion-filled calling can turn into a bit of a slog after a while.

Professional athletes love the game, but they don’t necessarily want to train their bodies every single day.

Business owners love money and recognition, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the process of getting their business off the ground.

You love expressing yourself with words, but you won’t necessarily enjoy each and every writing session.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, I have 101 different ideas for writers — use them whenever you’re struggling to turn intention into action.

So here’s how to get inspired to write:

1. Do the One Thing They Always Tell Writers Not to Do

Once I paid attention to the writing in my favorite shows, I drew inspiration from the stories and turned a seemingly useless activity into creative fuel.

2. Read Your Old Love Letters

3. Embrace Your Insignificance

4. Make the Subtle Shift from Goal-Setting to Habit-Forming

Goals give you inspiration by providing an end point, but habits weave inspiration into the core of your being and make it automatic.

Habits trump goals every time. The most prolific writers aren’t the most goal-oriented. They’re built to show up every day and do the work.

5. Tell Yourself You’re Not Good Enough

6. Start a Chain Gang

7. Become the G.O.A.T.

8. Take a Dump

9. Embrace Your Inner Hulk

10. Become a Better Writer Without Becoming a Better Writer

Look at Tiger Woods. He never recovered from his personal scandal. What does that tell you? It tells you life outside your craft is just as important as practicing it, if not more.

11. Make It Impossible to Edit While You Write

12. Imagine Your Worst-Case Scenario

13. Start Acting Like a Child

14. Dumb It Down

15. Make Money Your Muse

16. Use your 9-to-5 to Fuel Your 5-to-9

17. Discover the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

18. Don’t Believe the Myth

Remember this phrase from Jerry Seinfeld: “Writer’s block is just a made-up excuse for not doing your work.”

19. Sign Your Life Away

Create a contract with yourself. Make an actual signed document stating what you’re going to accomplish with your writing and place it somewhere prominent.

Imagine you’re sitting down to write and you look up to see an agreement you made with yourself, not just mentally, but physically. Wouldn’t that inspire you to hold to your commitment?

These little “nudges” might seem trivial on their own, but combining them changes your environment and makes it more conducive to productivity and creativity.

20. Make Your Writing Career a Family Affair

21. Get Meta

22. Converse to Create

23. When Inspiration Fails, Try Desperation

24. WWJD

25. Create to Connect

26. Become the CEO of You, Inc.

27. Don’t Follow in the Footsteps of Great Writers

28. Do the Math

29. Answer Random Questions from Total Strangers

30. Get Zen, Then Pen

The headspace app comes with a series of guided meditations you can use to start fresh every day.

31. Choose Quantity Over Quality

32. Teach an Old Draft New Tricks

33. Surround Yourself with Great Work

34. Put a Pot of Gold at the End of Your Rainbow

35. Drink Rocket Fuel to Skyrocket Your Inspiration

Drink coffee. Coffee has fueled the creative inspiration of writers for centuries. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write well without it.

36. Journey into the Wild

37. Switch Your Scenery

38. Devour People’s Brains

I just finished my second book. I pulled and wove in ideas from billionaires, dead Roman emperors, and Harvard psychologists. I didn’t go searching for the information. I conjured it from the recesses of my mind while writing, because I’ve read 100 books in the past two years. It’s like Neo in the Matrix where he “downloads” the ability to fight in Kung Fu style.

With reading, you can “download” hundreds or thousands of years of human experience and use it at your disposal.

39. Write in This Insanely Inspiring Environment

40. Put a Gun to Your Head

41. Search for Instant Inspiration

42. Chase the Muse

43. Star in Your Own Montage

44. Find a Tango Partner

Find a writing partner to keep you accountable. Working with someone who’s “in the trenches” like you will help both of you inspire each other. There’s strength in numbers.

45. Find Inspiration in Your Rearview Mirror

46. Eviscerate Your Excuses

47. Join a Local Gang

48. Fake Your Own Death

49. Tune In to Tune Out Writer’s Block

50. Choose the Opinion You Like Best

Have you ever looked at the same piece of writing at different times and had two different opinions?

51. Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

52. Get Back in Touch with Your “Why”

53. Find Writing Inspiration in Dark Places

Life throws curve balls at you. While you can’t avoid certain situations from happening to you, you can use them as sources of inspiration to create.

54. Remember that Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

55. Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

56. Picture Your Name on a Best-Selling Book

57. Let Life Inspire Art

58. Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Enter a writing contest. Writing contests often pay for top prize winners. There’s one incentive.

Knowing you’re a part of something larger than yourself can be inspiring. Use a writing contest to show the world what you’ve got.

59. Act Like a Hollywood Script Doctor

60. Don’t Fall into the Routine Trap

Write when you’re most creative. You don’t have to be a morning person to write well.

Some people are more creative at eleven at night. Blindly copying routines that don’t suit you is a surefire way to fail. Create an environment and schedule that aligns with your strengths.

61. Make a Creative Pilgrimage

62. Exercise Your Neurons

Your brain needs exercise like any other part of your body. If you’re not feeling inspired, try playing some games that involve words. Hitting a triple word score in Scrabble can remind you of your writing prowess. The education company Lumosity has a line of brain games that help you increase your vocabulary.

63. Cast Yourself Away

64. Use These Two Words as Inspiration

65. When in Doubt, Ship

Other creative people like Neil Gaiman and Tina Fey have reported feeling the same way, regardless of the amount of work they’ve put into the world.

What’s the difference between them and the people who let their inspiration die? They ship.

They put their work into the world regardless of how they felt about it, and it paid off. If they can create while plagued with doubt, so can you.

Look far and wide for examples of successful writers and you’ll find one common denominator — shipping. Let their stories inspire you to do the same.

66. Let Technology Lend a Helping Hand

Use idea-generating tools from companies like Hubspot and Portent’s Content. With ready-made ideas and headlines, you should have everything you need to get started.

67. Be a Little Creepy

68. Eat a Sh** Sandwich

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

He was referring to what many, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, call a “shit sandwich.”

Is writing your shit sandwich? If so, get really hungry, because life is going to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet.

69. Say “Hi, My Name Is _____”

Attend a conference for writers in your niche. You have to be careful with conferences because they’re a waste of time if you go without any predefined goals, but they’re great for meeting industry insiders and the atmosphere of the event will make you want to perform well when you get home.

70. Go to the Source

71. Get Yourself Some Education

72. Pat Yourself on the Back

73. Follow The Artist’s Way

74. Find Inspiration in Everyday Heroes

75. Embrace Your Inner Barbara Walters

76. Dare to Be Different

Embrace your inner weirdo. Your idiosyncrasies and strange ideas are what make you you. Don’t be afraid to show them. The more personality you put into your writing, the better.

77. Throw Your Big Hairy Goals in the Garbage

78. Stop When You Hit the Sweet Spot

79. Sleep with the Enemy

Action is the best deterrent to fear, but it never erases it. Each step you take forward alongside your fear will inspire you to do it again and again.

80. Bore Yourself to Death

81. Literally Write for One Person

The idea of writing for one person has been offered time and time again, but what if you went into insane detail about the person you’re writing for?

Instead of writing for “a member of your target audience,” come up with a customer avatar even an experienced marketer would find a bit obsessive.

Something like:

82. Have an Affair

83. Create a Monster in Your Lab

84. Don’t Trust the Opinions of Losers

Get your inspiration back by seeing “trolls” for what they really are — people who hate their own lives so much they want to criticise what you do in yours.

85. Stop Telling Yourself You’re a Writer

86. Turn Trials into Triumph

You know what’s more inspiring than believing you can overcome obstacles? Actually overcoming them, because knowing you have the strength to do it inspires you to do it again.

When a piece you write gets rejected, get inspired to prove the editor wrong. When your blog post or book falls flat on its face, get inspired to write ten times better the next time.

Real inspiration isn’t warm, fuzzy, and cute. The truly inspired are gritty, tenacious, and walk directly into the flames of disappointment and setbacks.

87. Con Your Way to Success

88. Appreciate the Fortunate Timing of Your Birth

89. Realize You’ve Already Put in “10,000 Hours”

90. Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Focus on doing one thing a little better each time you write. If you only get one percent better every day, you’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year.

91. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Making an investment in your writing inspires you to create because it shows you’re serious. Being an “amateur,” isn’t always inspiring, but “turning pro” is.

92. Stop Robbing the World of Your Creativity

93. Pay Your Debt

94. Harness the Curious Power of Envy

95. Hit the Reset Button

96. Create Your Own Turning Point

97. Curate an Inspiration “Museum”

98. Set a Finish Line

With the first book I wrote, I gave myself a specific deadline to publish it. I woke up every day, hammered away at the keyboard with reckless abandon, and looked forward to the last lap.

99. Boil it Down to This…

Get Busy Writing, or Get Busy Dying

If you really have the itch to write, it’ll never go away,

You have two options — get inspired and get to work, or let your anxiety and insecurities grow and fester.

I know what it feels like to get stuck between the feeling of knowing you have something important to say and wondering whether you’re cut out for the task at hand.

It’s been two years since I started, and I never imagined I’d be where I am today. The same can happen for you, but not without putting in the work day in and day out until you get what you want.

Remember, whether you write or not, the time will pass anyway.

You are cut out for it.

You can make all of your writing dreams come true.

You got this. Now go.

from Julia Garza Social Media Tips https://smartblogger.com/how-to-get-inspired-to-write/

0 notes

annegalliher · 8 years ago

Text

99 Ways to Get Inspired to Write

Ugh, it happened again.

Another week or month has passed, and you’ve made zero progress on your writing goals.

Deep down you know your writing is important, but you can’t take consistent action.

What’s really going on here?

The truth is, you don’t feel inspired.

You can’t help but marvel at other writers who do persist, and have a large body of work you can’t even fathom achieving.

How do you get there?

How do you find the inspiration you need to stay the course long enough to become the prolific, popular, and successful writer you dream of becoming?

The Dirty Little Lie You Tell Yourself About Inspiration

If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you might be guilty of “believing in magic” when it comes to your writing career.

People who fail to do the things they say they want to do believe in fairy tales, like this one:

They believe successful writers have “made it,” and have no problem staying motivated because they’ve “arrived.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Regardless of how successful you are, there will be days you feel uninspired. In fact, what once seemed like a passion-filled calling can turn into a bit of a slog after a while.

Professional athletes love the game, but they don’t necessarily want to train their bodies every single day.

Business owners love money and recognition, but they don’t necessarily enjoy the process of getting their business off the ground.

You love expressing yourself with words, but you won’t necessarily enjoy each and every writing session.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

Fortunately, I have 101 different ideas for writers — use them whenever you’re struggling to turn intention into action.

So here’s how to get inspired to write:

1. Do the One Thing They Always Tell Writers Not to Do

Once I paid attention to the writing in my favorite shows, I drew inspiration from the stories and turned a seemingly useless activity into creative fuel.

2. Read Your Old Love Letters

3. Embrace Your Insignificance

4. Make the Subtle Shift from Goal-Setting to Habit-Forming

Goals give you inspiration by providing an end point, but habits weave inspiration into the core of your being and make it automatic.

Habits trump goals every time. The most prolific writers aren’t the most goal-oriented. They’re built to show up every day and do the work.

5. Tell Yourself You’re Not Good Enough

6. Start a Chain Gang

7. Become the G.O.A.T.

8. Take a Dump

9. Embrace Your Inner Hulk

10. Become a Better Writer Without Becoming a Better Writer

Look at Tiger Woods. He never recovered from his personal scandal. What does that tell you? It tells you life outside your craft is just as important as practicing it, if not more.

11. Make It Impossible to Edit While You Write

12. Imagine Your Worst-Case Scenario

13. Start Acting Like a Child

14. Dumb It Down

15. Make Money Your Muse

16. Use your 9-to-5 to Fuel Your 5-to-9

17. Discover the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

18. Don’t Believe the Myth

Remember this phrase from Jerry Seinfeld: “Writer’s block is just a made-up excuse for not doing your work.”

19. Sign Your Life Away

Create a contract with yourself. Make an actual signed document stating what you’re going to accomplish with your writing and place it somewhere prominent.

Imagine you’re sitting down to write and you look up to see an agreement you made with yourself, not just mentally, but physically. Wouldn’t that inspire you to hold to your commitment?

These little “nudges” might seem trivial on their own, but combining them changes your environment and makes it more conducive to productivity and creativity.

20. Make Your Writing Career a Family Affair

21. Get Meta

22. Converse to Create

23. When Inspiration Fails, Try Desperation

24. WWJD

25. Create to Connect

26. Become the CEO of You, Inc.

27. Don’t Follow in the Footsteps of Great Writers

28. Do the Math

29. Answer Random Questions from Total Strangers

30. Get Zen, Then Pen

The headspace app comes with a series of guided meditations you can use to start fresh every day.

31. Choose Quantity Over Quality

32. Teach an Old Draft New Tricks

33. Surround Yourself with Great Work

34. Put a Pot of Gold at the End of Your Rainbow

35. Drink Rocket Fuel to Skyrocket Your Inspiration

Drink coffee. Coffee has fueled the creative inspiration of writers for centuries. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write well without it.

36. Journey into the Wild

37. Switch Your Scenery

38. Devour People’s Brains

I just finished my second book. I pulled and wove in ideas from billionaires, dead Roman emperors, and Harvard psychologists. I didn’t go searching for the information. I conjured it from the recesses of my mind while writing, because I’ve read 100 books in the past two years. It’s like Neo in the Matrix where he “downloads” the ability to fight in Kung Fu style.

With reading, you can “download” hundreds or thousands of years of human experience and use it at your disposal.

39. Write in This Insanely Inspiring Environment

40. Put a Gun to Your Head

41. Search for Instant Inspiration

42. Chase the Muse

43. Star in Your Own Montage

44. Find a Tango Partner

Find a writing partner to keep you accountable. Working with someone who’s “in the trenches” like you will help both of you inspire each other. There’s strength in numbers.

45. Find Inspiration in Your Rearview Mirror

46. Eviscerate Your Excuses

47. Join a Local Gang

48. Fake Your Own Death

49. Tune In to Tune Out Writer’s Block

50. Choose the Opinion You Like Best

Have you ever looked at the same piece of writing at different times and had two different opinions?

51. Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

52. Get Back in Touch with Your “Why”

53. Find Writing Inspiration in Dark Places

Life throws curve balls at you. While you can’t avoid certain situations from happening to you, you can use them as sources of inspiration to create.

54. Remember that Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

55. Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

56. Picture Your Name on a Best-Selling Book

57. Let Life Inspire Art

58. Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Enter a writing contest. Writing contests often pay for top prize winners. There’s one incentive.

Knowing you’re a part of something larger than yourself can be inspiring. Use a writing contest to show the world what you’ve got.

59. Act Like a Hollywood Script Doctor

60. Don’t Fall into the Routine Trap

Write when you’re most creative. You don’t have to be a morning person to write well.

Some people are more creative at eleven at night. Blindly copying routines that don’t suit you is a surefire way to fail. Create an environment and schedule that aligns with your strengths.

61. Make a Creative Pilgrimage

62. Exercise Your Neurons

Your brain needs exercise like any other part of your body. If you’re not feeling inspired, try playing some games that involve words. Hitting a triple word score in Scrabble can remind you of your writing prowess. The education company Lumosity has a line of brain games that help you increase your vocabulary.

63. Cast Yourself Away

64. Use These Two Words as Inspiration

65. When in Doubt, Ship

Other creative people like Neil Gaiman and Tina Fey have reported feeling the same way, regardless of the amount of work they’ve put into the world.

What’s the difference between them and the people who let their inspiration die? They ship.

They put their work into the world regardless of how they felt about it, and it paid off. If they can create while plagued with doubt, so can you.

Look far and wide for examples of successful writers and you’ll find one common denominator — shipping. Let their stories inspire you to do the same.

66. Let Technology Lend a Helping Hand

Use idea-generating tools from companies like Hubspot and Portent’s Content. With ready-made ideas and headlines, you should have everything you need to get started.

67. Be a Little Creepy

68. Eat a Sh** Sandwich

Charles Bukowski once said, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

He was referring to what many, including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, call a “shit sandwich.”

Is writing your shit sandwich? If so, get really hungry, because life is going to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet.

69. Say “Hi, My Name Is _____”

Attend a conference for writers in your niche. You have to be careful with conferences because they’re a waste of time if you go without any predefined goals, but they’re great for meeting industry insiders and the atmosphere of the event will make you want to perform well when you get home.

70. Go to the Source

71. Get Yourself Some Education

72. Pat Yourself on the Back

73. Follow The Artist’s Way

74. Find Inspiration in Everyday Heroes

75. Embrace Your Inner Barbara Walters

76. Dare to Be Different

Embrace your inner weirdo. Your idiosyncrasies and strange ideas are what make you you. Don’t be afraid to show them. The more personality you put into your writing, the better.

77. Throw Your Big Hairy Goals in the Garbage

78. Stop When You Hit the Sweet Spot

79. Sleep with the Enemy

Action is the best deterrent to fear, but it never erases it. Each step you take forward alongside your fear will inspire you to do it again and again.

80. Bore Yourself to Death

81. Literally Write for One Person

The idea of writing for one person has been offered time and time again, but what if you went into insane detail about the person you’re writing for?

Instead of writing for “a member of your target audience,” come up with a customer avatar even an experienced marketer would find a bit obsessive.

Something like:

82. Have an Affair

83. Create a Monster in Your Lab

84. Don’t Trust the Opinions of Losers

Get your inspiration back by seeing “trolls” for what they really are — people who hate their own lives so much they want to criticise what you do in yours.

85. Stop Telling Yourself You’re a Writer

86. Turn Trials into Triumph

You know what’s more inspiring than believing you can overcome obstacles? Actually overcoming them, because knowing you have the strength to do it inspires you to do it again.

When a piece you write gets rejected, get inspired to prove the editor wrong. When your blog post or book falls flat on its face, get inspired to write ten times better the next time.

Real inspiration isn’t warm, fuzzy, and cute. The truly inspired are gritty, tenacious, and walk directly into the flames of disappointment and setbacks.

87. Con Your Way to Success

88. Appreciate the Fortunate Timing of Your Birth

89. Realize You’ve Already Put in “10,000 Hours”

90. Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill

Focus on doing one thing a little better each time you write. If you only get one percent better every day, you’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year.

91. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Making an investment in your writing inspires you to create because it shows you’re serious. Being an “amateur,” isn’t always inspiring, but “turning pro” is.

92. Stop Robbing the World of Your Creativity

93. Pay Your Debt

94. Harness the Curious Power of Envy

95. Hit the Reset Button

96. Create Your Own Turning Point

97. Curate an Inspiration “Museum”

98. Set a Finish Line

With the first book I wrote, I gave myself a specific deadline to publish it. I woke up every day, hammered away at the keyboard with reckless abandon, and looked forward to the last lap.

99. Boil it Down to This…

Get Busy Writing, or Get Busy Dying

If you really have the itch to write, it’ll never go away,

You have two options — get inspired and get to work, or let your anxiety and insecurities grow and fester.

I know what it feels like to get stuck between the feeling of knowing you have something important to say and wondering whether you’re cut out for the task at hand.

It’s been two years since I started, and I never imagined I’d be where I am today. The same can happen for you, but not without putting in the work day in and day out until you get what you want.

Remember, whether you write or not, the time will pass anyway.

You are cut out for it.

You can make all of your writing dreams come true.

You got this. Now go.

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