Who's the Boss?

Inspiration: "An inspiring influence: any stimulus to creative thought or action."

Writing fiction is all about inspiration. Novelists are inspired as to subject, theme, characterization, and every other aspect of the creative process when it comes to producing a novel---as is true with any other artist of any other art form. As novelists, we create something out of nothing, and that something usually begins as a zygote of an idea that gestates into a finished product. That takes inspiration, and lots of it.

We tend to think of inspiration as some nebulous thing that strikes when all perfect conditions converge, and that our creative forces are at its mercy, that we're hamstrung to proceed and produce without it. In a way, that's true. I've been "inspired" to write certain novels, and to write certain passages within those novels, and you have too. It feels wonderful when inspiration does its thing, and I for one give credit where credit is due---which means to say, not myself. But inspiration is sort of like a nudge that gets you going. It will not, and will never, take you by the hand and walk you through the process from start to finish.

Ayn Rand, in The Art of Fiction, says this about inspiration: "What is colloquially called 'inspiration' ---namely, that you write without full knowledge of why you write as you do, yet it comes out well---is actually the subconscious summing-up of the premises and intentions you have set yourself. All writers have to rely on inspiration. But you have to know where it comes from, why it happens, and how to make it happen to you." Did you get that last phrase, how to make it happen to you? That implies that we're not at the mercy of inspiration; rather it's something we can rein in and manage. (As an aside, Ms. Rand also said, "In regards to precision of language, I think I myself am the best writer today." To which I wrote in the margin, "Hmm." But more power to her.)

That may not be good news to the person who lacks the motivation to complete a project, because there goes the excuse for not getting to the finish line. But for those of us who are serious about our craft, who have the wherewithal to roll up our sleeves and get 'er done, in the inspired language of my son-in-law Justin, it means we can and should control the process. We can plant our behinds wherever it is we choose to write, and get to work, anytime, for any length of time, and be happy with our accomplishments.

For me, and probably for you too, inspiration is most necessary at the inception of a novel, at that place where story is just the cell of an idea with unlimited potential. Once that story gets off the ground and I get into the story world, craft, skill and experience take over, and I'm in charge. I don't have to wait for inspired thought and language to drop into my head ... I go after them with all the tools I possess. Ms. Rand says, "I have written many scenes which I did not plan in advance, beyond a general definition that 'this scene will accomplish such and such a purpose'---yet when I came to them, they wrote themselves." So have I. She does not mean, nor do I, that she was the conduit of some other creative force, as if someone or something were dictating to her; rather that she utilized the tools and skills we've been talking about to write an inspired scene.

Writing a novel is a daunting challenge. That was true of the first novel I wrote, and has been just as true of every novel I've written since. It takes great determination and steady work, and cannot depend on "inspiration" for every word that's written. The inspiration is the nudge as I said before, but then the writer takes over from there. The key is to consider that you as a writer are inspired to write, and that the idea of your writing is inspired; but you, the writer, wield that inspiration, and not the other way around. When you sit at your desk to work, do so with the knowledge and confidence that the goal you set is achievable, and that you're in charge of the outcome. As with any skill, the more you exercise it the better you'll become. So write, write, write. Whether you feel inspired or not. Because the accomplishment itself may be just the inspiration you need.

Chasing the Ah-hah

Some people strap a parachute on their backs and ride a bicycle off the edge of a cliff. This is how they get their adrenaline high. Other people write novels. When it comes to the rush of inspiration, the heady wait-a-second-I’ve-changed-my-mind-oh-no-it’s-too-late wa –hoo of free falling crazy, sitting at your desk typing may seem worlds away from hurling yourself into nothing but one hundred meters of thin air, but look again.

The dopamine rush of a bright idea can, in every way, rival the brown-pants dive off a cliff. Heart pumping, mind numb, the writer who is in the grip of inspiration can only fall headlong, hope to manage which way is up, while the rush of something huge, unmanageable, un-tame, hurls us through itself.

Inspiration comes when it pleases, and leaves when it will, often evaporating while we are snagged by the undies on a branch jutting from the side of our cliff. We’re left hanging, nursing the wedgie of a lifetime, wondering if inspiration will come again, wondering what it all means, wondering where we left our safety rope.

The wallop of inspiration is that it allows us to bathe, ever so briefly, in the massiveness of story and all its possibilities. Inspiration allows us to run our fingers through the purpose of story, and hear the beating heart at its core. Inspiration fills our minds, senses, and emotions to overflowing in mere seconds. One moment we were rinsing conditioner from our hair, or weeding the garden, or making dinner, and the next we are transported, thrown off the cliff, and are headlong lost in an unnamable vastness that contains the entire universe and, miraculously, also the minute details of the story we are writing.

Inspiration is too big to handle. The teaspoon of it we experience at any one time is enough to overwhelm us. It takes us over. It throws us from the cliff without checking if we’ve got the parachute strapped to our backs (practiced writers wear theirs always, having learned the hard way what happens if caught unprepared).

Inspiration isn’t the satisfactory click of things falling into place, rather, it’s a precipice from which we launch ourselves. It leads us, not into answers, but into better questions. It shows us what our sensible adult minds abandoned in childhood. It turns our ideas on their heads, inside out, upside down. Shakes loose all that can be shaken. If only we have the courage to keep leaping from high places.

Why does this happen? Where does it come from? When will I see it again? We don’t know, and that’s part of the thrill of it. We. Don’t. Know. And our only hope it to be excited by that. The not knowing has to turn us on. Because if it doesn’t we’ll dry up. This is genesis of all writer’s block: fear inspiration will not come.

You gotta love the not knowing. Long for the long wait. Resist chasing after inspiration even when your legs twitch to run. Wait for rain on a cloudless day.

We don’t own this thing, we can’t control it, we can’t demand from it, and it will defy our every timetable. Grab for it and it will bite you. Worse, it will leave you.

When it hits, it’s never at a convenient time. Never on purpose. It doesn’t roll over us when we are so busy, so deluded by our task of writing that we convinced ourselves it has anything to do with sitting at a desk and typing. Inspiration comes when our minds wander enough that we accidently forget all our rules about safety and what’s right and proper, and we skirt too close to the cliff’s edge. 

The Writing Frame of Mind

I appreciate Anne Lamott’s advice and Patti’s candor in challenging us to remain inspired and in the writing frame of mind. It’s imperative to keep a notebook nearby. I’ve written before about my handy-dandy notepad that lights up when I pull out the pen. It’s great for those ideas that come at the edge of twilight sleep. I keep a journal with me for my current WIP with lots of lined pages for jotting down ideas as they come and space to stuff a timeline & photos of the characters. It’s messy – I don’t encumber the flow with neatness or organization, except that I may have tabs for setting, characters and plot. I’m the only one who sees the jumble of illegible words. Unfortunately, for me inspiration never comes when I’m sitting with my notebook in my lap drumming my fingers on the table.

You can’t look at inspiration straight on, as Ray Bradbury points out. “It isn’t easy. Nobody has ever done it consistently. Those who try hardest, scare it off into the woods. Those who turn their backs and saunter along, whistling softly between their teeth, hear it treading quietly behind them, lured by a carefully acquired disdain.” (Zen in the Art of Writing) It’s a bit like love. You can do your best to cultivate the possibility but you can’t make it happen.

I hear where Patti’s coming from. I hate to admit it, but pain is a great leveler. So is the realization of your own mortality. I bumped up against both about 13 years ago when I underwent treatment for breast cancer. There were no instructions. Like Patti, I had to look away from the woman I was at times, but through the process I learned to cut myself some slack. And I knew, overwhelmingly, that God cut me slack, too. Every day. So that not long after, there was a very grumpy man in front of me in the grocery check-out who left a bad impression on the checker. After he left, she made a comment, and without thinking, I said, “Maybe he’s in pain.” Did I have insight into his frame of mind or was he really just an old sourpuss? Who knows? But the next time I write about a sourpuss I can dust it with compassion.

I like to think of myself as observant, but I climbed the front steps yesterday without even noticing that the yard had been mowed and the hedges trimmed while I was at work. My husband shakes his head at me sometimes. I was probably wondering what was thawed for dinner as I crossed the threshold, or whether he’d thought to pick up cat litter. The pressures of everyday life can fit me with blinders and prevent me from being present in the moment. And writing in snatches and stolen moments makes it difficult to look outward and stay in the writing frame of mind. But if I ‘steal’ those moments at the same time every day, I train my creativity to click on at that time. If I park myself on a bench at lunch, I can sharpen my observation skills on the people who wander past.

What have you found that cultivates your creativity and helps you stay in the writing frame of mind? We’d love to hear!

What to do with Inspiration

Congrats to Karen! You won a signed copy of Talking to the Dead!

The 12 Days of Christmas

Book Giveaway Contest~

Today's Giveaway: Talking to the Dead~

CLUE:

"Nine Ladies Dancing"

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From November 23 to December 21 we are hosting "The 12 Days of Christmas" book giveaway contest. You're right, there are more than 12 days between November 23 and December 21 ... but there are exactly 12 posting days on Novel Matters.

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Here's how to play. Find the last name of any author in the day's clue (A Partridge in a Pear Tree) (letters can be used in any order). Email us at novelmatters@gmail.com with the author's last name and a title of a novel by that

author --- OR --- email us the title of a novelthat contains one or more words from the clue.

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For example: There's an author named (Lauran) Paine, who wrote Tears of the Heart. This would be a qualifying entry because all the letters in the last name PAINE are found in the day's clue --- OR --- Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns qualifies because the word TREE is found in the title. It's that easy.

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To be entered in the drawing, email us your answer. One winner will be drawn from the qualifying entries every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now until December 21. Have fun!

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I grew up as an oblivious reader. I read all the time – but no one took me by the hand and said, “Here is a list of great

books all young people should read.” Mine was a journey into the shelves of the library, always feeling clueless, judging books by their covers and wondering how on earth people decided which books to take home and read.

But I read. And, I wrote, too. But for some odd reason I didn’t put the two together in my head until I was an adult.

I remember reading the opening paragraph to Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees and feeling the whoosh of inspiration. Something about it cracked open an eye of the sleeping writer within me. Inspiration whispered in my ear. It has taken me years to begin to reap the harvest from the seed of inspiration. Years of stumbling, bumbling, quitting, starting, and trying again. But that moment lead to other moments of reading inspiration – and soon, I learned to be intentional, to go looking for inspiration and then to turn inspiration into action.

First: Look deeper

Ask yourself:

1. What is it about this that grabs my attention? – Something precise is at work when we are inspired. A certain chord is hit, an emotion, memory, or hope is stirred. What is it? Be as specific as possible.

2. What am I feeling? Awe? Assurance? Hope? Happy? Pinpoint the emotion you are experiencing. Inspiration works in many ways – it can even cause feelings of melancholy or yearning. Put your finger on the pulse of the emotion and follow it to the heart of meaning.

3. Where is the beauty spot? God hardwired us to respond to beauty. Many people are able to find soul-stirring beauty in the seemingly mundane. What a gift! In moments of inspiration, you may be responding to deep beauty – even hidden beauty. Be the archeologist and dig deeper to uncover the total story.

4. Where have I felt this before? Our life purpose is written on our hearts. When we pay close attention to the stirrings of inspiration over time we can piece together our hopes and dreams – what it is we really want to accomplish and be in our lives.

Take inspiration and make it your own. Imitation is not the goal. I was inspired as a writer by Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, but I don’t try to write the way she does, or about the things she loves to write about. I have learned to look for my own stories and write with my own voice. You can do the same.

Ask yourself:

1. What is the essence of the inspiration? Use as few words as possible (like a synopsis!) to explain the germ of inspiration. For example, with Kingsolver’s book The Bean Trees, I was inspired by how she used words to create immediacy and intimacy in only two sentences.

2. What does it mean to me? This is getting into application – we are on the ledge of action. In my example of Kingsolver’s novel, immediacy and intimacy meant I felt welcomed and wanted when I started reading the book. It spoke to my love for chatting with friends, sharing our hearts. I’m all about the conversation – the closeness.

3. How does it express itself in my life? Now we are moving! How has the inspiration we felt taken shape in our lives? What have I done in the past that has produced this feeling?

4. Where can I take it? By understanding what inspires us and why – then how it works and what we can do with it, we can turn our inspiration into our dream come true. Understanding myself as inspired by immediacy and intimacy helped me decide on a career in the helping arts – it pointed to a need for community. And it has led me to a new career as a writer – someone who can share ideas and stories with a large community of readers and writers.

We all need to pay attention to moments of inspiration. They are the tiny gold keys to our hearts.

How have you put feet to the things that inspire you? Share your experience with us!