I consider myself a recovering inspiration addict. For a long time I sat around waiting and waiting for lighting to strike, for a poem to come slap me in the face, for magic to happen. I wrote next to nothing across a span of about two years, blaming “writer’s block” before I admitted that the reason I wasn‘t writing anything was that I wasn’t writing anything.
I have since dedicated myself to more consistent writing. I want to hold myself accountable to show up to the table and write - even if I don’t immediately like what I’m writing. I still love when inspiration hits, but I am learning to write without it.
After all, the muse makes no appointments.
I have always loved this quote on the creative process by Chuck Close. He was a painter, not a poet, but I still think what he has to say applies to us as writers.
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”
I think sometimes we get inspired, maybe we hear something in a song, or we're walking around and something pops into our brains, but I think waiting for it is futile.
On the other hand, sitting down and writing exercises is always a good idea. Whilst not always producing your best work, nevertheless it can certainly hone your skills.
There are so many ideas available to us for writing prompts or writing exercises that I think there is no excuse to have writers block.