When I was young and impressionable, I used to make the mistake of thinking that I had to feel "inspired" in order to write. I have learned though, that this is far from the truth. I still fall into that trap every once in a while and I have to force myself to sit down and pound out a few pages of a short story.

So what’s the difference in your writing when you are feeling "inspired" and when you are not: nothing!

I have a book called The Novel Writer’s Toolkit (aff link), by Bob Mayer, and it addresses this very issue. In a section where Mayer discusses not being able to write because of writer’s block, feeling uninspired, etc, he offers this:

Just write anyway. It might be awful, but at least you’re left with something other than a blank page. You’ll be surprised how little difference there is between what you write when you feel motivated and what you write when you’re discouraged. They both come from the same brain" (Mayer 20).

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In a previous post I wrote called 10 Ways to Jumpstart Your Writing  I talked about ways to get ideas for your writing. Inspiration is all around us and how you get your "creative juices" flowing is as much a matter of personal choice as the clothes you wear.

One of my favorite topics to read about other, more well-known authors is just that, how they get their juices going. Do they sit at their desk waiting for inspiration to strike? Probably not. But I came across this article from the Guardian Unlimited that chronicles a few well-known authors and their methods for inspiration – which includes everything from a squeaky chair to holding an axe in a hand!

Like I said, methods vary wildly. Something that would drive me crazy while trying to write (ie. a noisy bar full of drunks) might be just the perfect atmosphere for another writer to pound out a novel in record time. Finding your method of inspiration is all about discovery – you need to find what works well for you. A lot of it seems to boil down to being comfortable.

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In my last post I talked about ways to get inspired for fiction. But what if you already have a list of potential story ideas a mile long, you start writing, and then BAM, right in the middle of the story you get stuck. You don’t know how to finish the story, or even how to proceed from where you are. Sounds troubling, right? Well, you can either look at it as burdensome writer’s block, or you use
it as an opportunity.

First, I’m a firm believer in the mantra that it’s better to finish a bad story, then to let a good one die. At least with a bad story, you can edit, re-write, or just shelve it for future reference. But if you let a story die and throw away the partial manuscript in a fit of rage, then you have nothing to work with in the future.

Second, remember that this happens to all writers. It’s normal. The only difference is how writers handle getting stuck in the middle of story/novel. I can tell you now, though, that if the writer is constantly being published, they probably don’t throw the work out in frustration.

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Writer’s block is the one thing that every writer fears
(that and not getting published). It can strike at any time; whether you’re right in the middle of a story/novel/essay, or just beginning.

What if you want to write a short story (for example), but the ideas just aren’t flowing?

If you keep an idea journal, then it shouldn’t be too hard to look back at previous entries for some inspiration. If you don’t have an idea journal (something every writer should have), then you must look for outside inspiration.

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