Writeaholic Inspiration: Write From Inspiration Not Desperation

Image: woman at computer too tired to write

Photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash

All writers are the same There are days when we can’t wait to sit down, get our creative head on, and start writing. Yet other days it seems like no matter how hard we try, the ideas just won’t come, but we keep on trying anyway because we need to earn money.

This is the difference between writing from inspiration and writing from desperation.

The answer is to have more days of inspiration when you sit down, start writing, the ideas flow, and you get lost for hours in the writing zone.

But how do you make that happen? How can you turn a day of desperation into a day of inspiration?

The solution is not to let it get you down. Stop looking at your project as one big project. Simplify it instead, using the following ideas.

Break your project into smaller tasks. Write down the steps you need to take to get your writing done. Your list might include things like, research points to cover, find people to interview, write a brief outline, expand each point into 3 questions, find answers to the questions, write, edit, proof, submit. Whatever the steps are, write them down, arrange them in the right order, and being at number 1.
Write a detailed outline. If you’re stuck and can’t get going, start with one sentence about what you’re going to write, expand it into one paragraph, then into one page, then each paragraph on that page gets expanded into a page… You get the idea.
Use a timer. Before you start, set a timer for 33 minutes and don’t stop working no matter what. It doesn’t matter whether you’re listing tasks, expanding an outline, or actually writing. Set a timer first. This will help keep you focused and working. When the timer goes off, get up and go do something else for 5 minutes, something that doesn’t involve looking at a screen. Then sit down, set the timer, and start working again.

And that’s it. If you want to feel inspired to work, break your project down into tasks, create an outline, start your timer, and begin working.

Working this way means that when you sit down to write you know the first thing you need to do which makes it so much easier to sit down every day, because you’re not overwhelmed thinking about all the things you have to do. You only need to concentrate on number 1 on your list.

We are creatures who are motivated by our emotions, so beginning with a positive intention helps you work from inspiration every day, and stops neediness making your feel desperation.

All you have to do now, is begin.