Inspiration to Write After a Pandemic Year

 

Our quote today from the author, Jack London, doesn't mince any words. He says that we cannot sit around and wait to be inspired to write. It's up to us to get up, get out and about, get a grip on finding inspiration to write.

How many cutesy articles have you read about waiting for your muse to inspire you to write? That little person who sits on our shoulder and nudges us, beats us up at times, or totally deserts us. Nice to have someone else to blame our problems on, but we can't let the poor muse take all the blame. Yep, it's another one of those 'it's up to you' things.

I've noted myriad writers during the pandemic year we've been experiencing saying that inspiration to write seems to have fled. It's not hard to understand that during times of great stress, our creative side tends to close down. We can certainly say we were all feeling that with the many unknowns of the covid-19 disease at the onset, the changing of directions, the loss of life that pervaded our country.

It's been a year plus, and vaccines are being given to large groups of people. Life is beginning to be a little more normal. Still a way s to go, but there is hope ahead. With the slow return to a more normal kind of life, perhaps our inspiration to write will emerge once again. 

I found myself writing only what was necessary, namely my blog and keeping up with my commitment to my online writing group. It wasn't because I didn't have the time. The senior community where we live was locked down for months at a time. Time was not the problem. 

What can you do to get started writing again, or write more than you have this past year? Find a few suggestions below:

• Start by making a list of short-term goals. Not a great many, just a few
• Look in your files to find drafts that can be completed
• Check calls for submissions to find something to spark your creativity
• Get out of the house--then observe all that is around you for story ideas
• Read a book or articles on writing to get back on track
• Attend a writer's group meeting--I always find inspiration there
• Have coffee with a writing friend and discuss the inspiration angle
• Go through old picture albums to find inspiration to write family stories
• Ditch the negative attitude; look for the positives in life

We've all been through a difficult year. I'm feeling like I need to put it behind me and move on. How about you? The road ahead is all ours, and what we do with it is up to us. I plan to write a great deal more this year, and I hope you will, too.