Inspiration is such a quest that does not like to visit the lazy.
– Pyotr Tchaikovsky
hat writer does not wish for inspiration? Our creative work seems effortless when we soar on the wings of our imagination. Empowered by the Muse, we easily conquer our “creative mountains” and complete difficult projects.
One of the best descriptions of the “presence of the Muse” I found in the poem “Autumn” by Alexander Pushkin, the greatest Russian poet of the 19th century:
My hand is longing for the quill, the quill – for paper,
In just a moment words will flow freely.
But even exceptionally gifted people experience “creative droughts.” The same poet, in his poem “November 2,” complained:
I take my quill, I sit, and forcibly pull out
From dozing Muse some incoherent words ...
The verse is dragging – sluggish, cold, and hazy.
Exhausted, I stop fighting with my Muse.
Alas, we, writers, cannot count on the Muse to inspire us regularly. But how can we make progress in our creative endeavors?
Leo Tolstoy stated, “I have to write every day without fail, not so much for success at work but mainly not to get out of the routine.” Anthony Trollope, author of 47 novels, wrote, “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules.” And Kristine Kathryn Rusch—award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer—shares, “The routine enables the writing, not the other way around.”
If successful writers established their daily writing routine, why don’t we?
Embracing Writing Discipline
Do you know that one of the pillars of contemporary American society was developed by Saint Benedict in the sixteenth century? He introduced in his monastery at Subiaco, Italy, a new concept—“fixed times” for sacred reading and manual labor—the time schedule.
Although it is obvious that the time schedule is paramount to run a business, it is easy to overlook its necessity for writers. However, disorganization hinders creativity. No wonder that Gustave Flaubert admonished writers. “Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.” Susan Osborn, author of thirty books, also noted, “I think it is important to set up a writer’s schedule, especially if you don’t have a deadline looming soon.”
Moreover, a writing schedule helps writers achieve more in less time. According to Anna Dearmon Kornick, author of Time Management Essentials: The Tools You Need to Maximize Your Attention, Energy, and Productivity, “Being organized, energized, focused, and rested enables you to further optimize your time for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.”
Let’s go down to the nuts and bolts of creating a personalized daily writing routine.
Enjoying Benefits of Your Writing Schedule
Discovering your prime time
Daniel H. Pink in When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing explains, “Our cognitive abilities do not remain static over the course of the day ... That’s why it’s important to do the right work at the right time.”
Usually, many writers know when they do their best work. Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom, shared, “I have found that I am most productive if I start early.” And Liana Maeby, author of South on Highland, said, “I’m a night owl through and through, and the wee hours are when I’m at my best.”
If you are not sure about your most productive time, try writing during different time slots and analyze the results.
The next step is to align your prime time with your writing schedule. Bob Hostetler, author of fifty books, observes, “As for my writing schedule, helping me to achieve my goals, the main thing it’s done for me ... is to reveal to me when I’m most likely to be spinning my wheels on a writing project (mornings) and when I’m most likely to be speeding through like an Indy 500 car (afternoons).”
Allocate time for your writing session
After you find out that you are a “lark,” an “owl,” or a “third bird” in Daniel H. Pink’s terminology with high energy levels in the mornings and in the evenings—you need to set aside a specific time interval for your writing. As Jodi Picoult, author of twenty-eight novels, declares, “Writer’s block is having too much time on your hands. If you have a limited amount of time to write, you just sit down and do it.”
You can allocate time for writing by using Timeboxing: in your daily planner, you assign a fixed amount of time for a particular task. This technique is especially beneficial for people who are easily carried away. If you like to engage technology to monitor your time, there is a free time tracking app: Clockify.
Determine your daily writing goal
Now you need to define the scope of your daily session—a certain amount of words or pages. Learning about the daily writing quota of successful writers may not be helpful: on the one side are “champions” like William Faulkner who wrote 10,000 a day, and on the other side—Tom Wolfe with 135 words a day.
I suggest setting your personal feasible goal, even if it is 200 to 300 words a day, and gradually increase it as your “writing muscles” become stronger. My current goal is 500 words daily, and to add fun to my writing, I use Written Kitten—for every 100 words, I receive a new picture of a kitten!
Discover your most “productive” location
Maya Angelou rented a hotel room to work without interruptions. Roald Dahl, author of thirty-seven novels, including Matilda, worked from his shed. Vladimir Nabokov wrote Lolita sitting at the back of a car to avoid noise. Truman Capote—“a completely horizontal author,” in his own words—wrote longhand while lying in bed.
You also can try various spots—your front porch, a city park, or a coffee shop—to find the best place where your “creative juices” flow, and nobody disturbs you.
Divide your big project into small tasks
Your writing schedule can help you finish a big and complicated project. According to Shirley Jump, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author), “Every time I sign a contract (and I’ve published eighty books in twenty-four countries), I think to myself, 'I don’t even know 85,000 words. I’ll never meet that deadline.’ Ha ha. Having a regular schedule allows me to break that up into eighty-five days of a thousand words, which mentally seems far more doable.”
You, too, can divide your “king-size” projects into “bite-size” manageable tasks. To increase motivation, define milestones (e.g., daily, weekly, and monthly). When you describe your activities, be specific: instead of general “work on my novel” or “do research,” define your tasks in detail: for instance, “Write the description of the ballroom in Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV,” or “Research women’s ballgowns of the sixteenth century.”
Make a commitment to honor your schedule
Unfortunately, even the best writing schedule is useless if writers skip or sabotage their sessions. As Taylor Swift, American singer-songwriter, once stated, “Just because you made a good plan, doesn’t mean that’s what’s gonna happen.”
It takes commitment, not a wish, to accomplish what has been planned. “Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dreams closer,” said Marcia Wieder, Dream University’s CEO and author of fourteen books.
There are ways to strengthen that commitment:
a) Sign a self-contract where you define your measurable, realistic, and timely goals. You can find a template here: https://m-unity.calltheone.com/blog/mindset-training-food/commitment-to-myself-contract/.
b) Use the Seinfeld Method: on a calendar, put an X on each day’s slot when you fulfill your writing goal. As you add more crosses, they form “the chain.” The main idea behind this method is “not breaking the chain.”
Taking Full Advantage of Your Writing Time
Employ writing rituals
Pearl S. Buck, American novelist, stated, “I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”
Many writers develop “anchor rituals”—a succession of routine activities that the mind and the whole body perceive as the signal to start writing. That is how Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, described her rituals, “I always get up and make a cup of coffee while it is still dark—it must be dark—and then I drink the coffee and watch the light come...And I realized that for me this ritual comprises my preparation to enter a space that I can only call nonsecular...For me, light is the signal in the transition.”
Rituals also help to reduce anxiety, fight procrastination, and cultivate a desired state of mind when we are energized and inspired. Whatever rituals you choose—making a cup of tea, listening to music, sharpening pencils, or lighting a candle—they should serve as a vehicle to bring you into your creative mode.
Overcome inertia with writing prompts
“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better,” Stephen King states in On Writing.
Some writers begin their sessions with writing prompts as kick-starters. In my writing group, we opened a novel and chose a random phrase to write about for fifteen minutes.
If you want to create your own prompts, here is a guide: https://textcortex.com/post/how-to-create-a-writing-prompt.
If you prefer ready-to-use prompts, check out these sources:
a) Nonfiction: https://thejohnfox.com/2016/06/creative-nonfiction-prompts/.
b) Fiction (in ten genres): https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/500-writing-prompts-to-help-beat-writers-doubt/.
c) Persuasive writing: https://www.awai.com/writing-prompts/.
Increase productivity
“Minutes are maximized by combating productivity pitfalls with time-tested strategies.” – Anna Dearmon Kornick
Let’s look into a couple of techniques that help writers to be more productive:
a) “Eat that frog”
There is a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” Brian Tracy, author and motivational speaker, observed, “The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning.”
Armed with these words of wisdom, we should complete as soon as possible the most important (even not very pleasant) writing task. Since a human’s body releases endorphins (“the feel-good” hormones) in response to accomplishments, we will experience increased levels of energy and confidence. And the task of “eating the next frog” becomes much easier!
b) Technique “Swiss Cheese”
What if you have an enormous project, for instance a novel, and the magnitude of this work makes you so nervous that you even don’t know how to approach it?
You can try the “Swiss Cheese” technique described by Alan Lakein in How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. Imagine that your project is a huge wheel of swiss cheese, and you are making holes in it. How? By completing “instant tasks.” These tasks must be small and take five minutes or less to finish, such as composing the front matter or writing the dedication.
“The project begins to exert a stronger and stronger pull. You become more eager to get back to it,” Lakein writes. “You have stopped procrastinating.”
Unleash the power of a deadline
“A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all,” stated Rita Mae Brown, an American feminist writer.
Many writers (myself included) work better with the deadlines because there is no time for self-doubts, perfectionism, and procrastination. However, when the deadline is too far away and the project is large, it helps to set in-between deadlines (e.g., for every chapter of the book).
If you handle several writing projects, you may consider creating a table with all the deadlines. You can also install a reminder app on your phone.
Capitalizing on the Inspiration Flow
“You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show up. You get into the habit of writing every day so that when she shows up, you have the maximum chance of catching her,” stated Lili St. Crow, an American author.
Oh, this long-awaited moment of the presence of the Muse! To get the uppermost benefit of her visitation, you should do your part:
Turn off your “inner editor”
“Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down,” advised John Steinbeck.
Sure, it is extremely tempting to write “the perfect sentences and paragraphs” when we feel inspired! However, if we stop to read or correct our text, we break the delicate ties between our written words and our streams of thoughts.
Remind yourself that you are writing the first draft which you will polish later. “A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason,” said Margaret Atwood, Canadian novelist, poet, and literary critic.
Write non-stop
“Don’t write in bits and pieces. Once you’ve turned on your creative energy, you need to keep it flowing,” instructed Ted Nicholas, author and master copywriter.
But what to do if you do not know how to spell a foreign name or need to confirm the accuracy of a quote? Decide in advance how to mark parts of your writing that you will have to check later. For example, I put question marks next to names and highlight passages that need verification.
Work on one project
“As the expression paying attention suggests, when you focus, you’re spending limited cognitive currency that should be wisely invested,” warned Winifred Gallagher, American science writer and author of Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life.
Thus, we should not disperse our creative energy on several projects, but concentrate on one and move it forward. How far to go? It is a good writing habit to stop before you have “drained your creative well.” If you practice this, you will start your next writing session without fear of a writer’s block.
“Plan ahead, clarify your priorities, and stay focused,” advised Carole Gaskell in Your Pocket Life-Coach: 10 Minutes a Day to Transform Your Life and Your Work.
Prioritize your to-do list
“When there’s no clear ‘master list’ of your true priorities, it’s tempting to work on whatever is easiest or most distracting at the moment,” noted Maura Nevel Thomas.
Identify three of the most significant writing tasks for the next session and list them according to their importance. Ideally, these tasks should help you to reach your writing goals. For instance, if you aim to break into a prestigious publication, one of your priority activities could be crafting a compelling pitch.
Prepare for the next session
“Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation,” remarked Zig Ziglar, American motivational speaker and author.
We, too, need to be ready for the next session to make it successful.
Do you plan to write a chapter of your mystery novel? Think how to create “page turners.” Or do you plan to query your dream magazine? Read a couple of issues and analyze published articles as a writer.
Utilize your non-writing time
Writers work always—even when they relax on the beach, visit museums, or stroll in the woods. As Damon Knight, author of twenty novels and seventy-plus short stories, explained, “When a writer is sitting down, looking at a wall with a blank expression on his face, it is easy for a companion to assume that he isn’t doing anything...Getting ready to write is a complex mental process and a very delicate one.”
Being the mother of four, I learned to take advantage of non-writing time. I always carry a notebook and a pen to jot down ideas. As Lisa Jewell, a British author of popular fiction, observed, “Inspiration does tend to strike when you’re least expecting it, and by the time you get back to your computer, you’ll have forgotten it.”
How true! Once I got this “inspiration touch” while enjoying the performance in the opera house! Somehow I managed to write down my ideas in the dark and not disturb opera lovers too much...
Now, after having presented all these tips and techniques, I anticipate the paramount question: Is there a guarantee that the Muse will be willing to fit our writing schedule?
Yes, of course! Isabel Allende, a Chilean-American writer, dispels any doubts, “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while, the Muse shows up, too.”
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Tatiana Claudy is a freelance writer from Indiana where she lives with her family on a farm. She loves to travel, take photos of fascinating places, and learn foreign languages. Her bylines appeared in Writer's Weekly, Freedom With Writing, Funds for Writers, and also in Mystery Weekly, Creation Illustrated, The Upper Room, The Secret Place, The Lutheran Digest, and Today's Christian Living magazines.
