Welcome to the first Unicorn Walrus inspirational. I'll be doing this every morning, writing whatever is on my mind in hopes that by the grace of the whatever it is you believe in that you will finally write. Something, anything...
It's always so hard to find that inspiration, you know? I even have trouble and I've been writing fairly consistently for most of my life. I struggle to stay inspired, it's a full-time job and regardless of what you write, inspiration and motivation are two basics you have to have down to have any success at writing.
If you're uninspired your writing will be bland and if you're unmotivated you won't exist as a writer at all. The latter will be a subject for a future inspirational. Right now let's discuss the idea of being uninspired, and some ways you could rekindle that long lost flame of yours.
Doing Hard Drugs
Hard drugs and hallucinogens like heroine, meth, and acid are bad for you. Don't do them. (You didn't really think I'd recommend that, did you? Haha.)
Who invited this guy?
Okay, okay. In all seriousness there are quite a few artists (yes, as a writer you are indeed an artist) who turn to drugs to reach their subconscious. I do not promote this idea myself, but look at Hunter S. Thompson...to each their own I guess, but I've got my own methods. And no it isn't black tar heroine.
I use music...it's kind of like a drug in its own right (I'm a huge music enthusiast). Like colors as I explained in the previous post, music also evokes emotions, thoughts, feelings, memories, moods, and inspiration. Some could argue that the added "noise" hurts their writing more than helps it, but for me it's quite the opposite. Every morning when wake up and see my wife off to work I have my pot of coffee while my Pandora stirs the nests of the tenants around my apartment, and I write.
The music forces my mind to be creative. It evokes emotions of whichever I choose, because I have control of what I listen to. When I'm writing fiction with a dark, sadistic twist I'll put on a Tool playlist (if Maynard doesn't inspire you, you've got some bigger issues buddy.) If I'm writing a heartbreaking scene in a story I'll put on the most atrocious love song of all time, something that just brings back the most horrid, soul-shearing memories of my life; those are the emotions I strive to write by as a writer. Feelings I have felt, and ones I can apply with absolute confidence to my work. Music will always have this effect, after all - almost all songs are derived from writings of some sort. If words inspire music, shouldn't music inspire words? Even instrumental pieces with no lyrics still tend to draw these feelings out of us.
Take something as simple as whales songs as an example. You know those audio recordings of whales? Yeah those. Give it a listen and be conscious of your emotional state. I can almost promise you'll gain an overwhelming feeling of something, maybe mysteriousness from these leviathan and their strange language? Perhaps it will inspire the beauty and majestic grace of your words, that they will flow unto the page, much like the everlasting delta melds so perfectly, so precisely into the great expanse of the sea.
Understand then, that music can and should play a large part in your never ending quest for personal inspiration. Even if you aren't a writer you should try to inspire yourself for life in general. Inspiration leads to new people, new experiences, and an abundance of different walks of life. But as a writer, I'd strongly recommend applying this personal practice of listening to music as a source of inspiration for your writing. It has helped me time and time again, and is usually a quick-fix for almost all cases of writer's block I've ever encountered.
Happy writing :)
M. Hascall
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