More Inspiration

I filled out interview questions today for a review in a series of blogs.  There were a lot of questions, some of which were really hard.  Among one of the easier ones was a question about where I get the inspiration to write.  There are a lot of answers I could give, everything from a desire to be my own boss doing the only thing I’m really good at to just enjoying writing. 

But in truth (as I said in the answer I gave), I’m pushed to write.  My stories get into my head and demand to be written.  When I’m in the groove, I can write effortlessly.  Each word flies onto the page, and while they may not come out in their perfect form, they come.   When I’m not in the groove or anywhere close, each word feels as though I was drawing it up out of a deep well, straining hand over hand to pull up a dripping bucket…

When I’m editing, I can always tell if I was in the groove or not on the first write-through.   It’s much less work if I was in that magical place. 

But regardless of whether it’s easy or hard, one thing remains the same: I have to write.  Sure, I can pause for moments in time, to eat and sleep, or to tend to the important things like job and family.  But when I’m not doing something that I must do or that is necessary to my values, I want to be writing.  Even when I can’t write, my brain whirls with thoughts and ideas; I formulate scenes or ponder issues that I need to work out for a story or world.  I touched on this briefly and poorly on my August 20^th post, when I talked about overcoming writer’s block by writing.  And external things can help me get into the groove.  But the drive to write, the thing that keeps me coming back to the keyboard is the near-painful itch to get the stories in my head onto paper.

I’d call it an addiction… I was going to try to defend that it’s not an addiction, but it is.  It can be harmful if I let take over my life.  So I’m just going to say that no, my inspiration, my addiction, doesn’t stop. 

And if it ever does for some reason, shoot me now, because I’m already dead.

What about you?  Where do you get your inspiration from?