A question I get asked a lot is whether I have to wait for inspiration to strike in order to write. It’s a question I always field with a degree of wry humour, because the answer is that if I waited for the lightning-strike of inspiration, very little would ever get written.

Waiting on lightning to strike.

Inspiration helps a lot with getting started, although even then it’s not essential. Another approach, for example, is to do what I call “noodling and doodling”, i.e. playing around with ideas to see what develops “legs.”

At some point, yes, there is always a creative spark that gets those “legs” moving, but keeping them going is all about turning up at the writing desk on a regular schedule and putting in the perspiration. Because even if the mood, inclination, and inspiration are all missing in action at the outset, I find that by the time I hit 200 words or so, they are usually starting to show their faces again.

Turning up and keeping going, no matter what, has definitely been my pilot star since I began writing in earnest, as well as a constant of the WALL #4 journey to date. So if you’ve ever wondered if the reason it has been a long one is because I’ve been waiting for the lightning of inspiration to strike, I can not only put my hand on my heart and assure you that’s not the case – but also, that if it were, we would all still be waiting on “the end”!

Photo credit: Marisa Taylor