The Write Blog

When I was asked to write on this topic I was stumped for a time. I struggled to grasp what it was I was actually inspired by. How could I tell other authors how to be inspired when I could not tell myself.
So began a three month hiatus to what was to be brilliant and highly enthusiastically supported blog by myself and Adam. Myself at fault, for Adam had his piece done within the week. How the man tolerated my laziness was beyond me. Nevertheless, the months passed, and only recently have I found a desire to write anything, much less a blog. It took me time to realise what it was I missed. It was outright happiness. Whatever you may consider it, I have thought of it myself. I see it see as foolish yet wise.

There was only one form of writing I took to in these three months. A journal with only the barest of effort, yet still it has weeks in space between entries. I glance at it and feel regret. I poured my darkest thoughts into those blank pages, as my outlet, yet I could not let forth my creativity. The world in which I have forged with great pain and time, my great work in which I intend to write thousands of words, lay dormant because of this restraint. I could not fathom it. Writing is my life, yet I was not living, after a fashion.
It took time to grasp my mindset. It was my happiness. I lay aside the flow of my pen, in lieu of my problems. Alas, I digress. My happiness has come back to me, and from that I finally saw my inspiration to write. It is the joy of my life. To be happy in life has inspired me to create. Create tales of woe and sorrow, and of joy and hope, yet create something nevertheless.

While I cannot advise writers as Adam has so eloquently done, I can tell you about my inspiration, and work from there.

A week, it has taken but a week for me to find happiness. The people around me make me happy, they make me laugh. Laughter, I have found, is the greatest source of happiness one can have. While it may come across as disjointed in a statement, it is no less true. I have struggled to form this into words upon a screen, yet these are the words that I type. I would tell you to find people who make you happy, who make you laugh, and make you want to be with them constantly. They will ensure your wellbeing and this will allow you to be clear of mind and the clarity to write unrestricted by distracting dark thoughts. I do not say dark thoughts inhibit writing, but in the overall arc of things, to be happy is to bring forth the greater word-smithing of a writer. If you find yourself stuck, take that time of day to step away from your paper and see the people you want to see, and talk about anything and everything. Confess your woes and your joys. Tell them your anecdotes and whatever else comes across your mind.
I would tell all and any that this clearing of thought brings rise to a vivid creative train of thought, one that allows for a higher standard of writing without the clutter of negative thoughts.

I would go on to say something about love. Love brings rise to happiness there is no doubt. Though this thing, love, is a source of happiness that I now might put on par with laughter. To love and find someone to love you is a rare thing, yet finding that one person to be the other half of you, to know you better than you know yourself. It brings a rightness of the mind. For a writer, I would tell them to grab their love and make it clear. If rejection brings rise to sadness, use that as some fuel; though do not let it rule you. Motivate yourself with this, to find that person with whom you might share life.
While you might ask why loving someone inspires writing, then I can only say that you have not experienced it true. Some of the greatest works of English literature were forged from love. I'll not name the men and women who wrote of love and the great emotions it brought rise to, I will simply say anyone well read, and any writer who claims that mantle should be more than aware of the poets, playwrights and novelists who were inspired by their loves.

Lastly, I can only say that inspiration gives birth to the literature you adore. Reading what you like and love will bring rise to the desire to write your own great stories. Every time I sit down and open the page of my well read, and tattered Fellowship of the Ring, or move on to the Return of the King, I sense a burning passion to tell my story. The happiness of reading Tolkien's final fifty pages of his great book The Lord of the Rings, leaves me wanting to tell my story and see the fruition of my mind tell their stories and see them conclude their epic tales. For what fantasy writer, or even writer of the language itself, cannot be inspired by Tolkien's language? A master of the tongue, and genius storyteller.
Yet, again, I digress, for I fear Tolkien is a man who deserves his own article. Taking up some tale, be it fiction or fantasy; if the tale holds you, then read it and let the craft of a writer inspire you in turn. For reading any great author, or just a normal published author, is inspiration enough to realise it could be you. It could be you published in months or years. Knowing you might be the next person to set the standard to which others are compared for years, can inspire you to write and write.

Though, I must realise that everything above is easily disregarded as soon as writer's block returns. Yet, I can only tell you to make yourself happy again. Do not let anything stop your happiness reining in your life. If you settle before your paper or your screen and find you cannot write, then leave and do what makes you happy, until you can settle yourself before your anvil of words, be it digital or physical, and write unrestricted, with your inspiration returned.
If it requires music, the listen to music, then let it inspire you to put your word down. If it requires further reading of your favourite tales, then read that tale, even if takes weeks. Do it, and let it drive you to want to write.

If you find yourself stuck for story and not the ability to lay your tale to words, then something is wrong and that is not a lack of inspiration but a flaw in your tale. Yet again, another thought for another time.

It seems I have raised more points that I have made, Tolkien and the creating of an actual story. Two topics for lengthy articles.