I was talking to a friend over the weekend about being a writer, and he commented that he found it really hard to work when “inspiration struck him.” He was talking about painting, which I also do, but the idea is the same… the movements of inspiration are capricious and fluid. Sometimes I will be inspired and get half a novel done in a week (that hasn’t happened in a while, but it HAS happened to me!). Sometimes inspiration will vanish like mist on a sunny day. Just… poof. Gone.

But writing… well, creative work in general, I think… is about showing up regardless of inspiration. You think I am inspired to work seven days a week? No. I am driven and motivated to work, but I don’t wait for fickle inspiration most of the time. I am grateful for when it shows up, but I am writing, editing, recording, painting… I am working every chance I can.

I know I’ve talked about it before, of course. I’m not inventing anything people don’t know about. But I still think it’s important to talk about, especially these days when the threat of gen-AI looms over all creative work and people suddenly think it’s easy, and that anyone can do it.

Regardless, today is a low inspiration day, but I still need to get at least one episode of the podcast edited, so I’m gonna get back at it!