Amateurs wait for the muse; the rest of us just get to work.
I heard the above quote while listening to a Forbes session with a famous writer whose books have sold millions of copies across the globe. When Mr Forbes asked him how he has been able to remain consistent over several years, he replied in the most humble and unexpected manner, paraphrasing Stephen King, “Amateurs wait for the muse; the rest of us just get to work.” That is, he does not sit down waiting for inspiration before he writes; he simply writes. And this was a profound tip for me.
He simply goes to write because that is his job. People do not wake up to go to work daily because they are inspired to. Many times (oh, those Monday mornings), they are tired, feel uninspired and hungry for more sleep. But they get up, clean up and dash out of the doors because they have work to do.
I realised this as a young writer – whenever I waited for inspiration before writing, I would waste hours, days and even weeks without producing anything and, of course, without receiving any inspiration. But whenever I sat down and placed my hands on the keyboard and began transforming my thoughts into black and white letters, I find myself writing almost daily, with new things coming out each time.
Of course, several of my articles came as a result of inspiration, and they are also sweet to write. However, let us assume you want to author a book; you may get inspiration concerning the title and the core message the book will pass. However, the pages between the front and back covers will be filled by WORK. You will not feel inspired every day to finish the book. And this has caused many creatives to waste months and years without completing their work.
So, what may actually trigger the muse is sitting down to put words on paper, drawing up a sketch, painting an image, recording the rhyme in your head; I mean, just doing some visible, tangible work. The rest will come. In the end, you may discover that you have produced a masterpiece. That the inspiration you were waiting for was in the WORKING and not in the WAITING.
May God bless the WORK of your hands.
