Addicted to Writing

Manage Your Freelance Writing Career While Writing What You Love

  • About Pinar Tarhan
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Hire Me: Services
  • Contact Me
  • Portfolio
  • Favorite Resources
  • Newsletter

To wait for inspiration? Or to chase it? That’s the question.

Posted on March 23, 2012 Written by Pinar Tarhan

FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn

 

waiting
Above: A writer waiting for inspiration to start writing. Image via kateevangelistarandr.blogspot.com

Some people love to chase. While I am not a big fan of chasing when it comes to dating, chasing inspiration is one of the best things you can do for yourself as a writer.

I love it when inspiration comes by itself.  When I have a magical A-HA! moment. When an idea comes by itself and not when I was brainstorming, forcing my brain to fix a plot problem. When it comes unannounced, unexpected and gives me the rush to start writing it right there and then. And even if I can’t start at that moment, I am smart enough to take enough notes so that I don’t let it get away.

Except this rarely happens to me. Especially when writing fiction. An exciting, entertaining idea doesn’t just come on its own. An idea- typically an ordinary one- comes when I think about what I want to write about. I know I want this ordinary situation or character in some way, but I don’t want it to be ordinary. No, I am not contradicting myself.

OK, think about it like this. You want to write about cancer. But you don’t want to go down the old, depressive, tragic, “what-have-I-done-to-deserve-this route”. Or the “I’m-already-dead-might-as-well-go-all-self-destructive route”.

Instead, your character decides to make the most of her life right there and then. She finds out humorous, practical and innovative ways to deal with her son and husband. She doesn’t care that much about saving money any more. She buys a red convertible – which will go to her son after he reaches a certain age. See how she lived for the moment, without screwing up anyone’s future? She also has workers build the swimming pool she always wanted. Impulsive? Yes. Irrational? No. If anything, this will increase the value of the house.

Did the plot sound familiar? Well, it is the plot of the comedy/drama show The Big C starring Laura Linney. Before watching it, I remember thinking        “Humor in cancer? Right. Like that could happen!” But it has, and the show turned out to be really good and unique.

Isn’t this more interesting than typical ways of grieving?

This happens to me a lot. I respond to my ideas by changing the core of the story, changing the sex of the main character, shaking stereotypes, or adding some unexpected traits to the archetype. Victoria Connelly did a wonderful example of this by creating a writer character in her book “A Weekend with Mr. Darcy”.

In the book, the main character is Lorna Warwick – a modern day, famous author of best-selling Jane Austen style novels. But of course Lorna is the pen name and the writer is actually a guy. And he is not gay or a nerd. He is a masculine, heterosexual, sexy guy who hides behind the persona – and does adrenaline-inducing outdoor activities with his friends while he is not writing. And best of all…his interest in Jane Austen, and his novels, is genuine.

A Weekend with Mr. Darcy may not be the best book ever-created but I really liked the male protagonist being a guy’s guy and loving Jane Austen, and her characters, as much as the next gal. And guess what? Connelly has been published many times.

Where did the inspiration for this article come from? It came while I was reading this Writer’s Digest article about how not to write a novel, and one of the best ways to do it was to wait for inspiration. I am trying to write a novel and yet after all this time creating stories, I still tend to make the mistake of waiting for inspiration. The article stroke a chord and I wrote about it.

So an article about writing inspiration came when I was studying writing (so I could write my novel better and I could get to know the magazine enough to pitch great queries.) Not when I was doing something totally unrelated, or not doing anything at all.

While inspiration might occasionally do the favor of dropping by out of thin air, it mostly loves to be chased with vengeance. So you can just start writing about anything in anyway…and spice things up later.

If there is something that bothers me than writing something ordinary…it is not writing at all. The name of this blog is not a coincidence. I truly am addicted to writing. And while ordinary can be changed into extraordinary through trial and error, extraordinary isn’t born from nothing.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: inspiration, inspiration for writers, inspiration for writing, jane austen, mr. darcy, novel writing, victoria connelly, waiting for inspiration, writers, writing

Comments

  1. Jerry Walch says

    March 24, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    I love those Eureka! moments but if a professional freelance writer waits on those moment, he or she could become homeless.Tthe old adage “Good things come to those who wait” doesn’t apply to a successful freelance writer. The writer who has to earn a living from his or her writing must actively seek out inspiration. We writers are afloat in a sea of ideas about what to write about but we will never see them unless we are constantly looking for them.

    • Pinar Tarhan says

      March 24, 2012 at 4:38 pm

      Hi Jerry! Nice to see you on my blog:)

      I don’t remember the last time I left the house without something I can save ideas on. I mostly carry a notebook (or at least a collection of papers) and a pen in addition to my netbook. I also record things on my cell as message drafts if I don’t have the time or space for the others. If all else fails, I’ve been known to write on napkins:D

      I don’t mind chasing ideas. It used to be frustrating, but now I realize that the more I chase, the more I get- whether it is ideas or writing assignments resulting from it.

    • Pinar Tarhan says

      March 24, 2012 at 4:38 pm

      Hi Jerry! Nice to see you on my blog:)

      I don’t remember the last time I left the house without something I can save ideas on. I mostly carry a notebook (or at least a collection of papers) and a pen in addition to my netbook. I also record things on my cell as message drafts if I don’t have the time or space for the others. If all else fails, I’ve been known to write on napkins:D

      I don’t mind chasing ideas. It used to be frustrating, but now I realize that the more I chase, the more I get- whether it is ideas or writing assignments resulting from it.

Blogroll

  • My Entertainment Blog

My Other Blogs

  • Beauty, Fitness & Style for the Fun-Loving Gal
  • Dating & Relationships in the 21st Century

Categories

  • Author Interviews
  • Author news and coverage
  • Blogging
  • Book Launches and Excerpts
  • Book News and Author Interviews
  • Book Recommendations
  • Book Reviews
  • Career Management for Writers
  • E-Book Reviews
  • Fiction Writing
  • Fictional Writers: Writer Characters in Movies, TV Series and Books
  • Inspiration and Motivation
  • Marketing
  • Marketing Fiction
  • Movie and TV Series Recommendations
  • Novel Reviews
  • Paying Markets-Web and Print
  • Productivity & Time Management
  • Recommended Resources
  • Reviews for Tools and Devices
  • Romance
  • screenwriting
  • Self-publishing
  • Story Conflicts
  • Website & Blog Reviews
  • Writer Tools
  • Writing
  • Writing Tools
  • Writing Updates

Copyright © 2026 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT