What would you say were the most important things, the absolutely crucial ones, to bring inspiration to your writing?
A quick skim of the web shows that for inspiration people advocate everything from escaping up mountains to roleplay to dancing naked, and going to church, because it 'reconnects your energy to the universe'.
One writer even suggests spending time with children. He says that during the times he spends with his (six) kids, he is 'often reflective about life, about humanity, about love.' I don't know what kind of angels Leo Babauta has fathered but when I spend time with my children, I am usually too busy defending all my internal organs (and certain external ones) from three-feet long wooden swords and thick toddler's skulls to reflect on anything more than which room in the house I can hide in next.
Anyway, having been writing in earnest for a few months now, two things have emerged for me as fundamental preparations for being inspired to write fiction. They aren't necessarily what I would have expected but they have proved to be essential. They are becoming my golden rules for inspiration.
1. Get enough sleep
Dead simple. If I go tired into a writing week it's harder to write, harder to think of ideas, harder to put in decent length shifts. Sleeping for 8-9 hours the two nights before a writing week make an incredible difference. The odd nap during a writing day works wonders too.
In terms of inspiration this reveals that lots of what I need is already there. Sleep doesn't bring inspiration – it's feeling awake that is the best state to naturally inspire myself.
2. Read lots of fiction
Makes sense in a reap-what-you-sow kind of way. I find that reading other authors' fiction – and it has to be good; trashy bestsellers might have the opposite effect – not only inspires me with ideas of how to write but also gets my brain into gear in the same way that listening to Mozart can improve students' exam results.
I engage with novels differently now that I'm writing my own. I'm aware of stylistic technique as well as just experiencing the story. And it really helps. Steinbeck writes plain, mundane passages to carry the reader through to the next eventful episode. Not every line needs to be delightful. Rushdie delights more frequently, turning his lines with charm and jocularity and regularly intervening as the author lest you forget that he is telling you a tale. He gives permission for the author to be visible, and funny. Atwood plays with words blatantly through her protagonists, not embarrassed or too sophisticated to enjoy the medium in which the story is told.
I could go on. It seems important not to read books that significantly shift my emotional state (I remember after Catcher in the Rye seeing everything through a cynical and cocky teenager's eyes for several weeks afterwards) but just to be preparing my brain, motivating myself to write, and raising possibilities through the deliberately crafted words of others.
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