September 9, 2009

Inspiration

"You can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club."
– Jack London

Mr. London, though not admirable for his political views, offers a brilliant quote especially appropriate for me.  Too often I find myself waiting for that proverbial stroke of genius.  When it eludes me – as it all too often does – I am disgusted with myself for wasting my limited writing time.

In lieu of inspiration, persistence is king of success.  No matter a writer’s perceived talent, it is his or her perseverance that will determine success.  I like Sophy Burnham’s message below because it keeps me optimistic that all this hard work will pay off.

"There are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost everything has been tried and found to succeed for somebody. The methods, even the ideas of successful writers, contradict each other in a most heartening way, and the only element I find common to all successful writers is persistence – an overwhelming determination to succeed." – Sophy Burnham

Here’s to more late nights and early mornings!

1 comment:

Lance said...

Very true. Had filmmaking friends that always had all these great script ideas, but never tried hard enough to make it a reality. You just gotta keep pushing and if you can't find anyone to shoot it, shoot it yourself! :)

It's been five years since I did my first film in high school, and four years since I started waiting for the inspiration to write my dream project, the sequel. Time to stop waiting for inspiration and just write the freaking thing already...as soon as i finish everything else on my plate :)