How to make the most of a burst of inspiration

I’ve been making the big, horrible mistake as a writer and creative person lately of only creating when inspiration strikes. It’s the worst and I know I’m not doing myself any favors. I’ve been stuck in a rut with all that’s going on personally, not to mention the work {that I get paid for} has been kind of zapping me of creativity. Deep down I know that one doesn’t run out of creativity, and the more you create the more ideas you have, but sometimes it feels like that! But. While I deal with these changes and get back to life in LA, I am also easing myself back into the things I love: journaling, crafting, taking pictures. Slow and steady. Being so busy and unorganized, inspiration strikes at odd times, which to some extent is how it always is. The past couple weeks I’ve been taking advantage of it by stopping what I’m doing to soak up the inspiration and really dedicate myself to it at that given time. This isn’t to say we should wait around until it happens, but when it does, we can train ourselves to take full advantage of creative moments:

be prepared at all times

Here I am sitting in a cafe with my laptop, kicking myself because I didn’t bring my notebook today. A lot of times, making lists and taking notes are the best ways for me to soak up inspiration and turn it into something tangible, so I feel stunted when I have an idea and am not prepared to work through it. I kind of hate working in my head. Either I need to feel it go through me or see it on the paper, I’m not sure which. Not being prepared has been my excuse to skip over thousands of ideas. Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment and realize that the phrase “I’ll remember this” is the biggest little white lie we tell and more often than not it’s a lie we come to because we don’t really want to face our work. (I can tell The War of Art is influencing me as I write this now, a book that I’ve also spent countless hours procrastinating with.) So. Notebook, fancy pens, camera, book with wide margins for annotating, whatever it is: make sure you’re always armed with it.

stop everything you are doing now

Those artists that sleep with a notebook in their beds are on to something. The other night, I went to bed in a bad mood and couldn’t sleep which made my mood even worse because I had to be up early the next day. After fighting myself over whether or not to get out of bed, I finally caved and got out my phone to take notes. I ended up writing three blog posts and a big list of ideas for more. Polished, finished pieces need first drafts. Need. Opening a blank Word doc is the most daunting activity ever, but if I open one knowing I already have taken notes or created an outline, ideas just start flowing. So when inspiration strikes, even if it’s super inconvenient. Just stop what you’re doing and start working through those ideas. There’s no need to come up with a finished product. What you’re doing is writing out all the important things that need to be worked through before you’re ready for the next step. And to everyone who doesn’t have time to stop for a moment. You’re wrong. You DO have time. You just need to decide what’s most important, whatever task you’re doing that you probably won’t remember as important in your life in three days, or taking 15 minutes to make something from nothing.

In the end, these are two simple concepts that I’ve been told a million times in some form or another. English classes, art classes, a Bachelor’s degree in creative writing… Sometimes it takes just one more time until it sticks. What were you doing last time you were inspired?