A recent quote from my blog “Emily Winslow Talks to Strangers”:
I am not in control of my inspiration
It’s very fashionable, and practical, to rail against the idea of “inspiration.” Writers I respect talk about discipline and hard work and consistency, and how absurd and indulgent it is to depend on inspiration. “Butt in chair,” they say. “Fingers on keyboard.”
But I’ll confess: I’m not above inspiration. After weeks of being utterly distracted from working on the next book by the demands of writing promotional stuff for the current book, I sat down this morning to finalize invitations for all my upcoming events. And ended up writing some lovely words for a character that had previously stymied me instead.
Sigh.
Glad to have the words; now behind on invitations. See-saw. I wonder what words will come out of me tomorrow.
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And on Wednesday I fly out to the States for a month. I’ll be WORDS bookstore in Maplewood NJ on Friday June 4th at 7:30–hope to see some Deb readers there!
ETA–And the winner of last week’s book giveaway is Cindy Larsen, who I will email today 🙂
Anything near Chicago?
Discipline is my weakness: Oh, the dog looks like he wants to play, the surf is up (I’m doomed then), kids need me (they come first, Mark Twain said his biggest life regret was putting his writing before his family, I’ll never forget that), check my email, work in my garden, etc…
Thankfully my characters will finally roar for attention and I’ll write in a heated rush.
Best,
g.
Thanks so much! Feel very lucky and can’t wait to read the book.
Cool post, Emily. I find that inspiration tends to strike when I am disciplined. Safe travels!
Have a great trip.