The Rest of the Time

I just read a great quote on writing by Leonard Bernstein on Quotationspage.com. I won't go into all the details of how I ended up on that page, except to say that it involved a friend's status on Facebook. It's a little embarrassing, really, because I was spending valuable time that I otherwise could have been using to do almost anything else (like writing, for example). The thought of that wasted time had already crossed my mind, and I privately chastised myself as I continued to click around online . . . still not writing. And not working on household projects or cleaning or doing anything meaningful with my kids. But especially not writing. (This is not the fault of my Facebook friend, and in an odd little irony, it turns out that my "wasted" time has led to my writing this post. Funny.)

I've recently rediscovered just how easy it is to not write. I've been telling myself that I would have so much time to do some meaningful writing during the summer, but it just hasn't happened. Oh, I have a lot of very promising ideas about what to write, but so far the ideas themselves, no matter how compelling they may be, have not proved to be enough motivation to keep me at it. A deadline would certainly be motivating, but I don't have one. No writing gig means no deadline. Incidentally, no writing means no writing gig. Ah, the proverbial "vicious cycle".

And this brings me back to the quote. So here it is:
"Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but a writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time . . . The wait is simply too long."

Truer words were never spoken. Of course, Mr. Bernstein was no doubt referring to writing music, but I don't think there's a difference, really. Whether writing music or stories, sometimes there's a spontaneous burst of creative inspiration, but without that sprinkling of musical or literary fairy dust, the thing that comes naturally is definitely not writing. Believe me, I would know.

So I can't sit around hoping for inspiration, because "the wait is simply too long," and "the rest of the time" actually means most of the time. I've already learned that just deciding to write for the sake of writing isn't enough, either. I'm going to have to "develop an approach" that will keep me writing. In this scenario the word approach is synonymous with the word plan, which denotes action, which requires discipline. I am reminded of a term I've heard, one that describes just the kind of discipline to which I refer.

Butt-in-chair writing.

I don't think that one requires any explanation. I believe I see a sticky note on my bathroom mirror sometime in the very near future.