Don't Go Fishing When The Stove Is On

Writing is a product of inspiration. Whatever the source there is an inner illumination that yearns for expression which creates the arts. Writing like every other form of art is an outburst of the essence of the artist's enlightenment. Inspiration is indeed a magical state in which the writer is on a high and writing goes into auto drive. At times like this the thought process becomes multiple times faster than typing; the best words and humor appear effortlessly as the writing begins to build up and take on a unique texture.
Every writer is familiar with these glorious moments, but much more familiar are moments when ideas are ordinary at best and try as he or she may the writer cannot form them into interesting pieces. Frustration is not uncommon at such times when the writer cannot seem to find the right words and thoughts. The one thing that is obvious as he wears out the backspace button is that there is a lack of inspiration.
Different situations and circumstances trigger inspiration for different writers. For some it may be a good meal, film, sleep or book; for others it may be travel or fresh air. There is no saying when moments of inspiration come along. The factor that can be controlled by the writer is preparation.
Ideas form the basis for any piece of work and they come more often than a writer may be willing to admit. This does not mean however that the writer is willing to immediately begin the painstaking task of turning the idea into a manuscript, poem, article or any other form of artistic expression. What a writer needs to do is to have a little mobile method of documentation like a book of ideas in which he or she can quickly, but clearly document ideas in a way that preserves the idea in the mind. This can go on for days or weeks while doing normal everyday things. As a matter of fact the best ideas stem from usual, everyday activities and experiences. They appear casually and can be very fleeting; hence documentation.
A writer that is armed with healthy idea documentation is ready for that window in time when inspiration happens. What is worse than a lack of inspiration is to begin to grope around for ideas at precious moments of inspiration.
Ideas are the currencies a writer trades to emerge with their works. They should be captured before they take flight and kept safely for the moment in which the writer feels ready to begin to work on them. At moments of inspiration when the human mind is stimulated and ready to get creative, the writer must take full advantage and milk it dry by going at the ideas that have been preserved.
It is not laziness, an unwillingness, or a lackadaisical attitude; no! it is just the way of the arts, but with smart planning the gaps will go unnoticed and a writer's productivity will never be in question.