How I Get Inspiration to Write

Blossoming ideas.

I try to publish a new blog post every fortnight, but I do not force myself to do it, if there is no inspiration to write. One post every second Monday amounts to about 25 texts a year, which is my usual amount. If you check the last two years, you will see that I only posted 15 times in 2017 and only 7 times in 2018. I embraced it. I believe inspiration is a gift and should be treated with gratitude, when it happens. But, of course, I do not make my living by writing, which makes this whole thing possible.

I always expect the inspiration with joy and fear, the fear of not getting one before two weeks go by. But somehow, usually, there is an idea to write. I rack my brains over everything I read, everything that happens and everything people say to me. And then, suddenly a light goes on in my head: a humble little original idea pops up. I usually jot it down in a short version in a little paper notebook and the next day, in the morning, I type the blog post. I never stare at a blank screen and wait for an inspiration.

I read all sorts of books: on psychology, philosophy, new age, and biographies, romance novels, phantasy novels etc. Now and then my husband reads the same book and we discuss it in detail. However, we also discuss the books only one of us reads. Yet, not all ideas come from books, some come from very simple chatting with family and friends.

Sometimes I get more than one idea in a fortnight. I write the two or three texts and let them wait on my computer, because I never know when there will be a shortage of ideas and then I can publish the additional blog posts. At the beginning, I used to publish posts right away, but then I calculated that there are usually 25 a year, so why not publish them every fortnight instead.

Take care,

Helena Smole, author of:

– a fantasy novel with romance Vivvy and Izzy the Dwarf: A series about relationships

– Balancing the Beast, a book offering a bright view of schizoaffective disorder ˗ bipolar or manic-depressive type