The Problem with Inspiration: Why Consistency Beats Muse

Picasso created 147,800 pieces of art. Here's his secret

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Dear Unlearners,

When I stopped writing years ago, one of the reasons was that my "muse" was a toxic and manipulative person. Stepping away was the right choice for my mental health.

I realized something important. When you depend on a muse to be creative, you're lying to yourself. You're saying your skills can only be activated by some external force. But if that's true, do you really have those skills at all?

Waiting for inspiration to strike is a risky strategy for several reasons:

• Inspiration is unpredictable. You can't schedule it. You can't summon it. You sure as hell can't rely on it to meet deadlines or pay bills.

• If you're always waiting for that perfect inspired moment, you might find yourself doing a whole lot of nothing. Nothing breeds more nothing. It's a vicious cycle.

• The pressure to create something "inspired" can actually lead to creative blocks. You start second guessing everything, afraid it's not good enough, not inspired enough.

• The fear of not living up to that perfect moment of inspiration can be paralyzing.

Muses are nice to have, don't get me wrong. They can inspire us, challenge us, push us to new heights. But they should never be the must have.

The moment your muse becomes essential is the moment you've handed over control of your art.

You are capable of more than that.

How can you break free from depending on a muse?

• Start small. Set aside time each day to create, even if it's just for 15 minutes.

• Don't judge what comes out. The goal is to prove to yourself that you can create without external influence.

• Read widely, experience new things, have conversations with diverse people.

Establishing a routine and practicing discipline in your creative work can help eliminate creative block over time.

The Power of Consistency

Consistency is king. By showing up regularly to your craft, you ensure a steady stream of work. Not everything you produce will be a masterpiece. But you're more likely to produce a masterpiece from producing a higher volume.

Most things in life are a numbers game, and art is no exception. Let's look at some of the greats:

• Pablo Picasso created an estimated 147,800 pieces of art in his lifetime.

• Stephen King has published 65 novels/novellas, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and over 200 short stories

• Paul McCartney has written or co-written over 30 songs that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He has also written hundreds more that never made it to the top. The Beatles themselves recorded 213 songs during their main active years from 1962 to 1970. That's an impressive amount of creativity in just about 8 years.

• Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb before he finally got it right. "I have not failed 1,000 times," he said. "I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."

These legends didn't wait for the muse to whisper something in their ear. They showed up, day after day, and did the work. Some of it sucked. Some of it was decent. And some of it changed the world.

The Benefits of Regular Practice

Regular practice leads to improvement. The more you engage with your craft, the better you become at it.

Also, treating your creative work as a routine job helps develop a professional mindset. It moves you from being an amateur waiting for inspiration to a professional who produces work consistently.

The best artists aren't the ones with the most inspiring muses. They're the ones who show up day after day, doing the work, even when inspiration is playing hard to get.

Creativity is like our fitness, we need to train our creative muscle.

Creative Routines of Famous Writers

Here are some examples of how famous writers maintained their creative routines:

• Haruki Murakami: The renowned novelist maintains a rigid daily schedule when writing. He wakes at 4 a.m. and works for 5-6 hours straight. After writing, he often runs or swims to maintain his physical fitness, which he believes supports his creative process.

• Maya Angelou: The poet and author rented a local hotel room and wrote there from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day. She would check in to the room, write in solitude, and leave the room only for breaks.

• Stephen King: King has a daily writing quota of 2,000 words and typically does not stop writing until he reaches his goal.

• Ernest Hemingway: He began writing each morning at first light, continuing until he had something done, typically producing about 500 words a day.

• Virginia Woolf: She wrote every morning from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., then again in the evening for an hour or two after dinne

• Charles Dickens: He wrote from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, with a break for lunch. He would often take long walks in the afternoon to stimulate his creativity.

• Toni Morrison: She began her writing day before dawn, writing until her children woke up for school. She continued this routine even while working full-time as an editor.

• John Grisham: When starting his writing career, he woke at 5 a.m. and wrote for several hours before going to his day job as a lawyer, aiming to write at least one page each day.

These famous writers didn't wait for some magical muse to show up. They made their own inspiration by sticking to a routine. They treated writing like a job and so can you.

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So stop waiting for that perfect idea to fall into your lap. Start producing. Start creating. Even if it's crap. Especially if it's crap. Because in that mountain of crap, you might just find your masterpiece. But you'll never know if you don't start digging.

Now get out there and create something. The world is waiting for your art, and it doesn't give a damn about your muse.

Until Tomorrow,

Cammi

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