"True inspiration is impossible to fake." That's another Inception quote for you. I think of it every time I try to write a blog post. I can't just write a blog post. I have to want to write a blog post. I have to be sitting somewhere, and suddenly, from a magical far off forest in which bunnies and unicorns romp, get the inspiration I need for a blog post. Otherwise, it sounds awkward and forced (to me, and maybe to you).
For example, please look back at my other blog posts and try to guess which ones came naturally and which ones I had to force. To me it's glaringly obvious.
My post about walks was so easy to write. I was on my way home thinking, "Hey, this is a great time I'm having. I should blog about it." My post about movies, on the other hand, is more awkward. I think the only way to get a reader to be engaged is to be engaged while writing, and I was definitely not engaged. For me, that post is frustratingly all over the place and painfully long and ramble-y. I was sitting at my desk, pressed for time, and under pressure to write something fun, creative, and interesting. It took me two hours which is, I think, way too much effort for something that should be fairly simple.
Sometimes I say things take two hours, and not really mean it because the short periods of work time are interspersed between longer periods of procrastination and Gmail chat. But I actually mean two, focused hours. Two hours staring at this very page I'm looking at now, nervously biting my nails and obsessively re-writing sentences until they were "better." It was a difficult and stressful experience, and I'd prefer not to repeat it.
As pretentious as I think this entry sounds, I had to write about it, because it was an idea I had that I couldn't shake. When I get an idea going, I enjoy writing about it. Instead of being a nervous and stressful experience, writing my blog becomes fun! It goes quickly and I don't get distracted because I'm excited and into what I'm writing. For example, at this very moment, my other tab keeps blinking, "Edward says..." "Tahar says..." but I can't look at it, because I'm too wrapped up in finishing this, even though normally I would be all over that distraction.
Usually, when it comes time to write another blog entry, I put it off for as long as possible. I know that if I give myself more time, eventually inspiration will strike me and I won't be able to do anything else until my blog is finished. After all, "What is the most resilient parasite?"
An idea, of course.
(*I legitimately had no inspiration for this title. Ask Edward.)
