Inspiration is a mystical thing

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Writing depends heavily on inspiration.

Whether it is a painting you saw, a movie you watched, a dream you had or a song that won't stop running through your head, inspiration makes the creative process smoother.

These little moments or images can help bring about a perfect single sentence or even become the fodder for volumes of books. And this is why I am so happy to be joining the novelist club in the age of the Internet.

Writers of generations past relied on their memory or filled up journals and camped out at a museum or along the Seine to leverage their inspiration into words on a page. As enticing as that sounds, I am provided the comfort and ease of opening a browser and finding the exact song I need to complete a chapter or find the obscure painting I saw 10 years ago that will help me craft a new character.

Imagine what kind of novels we would have now if Earnest Hemingway or Mark Twain had been able to see even more nooks and crannies of the world.

Writing is a job

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When you work in an office environment ensconced by coworkers and a 9-5 schedule, it's easy for friends and relatives to understand why you are occupied for the better part of the day. People know the demands and constrictions that come with working-full time – in the conventional sense, that is.

It seems to be more abstract and far harder to grasp when you work from home and create your own schedule. I noticed this shift in the attitudes of others when I made the switch from my office job to writing a book from home. Suddenly people were acting as though I didn’t even have a job – not a conventional one, at least.

More requests for help in the middle of the day trickled in and I kept hearing about how lucky I was to be free of the daily grind. A lot of people couldn’t quite grasp the fact that I still worked, that making my own schedule and fostering a creative environment where I could churn out pages everyday was a real challenge.

Rather than having a place I could go that was conducive to productivity, I had to create that space in my own home. I had to make a schedule that I could keep everyday to maintain a consistent work pace. And I had to find time to get in some semblance of social interaction so this new experience didn't become isolating. I really underestimated how the workplace can be a big a part of your social life.

It has taken four months to really find a new work-life balance, even though both of those things are occurring in the same room.  And, now that I am halfway through the book, I have learned a lot about what it takes to have both self-discipline and to communicate my new needs and feelings to others.

I suggest everyone take at least one crack at self-employment and detour to self-discovery at some point in their careers. It’s hard work.