O for a muse of fire,
That would ascend the brightest heaven of invention:
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars, and at his heels,
Leashed in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire
The flat unraisèd spirits that hath dared
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object.  (Henry V 1.1.1-11)

See? I say incredulously to the vacuum that is my headspace-reserved-for-inspiration, Even Shakespeare opened his works with screaming to the universe begging for a muse. AND Henry V is freaking badass, so it's completely legit to cry until inspiration strikes, right?

This will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but Shakespeare is one of the biggest inspirations in my life.  He just seemingly sat around, producing astonishingly insightful work without stopping and constantly nailed the human condition at its most poignent.  If only, he notes, we could have kingdoms as backdrops on our stages, princes to act like the princes in our stories, and Harry to act as if he is himself.  It would be so much easier that way. It's really easy to get down on yourself when you're:

1. your own boss
2. being creative in anyway
3. paying attention to the finished work of people you consider particularly adept at your creative endeavor

I find myself in a constant cycle of read-and-write, which is FINE, so long as the writing is actually happening.  Because it's so easy to become lackadaisical or overwhelmed or discouraged, it's really important to push through.... or so people constantly tell me.I love how people who aren't writers are constantly shelling out advice to me.  It's like, writing is one of the few professions that people fell like they have some sort of authority to tell you how to do your job, as if a) you haven't heard it before or b) they have any more experience than you, a writer, do because they wrote a few papers at the last minute in high school or college.  Gee thanks, random person, your advice is exactly what I needed! My novel is suddenly finished! If only I had realized my job was so easy!

Nope, alas, nope.  I am a slave to my Muse, and she is a cruel mistress.  I am also an incessant perfectionist, so I tend to edit as I write.  There are some writers who can just pound away at their keyboard and produce thousands of words a day, just to delete 60% and rewrite the other 40%.  Honestly, I'm impressed with them.  It seems like a pretty productive way to write, though there is a lot of backtracking.  I feel like I get so bogged down in perfection that, while I generally like what I produce (save a few small word swaps or sentence adjustments), it takes SO. FREAKING. LONG.

I also have a weird writing process (I say with absolutely no authority because I don't know how other people write).  I'm super influenced by my surroundings - if I'm in the wrong place or have the wrong playlist on or at the wrong time of day, my brain is like LOLNICETRYNOPE!! I like to write when I'm out in public (#extrovert) because I thrive on environments that are constantly changing.  When I was in college, the private rooms in the library were always completely booked, but I was always trying to put study groups together or meet up with friends at coffee shops to bounce ideas off of (but also to get distracted).

I like to play tricks with myself when it comes to productivity-sans-Muse.  I'll shuffle around from place to place, coffee shop to coffee shop, and try to reinvigorate myself.  It's easy to wait around for inspiration to strike, but it's pretty unrealistic if writing is gonna be your full time job.  I also constantly wonder where I should draw the line when it comes to discussing my work.  I am notoriously discouraged by over-critique and abandon barely started projects early.  I am also very inspired by discussion and like to verbally workshop certain ideas.  I guess the key is to find the right people.. someone who is encouraging, available, invested, creative, understanding, spontaneous, like-minded, caring, and non-imposing... all in one package.  Probably not a problem.

I guess, the moral of the story is when in doubt, shout to the heavens and unabashedly beg for inspiration.  Or write a blog post.  Or, just sit down and write.  And I guess, if all else fails, you can take the advice of all those non-writer friends who are so quick to offer it.