How Inspiring Dept.

Today's bit o' the dharma: Inspiration is perspiration. Anyone who waits around for lightning to strike — instead of say, getting their butt outside during a thunderstorm — is kidding themselves.

To wit:

From the essential kit - “I wonder who’s comin’ to Sookie’s house today.”

... One does not produce a web comic two days a week for two and a half years by awaiting inspiration. One does not do hundreds of illustrations in three months for one’s book by awaiting inspiration. One just works until one’s brain is numb.

Here’s the other thing I find about inspiration: most of the time, it’s not enough. ... I suspect this is where a lot of wanna-be writers say something to the effect of “the muse has left me” and are distracted by a new bright shiny idea which drags them down another three or eight chapters before petering out.

You can’t do that, as a professional. You’ve got to be able to finish the work even when you’re tired of it.

There were days when I did not want to look at Tokyo Inferno, because I did not know how to face it at all. I felt like I had gotten myself into something too obscure to handle properly. I also knew the best way to tackle that was to do the research needed, and maybe make some mistakes along the way. Someday the mistakes I didn't catch on my own will be pointed out to me, and I'll fix them, and that'll be that.

But one way or another, I got it done. I finished it, cleaned it up, printed it, put it out there. I'd done it four other times before. There was nothing stopping me from doing it again, was there? Well, other than the fact that it's always easy to distract yourself.