Inspiration just doesn't always come. You can't just summon it with a snap of your fingers, or the stomp of a foot.
No, your going to have to go after it, ready for a fight. And I have to admit I didn't do that these past few days.
I get an idea, I write for an hour or less, then suddenly, I feel no longer inspired and drop my ideas, and leave. That, in part, was because I wasn't hunting the right inspiration. I was taking anything that came to me. I was desperate to write, but not desperate enough to stick with it.
My proof? I've started 2 books that, likely, will never go beyond ten pages. Nothing is extremely wrong with that, but it shows that I'm not focused, and that those two books are pieces of worthless trash.
Now don't try to convince me otherwise, I bet you, that while I'll possibly take a few elements from those two stories, I will never, never complete them.
And that's the hole that I have fell into this December. Writing a novel isn't easy. On the contrary, it's one of the hardest things a 12 year old like me could do. But I was making it up to myself that it was easy. Biggest mistake so far I've made of 2013 (not like we are far into it...).
(Cuts off rabbit-trail) Back to the point.
Inspiration is a fleeting glimpse you'll see everywhere. Especially when you are lost and don't know what to write. But Do Not fall into the trap I did; going after goose trails and expecting to win something from it. Those bits of 'inspiration' will eventually stab you in the back by abandoning you ten pages in.
So I tell you now to go after the real inspiration, and before anything at all is written down. Test your story.
It must be like a trampoline. Bounce you up when you need help, but not keep you stuck and confined to the rules, by lifting you up... did I just make any sense? I hope so.
Then, test the story's originality. Is it a copy of Narnia? The Lord of the Rings? Star Wars?
Next, you must assure the amount of material you have for it. How many scenes do you have? How many characters, events, places? It helps this entire process if you have an outline, outlines are a MUST (but that is for another post).
So to finish this post up, I'll say this last thing. Know your story. Will it hold you up? Because those times when you fall... well, you're going to have something strong to hold you up.
May thy Pen rush with the ink of true inspiration, thy pencil flow with alacrity, and thy keyboard blaze with words of fire.
The WordWeaver