You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~Jack London.
I don’t have a muse. If I waited for a muse to inspire me as a writer, I’d never get anything accomplished. To that end, I decided to try something new when I find myself banging my head against the computer screen in vain: I will go outside, whether it’s raining or snowing or pitch dark, run around the house once, then come back in and sit down. I figure the sheer stupidity of this exercise will spur me to get cracking.
Well, maybe not, but at least it makes more sense to me than “Tapping,” a technique from something called Emotional Freedom Techniques where the writer tells himself “Even though I can’t think of anything to write about now, I love and accept myself,” while tapping the top of his head, corner of his eye, outside the eye, under the eye, under the nose… and so on until something pops into his head. If he doesn’t like what he writes, he does it until he writes something he likes. That sounds too New Age for me. I’d rather use the club.
Otherwise, I use prompts and exercises, I read books or look at art as a springboard, or I immerse myself in something mundane that allows my mind to unwind, such as gardening, working out, or cleaning (never by watching television — it shuts down creativity for me). I have a recumbent bicycle that I call my generator because I get some of my best ideas while riding it.
A few other favorite quotes on inspiration:
Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up for work. ~Chuck Close
There is nothing fiercer than a failed artist. The energy remains, but, having no outlet, it implodes in a great black fart of rage which smokes up all the inner windows of the soul. ~Erica Jong. I read this quote at least thirty years ago, and it’s stuck with me.
I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener. It isn’t necessary to write well, but rather just to get writing. Once you have something in writing, you at have something to work with.
And this quote gives me hope when I fear what I’m writing is trash: Screwing up is a virtue. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea. ~artist Robert Rauschenberg
What helps you as an artist or writer? Do you have a set time of day when you sit down to work, whether or not you’re inspired? I’d love to know how you make the most of your creative time. And I’ll let you know if my new technique works.

