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Impatience is a virtue
Writing creatively innately holds no certainties. You only have to read a few reviews of new novels, plays or poems to see how subjective the art we find ourselves in is writes guest blogger Matthew Sharp

And indeed,in one’s own writing, you can have good days and bad days; and I can imagine the ratio between those days is towards the latter.

But what I know, 100%, and categorically, is that inspiration never-ever-comes idly. If it’s one thing that annoys me about people when they talk about their own writing it’s the ‘I’ve just not had any good ideas,’ or ‘I’ve had writer block,’ lines. The infuriating idea that inspiration hits you like lightning and boom you’re away. Quite frankly, get over yourselves.

The best writers never waited patiently for the flash of inspiration. The best writers were
too impatient for that. Rather, it comes from dedication and hard work. The fact is you need
to look for inspiration. It’s like a trek through a rainforest, lots of walking before you see an
unknown creature and document its existence.

Now my advice is not to wait twiddling your thumbs but to sit down with your laptop or
paper and write something. I’m not saying it will be great work, in fact I’ll happily tell you
know it’s likely to be utter crap,( and if you see my profile’s bibliography you’ll see, that I am still wading through my own.) That doesn’t matter though, you’re still trekking though that rainforest.

Hopefully you will write something and find you like something in it, and soon it will spring
board into something bigger and better. Before long you’ll be much better at writing because you were impatient to find inspiration.

Matthew Sharp is a young writer based at York St John University.