SPECIOUS BARRIER 4
~'l'm waiting until I feel like it," aka "I write best when
I'm inspired co write."
This final specious barrier is the most comical and
irrational. I hear this one a lot from writers who, for
whatever incomprehensible reason, resist making a
writing schedule. "My best work comes when I'm insp
ired," they say. "It's no use trying to write when I'm
not in the mood. I need to feel like writing." It's funny
when thwarted writers say this. It's like cigarette addicts
defending cigarettes by saying that smoking relaxes
them, even though nicotine withdrawal causes
the feelings of tension in the first place (Parrott, 1999) .
When struggling writers defend their unwillingness to
make a schedule, they're sticking up for the cause of
their struggles. If you believe that you should write
only when you feel like writing, ask yourself some
simple questions: How has this strategy worked so far?
Are you happy with how much·you write? Do you feel
stressed about finding time to write or about completing
half-finished projects? Do you sacrifice your evenings
and weekends for writing?
It's easy to demolish this specious barrier: Research
has shown that waiting for inspiration doesn't
work. Boice (1990, pp. 79-81) conducted a study with