Inspiration + Biopics

There’s a point in all biopics about artists where the writer sits down inspired at the typewriter and beats out the famous piece of writing. Or the musician starts strumming that chord pattern or hitting those piano keys when suddenly “That Famous Amazing Song”© emerges. Or the artist glimpses that inspiration of a painting.

It doesn’t work like that.

It is not a sudden lightning hit of inspiration and that is it. The work is refined over and over until finally it’s deemed good enough or, to borrow from some other artists, abandoned and released.

Thinking it does work like that inhibits your own chance at working on something worthwhile that achieves the vision you have for it.

Writing is a marathon effort. As is making music, or other creative pursuits. Approaching creative work as a sprint will just leave you out of breath when the initial inspiration has run out.