FREELANCE INSPIRATIONS: ARE YOU EXPLORING ENOUGH?
One of the inexhaustible topic areas in Writing and Freelance is Inspiration and this is because it is what fuels Freelance/Writing like petrol to a car. More reason there is and always will be new angles to anything said or written about this topic because it is that topic that never goes away. There is no way a Freelance Career in Writing or other fields can survive if such a Freelancer runs out of inspiration but the question is – are there moments when we run out of inspirations? Is it normal or is it even possible to be short of inspiration?
Yes, it is normal, it is possible and there are moments when we run out of inspirations. If it is so, what do we do in those moments when we run out of inspirations? In moments like that, we simply refuel. What do I mean? For some people, running out of inspiration could manifest in ways like knowing what to write but having a strange difficulty in putting them into words while for some, they just might not be able to come up with anything at all. So, how do we refuel our inspiration well enough to draw something full, deep and meaningful?
1. Take on New Projects: Yes, taking on new projects helps a lot in refuelling our inspirations. Try your hands on something new; expand your creative horizons and broaden your creative length and breadth. A lot of times, trying our hands on something new has been discovered to be one of those helpful ways that awakens the brain because as at that moment, the brain is being tasked to challenge herself and bring out something new and different and while at that, the person gets to discover certain things about him/herself, gets an opportunity to break limits and set new bars. So how do we take on new projects? By stepping out of comfort zones and trying our hands on other forms within our field. Take for instance as a Writer who is used to writing poetry most of the time, you can take Fiction Classes, take Screenwriting lessons and probably take a job or try your hands at writing one for self-development or sometimes, you get to volunteer for a cause that’s passionate to your heart or help other Writers’ or Freelancers through their career with your experiences over the years. At the end of the day, you can’t do all that and not have so much bubbling in your brain waiting to be given expression.
2. Unlock your archive: This one is the most important of all! Your archive is not just a trophy! It is more and should be more. Some Freelancers/Writers would just lock up their archive in a folder and blatantly see it as a show of their writing journey or a collation of the notable works they’ve done so far and they would keep adding more and more into the folder each time they feel they have written something of substance that got attention or made a new submission. Most often than we know it, digging back into the archive again is one of the most effective ways to be inspired. As Freelancers/Writers, it is expedient and inspirational-giving to constantly or once-in-a-while go through our archives again. When you read through your past works and writings, you get new angles and new topics to write on springing up from what you have written before. A writer’s works are never old. They have been discovered from time to time to birth new inspiration. Don’t just keep them piling up and occupying space on your Computer. On one of those days when it feels like you’ve run out of what to write or how to write them, reading through your past works helps a lot to restore inspiration and wit. Above all, we shouldn’t wait till when we run out of inspiration to read through our writing archives. This should be something we do most often than not. Sometimes we can dedicate a weekend to going through what we’ve read. It helps to keep us moving especially on days when we don’t feel good enough about ourselves, skills and prowess.
Finally, there are lots of things around to be inspired by as a Freelancer but the challenge is we are not exploring enough. Sometimes, things to don’t have to look like they can inspire you before they do. All you have to do is learn to open your mind to things and the possibilities they pose.
