One of the things I learned very early in my overloaded college years (never less than 20 units a semester or 16 units a quarter) was that there was no time to wait for inspiration. Waiting meant rushing to get the assignment done and turning in sloppy work or, worse, a late turn-in and being docked a grade. Neither were acceptable to me because I believe in doing one's best in all things. And the impact on any assignments after a rushed or late project was always detrimental. So I learned not to wait for inspiration and to get the work done as soon as possible. And I believe it was one of the best lessons college ever gave me.

Too many writers complain they "can't" write, they are uninspired and have to wait for their muse to give them the creativity they need to get the words on the page. A lot of professional writers perpetuate this "myth of the muse" as well, making it seem as if some outside force is responsible for the ideas that became their novels. New writers seem particularly susceptible to this personification of their creative energy. Time and time again I have watched the myth of the muse become a roadblock to writers who won't write until inspired to do so. Most of them will be waiting a long time.

Creativity comes from within. Inspiration comes from the pure enjoyment of using that creativity to develop an idea you like or from doing an activity you love. Are we always inspired when we write? No. But the writers who "make it" are the ones who write anyway. When they have ideas overflowing, they write them down even if they don't have the time to work on them right then and there. That way, when they run out of inspiration and all their other projects are done, they have a list to go to and use. They pick an idea and they work with it, inspired or no. The writers who "make it" make writing a daily habit, muse or no muse. They don't complain, they don't wait, they write.

It's time writers shed the "myth of the muse." It's time to stop saddling new writers with a concept that often does more harm than good. It's time to teach them that waiting has nothing to do with writing, that the work of writing is just that: work. It is a daily habit, carved out of our busy lives, where the pen meets the page, inspired or not. It's the habit that sustains you, that stirs the creativity within you, not some imagined muse. It's the habit that gets us past waiting and makes us writers.