Inspiration My Ass
Christian Saslo
Dr. Terry Easton
ENGL 1102_6061
10 March 9, 2015
Inspiration, My Ass Many times the road to inspiration is not paved. Often, it starts as a rocky dirt road that forces me to clench my teeth as I drive on it due to the fact that I cannot stand to hear the pebbles being kicked up against my cars paint job. I feel the steering wheel vibrate in my hands as I ride over the bumps of self-censorship and the shifting of my equilibrium as I swerve to avoid the potholes of self-doubt. "Left turn ahead," says the GPS of my subconscious. I am unsure of where it is taking me, or who punched in the address, but I blindly follow it. Even though it has led me down several dead ends and through a few rough neighborhoods, I still trust this internal GPS; ninety-nine percent of the time it leads me to where I need to be. Just then, the automated female voice calmly states "You have reached your destination, 1001 Discovery Lane." I jump out of the car and something beautiful catches my eye, something I would have never found had I not ventured on this journey, an idea! I am not always inspired to write; however, usually the process of writing leads me to inspiration. When it comes to writing, I cannot wait for inspiration. I am unable to sit around hoping the clouds part with a muse descending from heaven ready to bestow brilliance upon me with just a simple touch on my forehead. Being a standup comedian and comedy writer, people always expect fresh content and original ideas from me, so I have no time to wait around for inspiration. A lesson I have learned along the way, to deal with this lack of creativeness, is a process others have called freestyle writing. I pick up a pen and a piece of paper and for twenty minutes, write. This process has led me to come up with copious ideas for jokes and comedy sketches, a number of which have been featured on popular comedy websites such as FunnyorDie.com. The freestyle writing method gave birth to these
Dr. Terry Easton
ENGL 1102_6061
10 March 9, 2015
Inspiration, My Ass Many times the road to inspiration is not paved. Often, it starts as a rocky dirt road that forces me to clench my teeth as I drive on it due to the fact that I cannot stand to hear the pebbles being kicked up against my cars paint job. I feel the steering wheel vibrate in my hands as I ride over the bumps of self-censorship and the shifting of my equilibrium as I swerve to avoid the potholes of self-doubt. "Left turn ahead," says the GPS of my subconscious. I am unsure of where it is taking me, or who punched in the address, but I blindly follow it. Even though it has led me down several dead ends and through a few rough neighborhoods, I still trust this internal GPS; ninety-nine percent of the time it leads me to where I need to be. Just then, the automated female voice calmly states "You have reached your destination, 1001 Discovery Lane." I jump out of the car and something beautiful catches my eye, something I would have never found had I not ventured on this journey, an idea! I am not always inspired to write; however, usually the process of writing leads me to inspiration. When it comes to writing, I cannot wait for inspiration. I am unable to sit around hoping the clouds part with a muse descending from heaven ready to bestow brilliance upon me with just a simple touch on my forehead. Being a standup comedian and comedy writer, people always expect fresh content and original ideas from me, so I have no time to wait around for inspiration. A lesson I have learned along the way, to deal with this lack of creativeness, is a process others have called freestyle writing. I pick up a pen and a piece of paper and for twenty minutes, write. This process has led me to come up with copious ideas for jokes and comedy sketches, a number of which have been featured on popular comedy websites such as FunnyorDie.com. The freestyle writing method gave birth to these