The Inspiration is a strange and elusive creature, prized the world over for its wonder and beauty. It inhabits the endless landscape of the mind. To escape capture, the Inspiration is capable of anything. It can travel long distances at incredible speed. It can hide, jump, and climb. Get too close, and the Inspiration will snarl at you, revealing hooked fangs, big as scimitars, and sharper still.
Many a wanderer is awe-struck by the mere glimpse of the Inspiration, and a few are lucky (or unlucky) enough to capture it. At that moment, the Inspiration floods the wanderer's mind with new ideas. The feeling is overwhelming, and while they bask in its magic, the Inspiration kicks and bites and wriggles out of their hands.
And suddenly, the Inspiration is gone – it always escapes – and the wanderer, desperate for another touch, waits in that spot. The wanderer fantasizes about the Inspiration, waiting for it to return, but the chances are that it never will.
Do not stand by waiting for Inspiration will cross your path again; it is a fruitless endeavor and that you will likely regret.
Instead, you must hunt the Inspiration. Track it, chase it, set traps, learn from other hunters, and when the Inspiration bares its teeth, draw your sharpened steel, and fight it with all your strength. The Inspiration will relent, and you will once again feel its magic flow through you – this is the path of the Inspiration hunter!
Of course, there is a cost: the hunt never ends.
Once you become an Inspiration Hunter, you must remain one forever. You must find joy in the labor, knowing that each time you catch the Inspiration, it will escape… again... and again... and again... until you die.
But this is no sad story!
In fact, it is a beautiful death after a life well-lived.
While others stand idly by, groaning and complaining, coveting their moment with the Inspiration, you are bold. You find the strength to hunt the Inspiration, not the strength to suffer in its absence.
While others wait and watch, you refine your skills, face your fears, and mend your wounds. You climb the mountains of madness and dive headfirst into the abyss, knowing that The Inspiration often hides in the darkest of places.
So, from one hunter to another, here is my experience:
While I pursue the Inspiration for power over of the written word, and you chase Inspiration for reasons of your own, the hunt is equally perilous.
It took years, but I've found that the Inspiration may be lurking in even my worst writing. It's hidden in the rubble of pages tossed aside. Digging through, I've discovered injured heroes in need of revival, identified missed opportunities for adventure, and harnessed the power of long-forgotten words.
Some days the creature is in my sights, and I can see it clearly; on others, the trail is cold, and I feel lost. It is on those days when I must remind myself that pen and paper are my hunter's kit. It is on those days that I must remind myself to be brave, not careful. It is on those days when I must be relentless. Bare the awful weather, climb the jagged cliffs, and swim the treacherous seas.
So, my fellow hunters, it's time to chase the Inspiration once again. I wish you all luck. May your hunt be legendary!