How to Use Nature to Inspire Creative Writing
Hurricane Florence is upon us. The news has been scaring the living poop out of the N.C. residents and understandably so. Hurricanes can be so detrimental.
In this article, I will demonstrate how to use nature — in this case a hurricane — to inspire a creative article.
Nature Provides Unlimited Topics to Write On
A part of my mindful writing strategy is to use that which is going on around me as inspiration to create original works.
Think about how awesome this is:
If you can draw creative inspiration from your surroundings, then you’ll never be out of ideas to write about.
Today, I used the hurricane as my inspiration, and this is the message I came up with.
It’s O.K. to fail at writing. It’s totally O.K. to fail. BUT — and I know it’s cliché — but we must get back up again because people need to read our words and our stories!
Don’t Allow Minor Failure Lead to Major Failure
Minor Failure: Small or large day-to-day mistakes, losses, under-performances, disappointments, defeats, errors, or shortcomings
Major Failure: Not making an effort to know what you want out of life; knowing what you want out of life and not pursuing it
As a fitness author and coach, I see this same phenomenon in the health and fitness world. People start these weight loss challenges and after succumbing to the cravings of ice cream and cake on day 3 or 4 of the 2-month challenge, they associate the minor failure with who they are as individuals, and they allow the minor failure to completely derail the rest of the challenge which is a major failure.
At the end, they haven’t lost the weight, and more importantly, their mindset is even worse than it was before they started. Now, they have positive proof to confirm the doubts they had prior to trying the challenge.
Writers face the same phenomenon.
Hurricane Florence and Failure — What’s The Link?
You may be asking yourself, “What does failing have to do with the hurricane?”
Well, I may be reaching here, but the similarity deals more with the meteorologists than with the hurricane itself. However, the meteorologists are all over the television because of the hurricane.
Writers Can Learn from Meteorologists
Meteorologists are the BEST people in the world at failing and continuing to push forward like it never happened.
They predict these storms to do one thing, and the EXACT opposite happens! My wife and I get so many laughs out of the meteorologists!
“This is going to be the storm of the century!” turns into the nothing of the century.
“We’re predicting three feet of snow!” turns into a bright and sunny day with no snow.
Regardless of their failures, these guys keep swinging and missing over and over again. But you had better believe that they are going to keep swinging, and they are going to be swinging with confidence!
For their persistence, I truly do respect them. It must be stressful to have so much responsibility entrusted into you.
How I Enjoyed My Recent Writing Challenge Failure
This weather related inspiration was right on time for me, and I bet it was right on time for you too. Here’s why:
I know you have had days where your writing productivity isn’t there. It’s normal to have those days. But my question to you is, “How do you respond after your failed writing days?”
Do you get down on yourself?
Do you question your ability to succeed as a writer?
Do you allow the negative emotions that come from failure to prevent your forward progress?
Even worse, do you sometimes take your writing frustrations out on the people closest to you?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly been in all of those places before, and that is perfectly O.K.!
I’ll be vulnerable here and tell you that I’m failing my 3 articles a day for 30 days challenge
That’s right. I’m failing.
It’s O.K. to fail! Learn to enjoy your failures and learn from them! Being scared to fail doesn’t lead one to success. Only the love for success will lead you to succeeding. Therefore, fail valiantly! Take on big challenges like writing 3 times a day for 30 days! Who cares if you stumble?
The only real pressure and criticism will come from you. How do I know? The only criticism of failing my challenge has come from me!
You see, the fact that I failed at my 3 articles a day challenge isn’t the problem; it’s what I think about the failure that matters the most.
The truth is that you — the reader or follower — could probably care less whether or not I wrote 3 articles a day, 20 articles a day, or no articles a day, and I could care less about what you think about my performance in the challenge.
But I do care about what I think of my own performance in the challenge because I know how to enjoy my failures!
I’ll admit that just before writing this article, I felt a little bit disappointed in myself. I felt like I had failed.
I was boasting in the early days of the challenge as to how I was going to “complete the challenge like a true warrior”.
While I have had a couple of days where I only did one article, I’m still going to do my best to finish strong.
This is a great time to recite the writer’s anthem.
The Writer’s Anthem:
I’m a writer, and sometimes I fail. I can’t go back and should have done it differently; therefore, I will learn from my failure and cease my attitude of self-sabotage. I will look at my failure and find enjoyment and inspiration in it. Today, I will write. In this moment, I will write.
Whether you were in a challenge, or if you were merely writing to meet your goals, if you stumbled, let go of your ego, and get back to your writing.
When you fall down and miss days of writing or write a crappy article, just think like our meteorologist friends, recite the writer’s anthem, and keep on swinging!
Failed Writing Attempts Don’t Hurt Anyone
At least our mistakes don’t potentially put people in danger! As a meteorologist, if you tell the people in South Carolina that the odds are slim that the hurricane comes their way, and then the hurricane directly hits them… whew! It would suck to be a meteorologist at that moment.
But for me to tell everyone on Medium that I’m going to write 3 articles a day, and then to only write 1 article on some days… well that’s a whole different ball game. I’m sure you would be completely devastated that I didn’t ‘successfully’ complete the challenge.
Conclusion
As I bring this article to a close, remember that we are ALL going to fail at times, and it is our duty and obligation as writers to learn from these failures. Not only should we learn from them, but we should learn to enjoy our failures!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing this article, which was inspired by a negative thought of my own failed writing challenge.
I’ve gotten some laughs out of this self-proclaimed masterpiece as I’ve written it.
I’m sitting in my bed cozied up beside my wife at my parents’ house with my 3-year-old daughter playing with her grandmother in the background with the wind and the rain of the hurricane pelting against the house. What more could I ask for?
I’m mindfully writing. I’m inspired by nature. I’m enjoying my failures. I’m thriving as a writer in my own little world, and I wish the same for you!
Dream Life Motivation: Discover! Pursue! Achieve!
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