Inspiration and the Creative Process
Posted by Guest Writer in 
Austin-based writer Richard Crenwelge shares his thoughts on the creative process, and how and where a writer should look for inspiration:
Finding inspiration for my writing has always been the most important part of the creative process, although I strongly believe that subject matter is not nearly as important as the way it is packaged. When I first began writing, everything from the subject to the text had to be hard-hitting, shocking, or somehow reveal a universal truth. I was never in short supply of these ideas, either, because I was young and emotional, and I purposely placed myself in new or risky situations, all in an effort to avoid becoming creatively stagnant. This covered a large spectrum of activity, also, whether it be the typical sex, drugs, and violence, or simply just traveling to other places without any money or resources. I was just convinced that everything had to be exciting.
I hit a certain point, however, where I became bored of that literary pattern, and it became even more mundane than what I had considered mundane before. It was simply a pre-existing template, and a well-used one at that. Stories and poems that I had written previously started to appear uninspired to me, or forced, or hackneyed. Ultimately, in my effort to create original material, I think I had begun to lose some honesty.
In response, I became a creative reactionary, and shrunk back into the everyday patterns of life to find my inspiration. When writing song lyrics or music, I would record, quite literally, the details of a specific trip to the laundromat, or a specific person that I ran into at the grocery store. It was a relief, in a sense, because there was not any pressure to go find a story. All I had to do is simply live and then write about it.
Although I am still operating in this sort-of reactionary space, I believe that the perfect environment for my writing would be a symbiosis between the two extremes. People read fiction or poetry for two reasons; the first is to identify with another human being through a shared emotion or shared activity, and the second is to be lifted out of their everyday existence into something more engaging. If I could find a middle ground for my writing, I think I would be able to satisfy both desires in the reader, and also cater to my sense of adventure, while tempering it with self-control.
Richard Crenwelge is a freelance writer from Austin, TX. His interest in writing began at a very young age, and Richard eventually received an undergraduate degree in English from Southwest Texas State University. He also has a masters degree in Theology from the University of St. Thomas. Richard’s other interests include music, martial arts, and strength sports. He owns a strength-training and martial arts gym in South Austin, and has a writing blog at http://deadindustrialexhaust.blogspot.com.
