Leonard Cohen on why hard work trumps inspiration
Not in the mood? Don't worry about it. Inspiration is for amateurs.
“I’m waiting for inspiration to strike.” Good luck with that. The truth: Inspiration is overrated. Leonard Cohen explained why he was ok with the grind:
But why shouldn’t my work be hard? Almost everybody’s work is hard. One is distracted by this notion that there is such a thing as inspiration, that it comes fast and easy. And some people are graced by that style. I’m not. So I have to work as hard as any stiff, to come up with my payload.
That piece on Cohen also has other examples of great artists advocating for showing up and doing the work:
Work ethic supersedes what we call “inspiration” — something articulated by such acclaimed and diverse creators as the celebrated composer Tchaikovsky (“A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.”), novelist Isabel Allende (“Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.”), painter Chuck Close (Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work.”), beloved author E.B. White (“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”), Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope (“My belief of book writing is much the same as my belief as to shoemaking. The man who will work the hardest at it, and will work with the most honest purpose, will work the best.”), and designer Massimo Vignelli (“There is no design without discipline.”).
So what if you’re not in the mood? The path to great comedy: Paying rent every day in the tower of joke.