Inspiration and Perspiration: Part One

CW: My experience with the writing process has convinced me that I nearly always need two things to write: inspiration and perspiration. The inspiration that I need to have can be an invigorating idea that can make some an original contribution to all who read it. That kind of inspiration necessary for my writing has not always been easy for me to find.

At times, I’ve had great ideas that go nowhere. Other times, I get inspired enough about something that I build up enough creative energy to begin the long process of writing an article or a book.

But to do the actual writing, I need more than inspiration; I need perspiration. This means I need to force myself to sit down, put pen to paper and write until I’ve accumulated enough good words. Because I write nonfiction, I have to do a lot of reading as research. Doing this takes both inspiration and perspiration, which some people have called “The Muse,” which we will address in the next segment.

BW: Charlie always liked to write. He won writing awards in high school and majored in English in college before attending medical school.

I never realized my calling as a writer until I reached my 40s. I wrote a few poems because I didn’t know how else to get my feelings out about my life after a near-death experience. I met an editor from The Journal of Religion and Psychical Research. He asked to see my poetry, and eventually one of my works. Every quarter, he would publish another. By this time, I was hooked.

I had written pieces for a respiratory therapy journal in the 1970s on the emotional needs of critical care patients. Keep in mind that no one was talking about this issue. But my poetry was different. It was fun. It flowed. Each poem had spirit, which is what inspiration still means to me.

Serendipity struck again with my first book; five books later, and I still stutter when I say I’m an author. I still can’t believe it. While doing research at the University of Connecticut Medical School on the near-death experience, I was interviewed by many magazines for articles about our research. When my own personal story came out in Woman’s World magazine, one of the secretaries in our department said to me, “My boyfriend is the editor of Woman’s World” and he says you’ve got a great story. The next thing I knew, his literary agent signed me, and we were in Manhattan being interviewed by six major publishers. This was pure glamour, straight out of a Hollywood movie. I took it all in, from Rockefeller Center to the Avenue of the Americas. It wasn’t until after I signed a contract that I learned what real perspiration was.

Charles and Barbara Whitfield share a private practice in Atlanta helping adults that have addictions and/or were repeatedly traumatized as children. They are the authors of 15 published books and numerous articles. They also give talks and workshops. For more information, visit www.cbwhit.com and www.barbarawhitfield.com