Inspiration is rather confusing term which is coming hand-in-hand with creativity. Even those of us who have never found themselves creative and are completely uninterested in any form of art are still aware of this common belief that they have to feel inspiration to be able to create. the majority of us can see inspiration as some particular state in which we are zoning out and seeing something new that we are trying to capture in our mind and then express with the art form we know the best.
Is art really impossible without inspiration?
Actually, it is rather difficult to answer this question since everything depends on what exactly you perceive as art and inspiration.
Many people separate art and creativity from the mere activity of creation. To them, creation might not necessarily be creative. Indeed, a person playing the music of others with an excellent technique is certainly recreating it, however, he or she is not creating anything new. The same goes for talented artists who are capable of painting and drawing with a realistic precision. Again, these people are using the techniques available to artists to recreate the things that already exist.
While we can be fascinated by such recreations, we certainly see the difference between such actions and the action of creating something new which has never existed before. There is no doubt the latter one is pure art.
Should you really wait for inspiration to start creating art?
Now, even though the pure creativity of developing something absolutely new is highly valuable to us and every creative person is dreaming about coming up with something unique as this is the only way to leave some footprints in the history, there is absolutely no point to wait for inspiration to start working on your favourite art.
In fact, you will see a great number of interviews with prominent writers, musicians and painters who will suggest you keep on working without inspiration at all. This is a very unique state that does not come to us just because we want and there is certainly no point in waiting for it. Furthermore, the majority of artists even believe that mere expectation of inspiration can actually repel this fragile state and it is better to start working first and then inspiration will come to you in the process when you do not expect it at all.
Indeed, if you will be waiting for inspiration, you are risking not to work on your work at all. Yet, you can use this time productively learning and practising new techniques and completing various exercises for writing. This will boost your writing skills, so once inspiration visits you, you will be prepared to create with your full potential.