Perspiration or Inspiration: Which is more Important to the Writer?

08 Feb 2025 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Perspiration or Inspiration: Which is more Important to the Writer?

I wrote this blog nine years ago. It is still one of my favorites. I think it summarizes the two major modes of writing. I sometimes have preferred one and then later I switch to the other. A few more years go by and I switch again. I guess I am a switch hitter. I don’t think one mode is superior to the other. It seems my mode is determined by my moods and very little else. So without further ado, I hope you find some “motivation” here for your writing. I realize that many of my you are bloggers and writers. If you find some ideas in here that are useful or not useful, I welcome your comments. John

2 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. Deermoonflower's avatar Deermoonflower
    Sep 08, 2026 @ 18:37:58

    John, I love this post!

    Related- I’ve been thinking lately about essays vs poetry. I just read Plato’s The Apology, where Socrates says he interviewed poets to find out if they are wise and realizes they don’t use wisdom (perhaps he means something like rational argument) to reach their conclusions. He comments that they must just be inspired or like “oracles.” I’ve been thinking about this since reading it. Inspiration feels different than the effort of reasoning. Your post relates to what I have been thinking about this week, but adds a lot more for me to consider!
    I’m so surprised you recommended it based on a completely different conversation topic when it is so relevant to something I hadn’t mentioned yet! How inspired. 😉

    I’ll keep studying what you wrote. I care very much about writing and enjoy your writing.

    Also, I’ll have to read your immigration posts next that you mentioned here. Excellent work you’ve done. I’m glad we’ve connected here.

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    • Dr. John Persico Jr.'s avatar Dr. John Persico Jr.
      Sep 14, 2026 @ 19:18:46

      Thanks Deermoonflower. IT is funny how things click sometimes. I love the thought of Serendipity. Maybe we can find a subject or two that interests us both and co-author a blog. I did something like that with another blogger one time. I gave her three challenges to write on and she gave me three. We had a year to complete all three. It was great fun. I hope my immigration posts are still relevant. I wrote them sixteen years ago when we first came down here. I was struck by the discrimination and racism against many Latinos by Gringos like me. One of my friends is Pablo Peregrina. You can see a brief interview with him and hear him sing one of his protest songs “Your papers please” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXpyhMt3sIE

      John

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