Two days ago, it was snowing heavily in the town where I’ve been for the past few weeks.
That’s unusual. The place is at the seaside, and the weather is usually sunny and mild, even in winter.
But the last few days, no. It’s been gray, cold, and ugly.
That’s why this morning, I had trouble getting out the door for my usual “wake me up” walk.
“Look at it,” I told myself. “The wind is blowing the shutters down. Dark clouds are gathering above. I’m sure it will be freezing.”
Somehow, I didn’t listen to this reasoning. I went out.
The first thing I noticed was how warm it was. From last night — around 3 degrees Celsius — the temperature had jumped to about 15. (From high 30s to around 60F, if you only do American.)
There was a strong wind blowing from the south. I guess it brought in the warmth.
But the wind did something else also. I saw it when I got down to the seashore.
The normally calm sea, which never makes waves bigger than a foot or so, was crashing against the shore in big swells. The streets nearest the sea were flooded with water.
And each time a new wave broke against the stone rampart that separates the sea from the town, a 3-4 meter geyser of sea water gushed up into the air, and then collapsed on the other side, onto the road.
I, a person who is rarely impressed or enthused, thought it looked spectacular.
The few other people who were out at 7am on a Saturday seemed to think the same. They were standing spellbound, staring at the water show.
As I was walking home from this, I remembered something I read in William Zinsser’s On Writing Well.
“The nonfiction writer has to create his own luck,” Zinsser wrote. He was talking about traveling to unusual places and following the story wherever it leads you.
I don’t consider myself a writer. But Zinsser’s advice applies even if you do marketing or write sales copy for a living.
Because inspiration for a breakthrough hook (or just a daily email) can come from anywhere. But it’s unlikely to come from the same places everybody else has already milked — the same articles, blogs, and YouPorn comment threads.
So go and create your own luck. Read things other people aren’t reading. Go to places other people aren’t going. Or at the very least, get out the door, even if looks ugly outside.
If you’d like to read something few other people read, you can subscribe to my daily email newsletter.