Goodreads asked Thomas Allbaugh:

How do you get inspired to write?

Thomas Allbaugh I think that a number of incredibly talented writers have weighed in on the inspiration problem. So I don't have much to say. Inspiration usually comes to me after I've been working at something for a while. It comes as a new way of seeing a problem or a character, or as a way of seeing new combinations. But first I had to put in the hours and just work, without glory or light--just work. Inspiration is over-rated and not very well understood. I think Woody Allen said that writing was 90% just showing up (I may be wrong about the number). Flannery O'Connor said that for her, writing was a question of putting the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair and getting to work. From them, I've gotten the idea that if I wait for inspiration, I will have to wait a long time.

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