Goodreads asked Nathaniel Barber:

How do you get inspired to write?

Nathaniel Barber I am skeptical of inspiration and very wary of the work it produces. That doesn't mean I don't get inspired. I certainly do get inspired and I am very grateful for when inspiration strikes, and I take advantage of that momentum to carve out great lengths of work at an abnormal and unsustainable pace.

I am skeptical of inspiration because I believe writing is a commitment to the long game. It is the lasting, and boring, work-a-day habit that is going to get the job done, rather than the few, fevered jags we seem to long for so terribly.

Also, the writing I've accomplished while in the throes of inspiration have most always turned out to be complete dreck. Inspired writing requires the most editing, by a long shot. So while I may be inspired and writing a whole lot, I cannot help but be disheartened to know the mass of text I'm setting down is also saturated with typos, contradictions in voice and context, unbelievable or phony dialogue and on and on and on. If there's anything good about inspired writing, it is that it's a larger body of work from which a larger body of edits can be distilled. First writings are, after all, only jumping off point, to a much longer and technical bout of edits, from which (ideally) something worth while may eventually emerge.

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