Goodreads asked Jeffrey Burger:

How do you get inspired to write?

Jeffrey Burger Wine.
And Music.
Mostly wine...

In all seriousness, for an article, the inspiration can come from anything - something I heard, saw, personally experienced... For my books, it's all imagination... well, and a ton of research - especially when it comes to factual stuff on earth. A little truth or fact woven in, I think, makes the story feel more realistic, believable, grounded.

Many/most writers prepare a book by outlining before actually writing - I've tried doing that, it doesn't work for me, except for the very most basic form: start, midpoint and end. The rest I create as I write. Sometimes it takes me days to figure out a situation or a solution, but I find the plots twists and turns are much more spontaneous - sometimes they even catch me by surprise when I come up with them.

Robert Frost said: "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."

I take that to heart. It genuinely pains me when I have to lose a character - unless it's a bad guy of course. But still, sometimes, if I've known them long enough... So if I feel pain, surprise, anger, laughter, I expect I'm transferring that over to my readers - life. If I can have that effect on my readers, I've done my job. And by most accounts, I've been able to reach my readers - and that tells me I'm doing it right.

flag