Cameron Durant asked Katherine Center:

How do you get inspiration, and once you do, how do you make it something?

Katherine Center I think inspiration is everywhere. In some ways, it's a matter of getting in the habit of tuning into it. There are so many situations you hear about or read about all the time that could become ingredients in a story, and I think the trick is learning to notice the ones that really resonate for you. There are an infinite number of stories that you COULD write, but you have to follow your own internal compass and write stories that are meaningfull to your own inner reader. So, for me, it's really a matter of sifting through all the details and situations and ideas that I stumble across all the time, and choosing the ones that are the most compelling.

That's the inspriation part. It's kind of like being a collector. As for how to make it into something, that's more like assembling a collage. Once you've noticed all these compelling elements, then you combine them into a story—altering them as you go—so that they all become part of this smooth, new, different thing. And that part is just doing the writing, sentence by sentence. Building the story patiently. And then, once you have a solid draft, going back and shaping and editing until it feels like it's doing everything it needs to do.

The first part—the inspiration—is exciting and urgent. The second part—the actual writing—is exciting, too, but it requires a lot more patience. Both are fun, though!! :)

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