Goodreads
Goodreads asked Tom Boniface-Webb:

How do you get inspired to write?

Tom Boniface-Webb I find that inspiration comes fairly easily, and from pretty much anywhere. Turning that into something usable is another matter entirely. I find it often takes a very long time to develop an idea from that flash of a thought that feels so amazing in my head, onto something equally good on paper.

Sometimes it can feel like there is a very big distance between the safety of my imagination and the drab reality instigated by pen on paper, that an idea loses any kind of magic once it's written down.

For many years I used to write down every little thing that came into my head, thinking that putting it on paper - no matter how terrible it was when read back - meant that it could be turned into something. Now if I write down an idea I need it to have some kind of power on the page, so that when read back a week or so later it still has the essence of something genuinely interesting. Anything else I find is a waste of time.

Once an idea is developed into something more concrete that has shape and form, if it still interests me, then I will take it further. Whatever it is that you write, it's going to be part of your life for a long time so it still needs to keep interesting you throughout that whole process.

More Answered Questions

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more