Goodreads asked Clem Richardson:

How do you get inspired to write?

Clem Richardson One of the first things you learn as a reporter is you can't wait for inspiration to write. You sit down, you write. What you find is that inspiration comes while you sit there, staring at the blank screen - most times at least.
I once interviewed the writer Walter Dean Myers (Monster)who told a great story about the first time he met Dick Gregory - Myers was running a few laps around a New York track during his lunch hour and Gregory out ran him. Afterward, Myers told Gregory work made it impossible for him to run regularly. Gregory said "if you can spend eight hours working for someone else why can't you spend two hours a day doing something for you?" Myers said he spent at least two hours a day since then writing, six days a week. He sat there even if the words did not come. I followed his advice - sat there, inspired or not - and Gowanus got done.

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