Jeff Gunhus
Today is an easy day to answer that question. I'm sitting on a beach in Hawaii, listening to the surf break, soaking in the sun while trade winds breeze by. Pretty inspiring.
On most days though, I have a standing 5 AM appointment with my Keurig coffeemaker so I can get in a few hours before any of my five kids wake up for the day. That's a little harder on the inspiration front. However, I take a page from the Stephen King playbook (as beautifully relayed in his book On Writing) and just focus on getting my backside into the seat and just going.
A few tricks are to leave a sentence unfinished from the day before so you have somewhere to start. Or just jot down a few sentences at the end of each writing session with your plan for the next one.
Ultimately though, the inspiration comes from loving the project you're on. As an author, you get to choose that project. Once it becomes any kind of drudgery, it's a sign that your book has gone off the rails. Writing done for the right reasons is fun and, for me, it's not really work. Who ever asks the question, how do you get inspired to go fishing?
On most days though, I have a standing 5 AM appointment with my Keurig coffeemaker so I can get in a few hours before any of my five kids wake up for the day. That's a little harder on the inspiration front. However, I take a page from the Stephen King playbook (as beautifully relayed in his book On Writing) and just focus on getting my backside into the seat and just going.
A few tricks are to leave a sentence unfinished from the day before so you have somewhere to start. Or just jot down a few sentences at the end of each writing session with your plan for the next one.
Ultimately though, the inspiration comes from loving the project you're on. As an author, you get to choose that project. Once it becomes any kind of drudgery, it's a sign that your book has gone off the rails. Writing done for the right reasons is fun and, for me, it's not really work. Who ever asks the question, how do you get inspired to go fishing?
More Answered Questions
Alan H. Jordan
asked
Jeff Gunhus:
Your books have a lot of concrete detail. Do you usually write the details in layers? That is do you start out with something like "Nick Hockley leaned forward searching the street..." and wind up with "Nick Hockley leaned forward against the steering wheel, eyes searching the colorless brick buildings that slid by on either side of the street...." Do you add one sense at a time?
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