Goodreads asked Annie Finch:

How do you get inspired to write?

Annie Finch If I'm in search of inspiration, the secret ingredient for finding it is connection of any kind--whether with nature, myself, a Goddess or Goddesses, a lover, a child, a friend--or with something tragic and moving, as when I wrote "The Naming" for 9/11. It's simple: authentic connection opens up my heart, and that opens up my ears to the Muse. So step 1. is to find some time, step 2. is to take a walk with nature, get hot with my husband (I'm known for writing poems during sex!), or otherwise connect with someone or something I love or am moved by. Step 3 is to write the first draft. After that, unless the poem is one of those perfect rare gifts, the revision process is its own inspiration. The process for prose, of course, is quite different . . .

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