Goodreads asked Stephen Weinstock:

How do you get inspired to write?

Stephen Weinstock By the time I starting writing Book Two of 1001: The Reincarnation Chronicles, I had developed a daily writing process. I find that inspiration is that thing that comes unexpectedly, in the form of an idea. It's usually after a good night's sleep where I go to bed with a problem, or while I'm waking up in the shower. But not during writing time. So I needed a foolproof process to get the words out every day.

There are 11 hidden structures in 1001, and each one occurs in every chapter. So I developed a form that supplies info for each structure, as well as basics for plot and character. I fill out the form as I begin each chapter, then put the contents in an order as it occurs in the chapter's narrative. This gives me my outline, but by the time I'm finishing this outline I've solved most of the problems in the chapter, found two or three things I'm excited about, and have highlighted the main action, theme, or spine of the chapter. Then I write it up, bit by bit.

This work is not the inspired, flowing kind of writing process one hopes for as a long-haired, Romantic artist. But it is fast, efficient, and has its inspired moments. Since I have to write 1001 chapters before my next life, I need a dependable, forward-moving way of working, rather than just waiting to be inspired.

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