Writing Inspiration

I just answered this reader question over at Goodreads and thought I would post my answer here as well. If you write, what inspires you?

How do you get inspired to write?

MY ANSWER:

There are so many times when I'm inspired by something I've read or watched on TV. For example, I remember reading Gone Girl and yearning to be able to one day write a book that well crafted.

That said, most of the writing time isn't about inspiration, it's just about writing most days and seeing where you get. I write an outline and start with a few characters and conflicts and an idea for an ending. As days pass, more details occur to me and snowball into a full fledged story over time. Walks or bike rides can help too.

For my romantic mysteries, Sarah Starting Over and Greyson Starting Over, I wanted to write about parenting and grief and my friend urged me to write about a disabled character. Because of my childhood love of Murder She Wrote, I also wanted to try my hand and writing a mystery.

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