For a novelist, there’s no telling what inspires each one.
Speaking for myself, reading good novels can be both inspirational or frustrating in that if the writing is superb, it can deflate me. When you know your voice, how you like to express that voice, create characters, and use the language, it’s rare to think you can overhaul your personal repertoire to “match” another’s skills or design.
You tell yourself, that although technically it can be a competition, you’re not that style of author, for whatever reason you don’t have the same kind of connections, and it doesn’t really matter because you need to keep writing anyway.
Watching a good series (i.e. Marshals) is a truly inspiring experience for me as a writer. To watch the development of the characters and the challenges they face, how they face them, the dialogue between characters – all of it gives me the desire to take fresh looks at my works in progress or address new plots for other books.
If you write, what inspires your work or your desire to keep going?
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