Goodreads asked Tess Rafferty:

How do you get inspired to write?

Tess Rafferty Ideas are everywhere. I never met a writer who had a shortage of things they wanted to write. Rather, it's the getting down to actually doing it that challenges people. I really like to keep banker's hours. I decide the night before which projects I need or want to work on and write it down. I'm a To Do list junkie; if it's on the list I feel compelled to get it done & it's such a rush to cross it off. Then I sit down, turn off the phone & the wifi and set a timer for an hour at a time. That's a nice productive block, but it is also manageable; it gives you a sense of accomplishment at the end of it which inspires you to keep going. I tell people that you can do anything for an hour and if you really don't like it you don't have to continue. But usually after an hour you're into it and want to go for the next hour. And don't tell yourself you're going to write for 8 hours. Tell yourself you're going to write for 3. You can always keep going but I think putting too big an expectation on ourselves hampers creativity and sets us up to fail.

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