Goodreads
Goodreads asked Brian Asman:

How do you get inspired to write?

Brian Asman Inspiration is nice, but overrated. Stories are works of engineering. They're devices, designed to elicit feeling. Study how they're built, how they work, how they do what they do. Start with the stories that've made the biggest impression on you. Diagram them. What is each scene *doing*? What is each line of dialogue doing?

Stories are like houses. Put a beam in the wrong place and it's an obstacle, not a support. Don't forget the sewage line. Where does that hallway go, anyway? Figure all that out, and the drapes and paint and furniture will suggest themselves.

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