Goodreads asked Sandra Shaw Homer:

How do you get inspired to write?

Sandra Shaw Homer Since I always knew I wanted to write, I just determined to sit down one day and start . . . anywhere. Unable to attend writers' courses here in Costa Rica, I read a great deal about writing -- there are many good books available. First I tried short stories. Material around me, in the small village life of Costa Rica, abounded. But good short stories are almost as difficult to pull off as haiku! Next I started a novel, but 100 pages into it, I didn't know where it was going, so it's sitting in a drawer somewhere unfinished. I've been thinking lately I'll get back to it.

Good writing involves close observation of what's around you, and I next set myself the task of writing good description -- this turned, finally, into my upcoming memoir, Evelio's Garden. (I had professional editorial help here, which I highly recommend.)

Travel, of course, is a natural. You're observing all the time, thrown into a new world just crowded with new sensations, new people, new conversations. I have no problem there -- it just happens. And I have another travel memoir in the works. The only thing required here is the discipline of keeping a daily notebook, and then weaving the result into a compelling narrative.

Did I say discipline? Any writer will tell you that you have to face that empty screen or page every day, even if you do nothing but sit there!

flag