How to Get Inspired
<p>A few years ago I was living in Paris, trying to write but not getting anywhere. Ever since my family’s <a href="https://reluctantparisian.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">move from California to France</a> for work, I had felt unsettled, distracted, and overwhelmed. Setting up house, making doctors’ appointments in a country where <em>you have to bring your own needles</em> to the doctor’s office, and dealing with French bureaucracy had thrown me for a loop.</p>
<p>During the second week of November, I got an email from an editor friend in Alabama, reminding me that my story for a new anthology he was editing was due in two weeks. I had completely forgotten the due date. The story had to be unpublished, so I couldn’t just dig something up from the archives. I’ve been <a href="https://michellerichmond.com/about-michelle/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">writing stories</a> for more than half of my life. I’d been <a href="https://onlinewritingclasses.bayareabookdoctor.com/p/novel-writing-course-2023" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">teaching writing</a> for more than twenty years. How hard could it be to just buckle down and do the thing I’ve done for so long?</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/a-writers-life/the-strange-magic-of-inspiration-7e906c26d3f5"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>