I also blog about these things over at Book View Cafe. Feel free to comment either here or over there.

My writing process has evolved and changed over the years. I anticipate it will continue to change.

Currently, I write everything out by hand, first, then type it up on the computer. Creating fiction using this process ensures that it starts as fun for me.

I have a day job, and I’m on the computer all day long. Therefore, somewhere in my head, I’ve equated “computer” with “work.” It doesn’t matter that I use a different computer, in different parts of the house (or at a coffee shop.) Computer equates work, to me, which is the opposite of creative.

So I hand write everything first. I draft either an entire short story, or a chapter, before I type it up. One of the good things about this process means I have pretty clean first drafts. At this point in my career, the percentage of what’s on the hand written draft that makes it into the typed draft can vary between 70-98%, depending on the piece.

So what does that have to do with inspiration?

I write with very good fountain pens, on very cheap paper. (That way, if something isn’t going right, I have no problem tearing out those pages, crumpling them up, throwing them away, and starting from scratch.) I used to do a series of posts about “pen porn” — those pens I’d love to acquire if money was no object.

I also find some of the fancier art pens inspiring. They make me want to tell stories about them, or their owners.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Jules Vern Squid Pen.

And though it has great reviews in terms of how it writes, I still think of this as a trophy pen, something you get for a reward, not a working pen.

Because that’s the problem with a lot of the fancy pens: While they look pretty, they write like shit.

Jean-Pierre Lepine’s pens are an exception. I own one of his pens, have tried others, and have always thought about getting more, because they write so dang well.

And who wouldn’t want to write about an entire, ornate, steampunk world in which this pen would be a part of?

(Click here for more reasonably priced Jean-Pierre Lepine pens.)

These pens inspire me to get my butt in the chair, and get to writing, so that maybe one day, I could afford something like the above.

What inspires you to write?