I've got a large black writing desk from Ikea, the upper shelf of which is decked out like a miniature writing studio. It's ringed with a string of LEDs that I turn on when it's time to write. On the wall behind the desk I have a collection of postcards featuring famous authors. The desk is flanked with bookcases: the left bookcase has creative, inspirational materials, and the right bookcase has collections of work by a few of my favorite authors. I keep these for reference, whenever I have a question about writing.

If I'm inspired by an idea, I'll just sit down and knock it out as fast as I can. If I have no ideas but am in the mood to write, I'll pull out a couple random elements and characters, throw them together, and write about what happens. Sometimes that produces an interesting story. When I have a big idea, then I draw up an outline and pretty much enact the entire story that way, but it often happens that as I flesh out the story, more interesting things happen than I'd predicted and it goes off in another direction. At that point either I modify the outline or contrive to bend the story back on course. I hate rewriting, but my writing always benefits from a rewrite, when I can be bothered.

Gene Wolfe showed me what literature was capable of. His slow, understated, knowing style speaks to me very personally, to the point where I was motivated to write to him and let him know how important his work is to me. I'm glad I did so, because he passed away a few years ago and I would've lost that opportunity. I deeply enjoy Kurt Vonnegut for his cutting insight into human tendency and his dry humor. I continually study his humor to understand how he sets it up and cooks it off, but I wonder if this is a technique that can be learned. Shirley Jackson blows me away, another writer who has mastered conveying so much under innocuous appearances. In her essay "Garlic in Fiction," not only does she create a fun analogy for creative writing, but she also explains an incredibly important tool for writing that I've never seen anyone else hint at.

The very first Size story I wrote was about a woman I was attracted to. It was extremely exciting to write because I was committing to the ideas I'd kept locked in my head: it's one thing to hold onto a potent secret, but it's something else to labor to frame these sights and emotions into words. In the story I slowly shrunk to miniature size before her, and she explored all the possibilities of my new dimensions. My heart pounded and my palms sweat as I typed it all out, partially fascinated to actually see the words outside of myself. I was terrified that the woman I was fixated on might find this story, which was impossible, but I hinted about it to her and she told her boyfriend, a sketchy, brutish sort who demanded to see it. Of course that never happened.

I've studied inspiration and creativity quite a lot, on my own. There are probably some formal courses and instruction I would benefit from, but I haven't looked for any. When I need to be inspired, the easiest thing is to go out people-watching, like on the buses, on campus, shopping centers, etc. This has been impossible during the pandemic, of course. I've tried touring art museums online, but that's only interesting for so long. Lately I've started rereading my favorite books, intentionally studying them to understand how to set a scene or manage conversation, stuff like that. Otherwise, when I'm desperate, I'll exercise, go for a walk, take a shower, or push everything writing-related away and listen to podcasts or watch a movie.

The genre I prefer to work within (Size Fantasy) isn't represented in the mainstream market. Even if the story is vanilla enough to not include any sexual overtones, it has to be remarketed as speculative fiction or sci-fi or something else. My short stories aren't likely to find a place in mainstream literary magazines, and my books won't be picked up by any mainstream publisher. I have to do this all myself if I'm going to see print and publication at all.

What I love is when someone shows up to let me know how much my writing means to them. One guy said he'd printed out one of my stories from over 20 years ago and kept it in his desk all this time. A woman told me that I was one of the first writers she discovered when she got into the scene and searched online for Size Fantasy material. It's amazing, in a way I can hardly describe, to have someone come back and tell you that you were their primary influence or you wrote their favorite work.

I have two novel ideas that need serious work before they can even become a reasonable outline. Trying not to get bogged down in research for them. Now I have subscribers to my blog, so I'm focused on a few subscription-only series that need updating each month, and I have two commissions who have been very good about showing support. I think I'm just going to maintain these things for a while before I contemplate any bold new ventures.

"Inspires" is the wrong word here. You mean "obligates."

This answer would've been different two years ago, before the pandemic, when I might have said travel or live shows or visiting friends. Now, if I'm not writing, I'm watching several streaming series with my wife. Maybe I'll try cooking a new and interesting dish, definitely trying out new cocktail recipes. It's hard to focus on reading a novel, but I have two books that deal with creativity and writing exercises that I can fall back on. I'm teaching myself French, Indonesian, and Spanish through Duolingo.