Goodreads asked Sergio Troncoso:

How do you get inspired to write?

Sergio Troncoso I get inspired to write by reading. I am an aggressive reader, and I think if you want to be a writer you need to be a reader. So I am constantly reading novels, nonfiction, poetry (although I've never written a poem in my life!), history, philosophy, and so on. I also tend to read with a purpose. If I am working on a short story, for example, and I have a particular issue with 'narrative time' in this story, then I am also reading Alice Munro, who is a master of using time in short stories.

Also, I like to listen to what's going on around me. I pay attention, and cultivate my curiosity by what my eyes see. I think as adults we get too complacent about our surroundings, and we gradually lose our ability to be intensely curious, as children naturally are. To jump start my curiosity, I try to look aggressively, and I try to listen (and so quiet my all-too-noisy self).

Finally, I get inspired by the people around me. Of course, that includes my family and friends. But I would also include my neighborhood and acquaintances I meet. New friends. My earlier stories were mostly about people like my family, although not quite autobiographical. I would think of a philosophical question, or set of questions, I wanted to explore through my writing, and I would use people like my family or friends to play out this question through a story. I love philosophy in literature, and so my work often has an underlying philosophical subtext I am wrestling with.

Thank you for asking such a great question.

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