When we're finished with a writing project, we're often tempted to break the hard writing routine and kick back for a while. We need time to decompress and push writing away for a while; we need to relax and just not think. While it's important to decompress and reward ourselves after a project, it's equally important to maintain the discipline of writing. I am only a wary believer in the sudden strike of inspiration as a source for our ideas; I am more inclined to believe that if we work hard and regularly, we'll be all the more ready when inspiration strikes. This Picasso quotation is important to my working philosophy: "When inspiration comes, I want it to find me working." (Read more »)