Okay, maybe ‘dazzling’ is a bit strong, but for the purposes of this post, it’ll do. s + b (I’m assuming b did the asking) has asked what I do to combat writer’s block, and the simplest answer I have for that is that I try to write everyday, regardless of how unworthy I consider the words. About mid-way through writing Book 2, I ran across the idea of writing 100 Words A Day–everyday–and I loved it. It totally worked for me. I feel like it takes the pressure off. Plus, it makes it very hard to make excuses because you can get 100 words on the page in just a few minutes. They may not be the best words, and you may delete them tomorrow, but they get they etch away at the writer’s block, get you thinking and brainstorming, and keep your head in the book. I typically find that if I sit down just to get my 100 words in for the day, I end up writing a page or tweaking something that wasn’t working yesterday and then jotting down some ideas for tomorrow’s hundred words.

I don’t typically have trouble with writer’s block in the way that I imagine most people do. I seem to have more trouble trying to find the words to relate the ideas I have in my head. Some days nothing seems right, and I could sit for hours working on a few paragraphs, tweaking them over and over. I have learned to move on and to come back later and give editing a shot with fresh eyes. Now I may end up fresh-eyeing it five times, but eventually, I end up with something that I think works. And while my brain has slowly been working through that scene on its own, I’ve moved on to new scenes and made some good progress.

I don’t know if this helps anyone or not, but this is how I do it.