Goodreads asked Mandy Khoshnevisan:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Mandy Khoshnevisan My improv training has taught me that it's much, much better to just write SOMETHING and move on, than it is to sit and search for the "right thing." If I'm stuck, I'll just write whatever's in my brain. I find that when I "can't think of anything," it's either because I'm actually thinking of too MANY things, I'm only thinking of "dumb things," or I'm trying write myself to a place I've already thought of but I can't figure out the transition from here to there.

In all instances, I've found that the best way to get past that is just to write down the dumb thing I'm thinking of and move on, even if that thing is something like, "Blah blah somehow a miracle happens fix this part later."

You can always erase, edit, or just throw away something. Improv has taught me that, rather than thinking of inspiration as a precious precious resource that can be used up, and that I better stop thinking of things before I use up all my ideas, "inspiration" is more just about trusting my ideas and being confident that yep, some of my ideas are better than others but I will never run out of them, and that ideas beget more ideas. It gives me perspective and the confidence to make a lot of "imperfect" content that I can play with, instead of fretting and sweating and getting hung up over creating one "perfect" thing that may never ever live up to my dream of how it should be.

(For more on improv and creative confidence, you can check out my book, "Managed Mischief!" ;o)

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