Goodreads asked Bill Riley:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Bill Riley Preparation. Now, I try not to begin a book until I'm confident I know what the story is, how it starts, the ending, and I have a rough idea of how to get there. That should be self-evident, but for me, it took more time than I'd like to admit to figure out something so basic. I was good at scenes and dialogue, and I had tons of inspiration, but without a decent road map, I got lost.

I also talk to or read about the process other professionals use to create or make something. Whether it's another writer, a painter, or an engineer, learning how others approach problem-solving, has helped me to solve my creative problems.

Other times, I do something entirely different for an hour, day, or week and I can suddenly see what I was missing or what held me back. Don't stop working altogether, keep moving the ball forward, but work on different things. When you come back to your wall, you just might see something you missed, or you couldn't see before.

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