Goodreads asked Patrick Matthews:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Patrick Matthews Writer's block bugs me, not because I have a problem with it, but because it's got this weird larger-than-life status. People frequently ask me about it, and they speak about it in mystical terms, like it's some supernatural force keeping them from writing.

Every job I've ever tried to do has challenged me. Everything I've ever tried to accomplish has had obstacles. In writing, there are three challenges:
1. Figuring out what to write
2. Figuring out how to write it
3. Getting the time to write
4. Making it better

Writer's block is just a phrase people have dreamed up for when they have problems with challenges #1 and/or #2, and the answer to beating it is the same answer for every other challenge. You work at it.

When I start feeling blocked, I get up, stretch, maybe grab a drink of water or do some pushups, then sit down at the keyboard and start typing. In the worst case, I switch to another project and then come back to the original one.

I'm not a passive writer. I don't sit and wait for ideas to come. I aggressively go after my stories. I write and rewrite and work at it, always trying to find another idea or another way of looking at things.

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