Goodreads asked Charlie Quimby:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Charlie Quimby I don't believe in "writer's block." No one talks about banker's block or plumber's block or chef's block. Writers are not specially privileged. The worst thing they can do is imagine they suffer from some horrible affliction.

However, we all deal with lawnmower's block, dishwasher's block and exerciser's block. Thinking about it this way makes feeling blocked seem more natural and temporary.

So I deal with it in the following ways:

1) I give myself permission not to write. Just as I give the lawn permission to grow for another day. The world will not end if I decide to do something else. Readers will not miss the sounds of my typing. The lawn will still be there in the morning.

2) I read something good that tells me, yes, this is what I'm trying to do. Not exactly like this, but I see that it is humanly possible and worth doing.

3) I plant my butt in the chair every day. Sometimes I get up having written nothing. Or goof off. Or write crap. Or edit what I did yesterday and maybe it leads me into a paragraph that will lead me into a page tomorrow.

But above all, I do not accept it as a malady to be overcome. It's more like a rainy day that will pass as long as I do 3, 2 and 1.

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