Goodreads asked Emily Devenport:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Emily Devenport I've read some good advice from Pixar about that -- they recommend that you make a list of stuff that COULDN'T happen next. The theory is that when you go over that list, you're going to realize that the thing that is going to happen next is really on that list. Another writer I know says you should interview your characters, ask them questions about themselves and about what's been going on, even what THEY think might happen.

But for me, the only way through a block is to approach the job as if it were pick-and-shovel work. Just sit down and pound something out. The trick is to keep the page quota low until you feel more confident again. During my worst bouts of writer's block, that page quota has been as low as 1/2 page per day. But even that glacial pace will move a book or story forward, until you feel confident again. Eventually you find you can do more. And you realize that you're working on a ROUGH draft. Stuff that doesn't work can be tweaked during the next round.

Don't automatically saddle yourself with high daily quotas. When your writer buddies are bragging that they got 2000, 4000, 8000 words done in their last session, congratulate them but don't kick yourself. I finished two novels in 18 months by writing on a laptop during my lunch break. And I learned to enjoy writing again.

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