Hi Kelley! I was just wondering, what kinds of things do you do to surpass writer's block? Do you have any special tricks that work for you? Thanks a bunch! You are such an inspiration!

I don’t get the kind of writer’s block that means I can’t write for weeks or even months. Mine lasts for a few hours, maybe a day or two :) and it’s always one of two things:

1) I don’t know what happens next. I know where I need to go, but I’m missing the bridging scene. Solution: I don’t sit down at my laptop until I’ve worked out that next scene. I walk the dogs, fold laundry, so something mindless but useful while I mentally hammer away at the scene until I have it.

2) lack of confidence. Maybe I’ve been reading an amazing book. Maybe I’ve seen a bad review of mine. Maybe I’ve heard from readers pissed off because I ended a series, and I feel like no one wants to read the one I’m working on. Whatever the reason, I don’t feel like I have what it takes that morning. In this case, I force myself to write something, anything. If it’s 500 words of crap, that’s 500 words of writing practice, which is better than nothing.