Goodreads asked Mike Carey:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Mike Carey Until recently, I would most likely have answered this question with that old line about how plumbers aren't allowed to get plumber's block, so writers shouldn't have it any different. You just do the job that's in front of you.

But there are definitely times when you reach a brick wall, and there's no point just pushing against it in the hope that it will give. You've got to go away and do something else for a while - let yourself get distracted, while some hidden sub-routine in your brain keeps worrying at the problem without showing the rest of you its workings. If you're lucky, when you sit down in front of your keyboard again you'll see the outlines of an answer.

This is especially true late at night. Sometimes I'll reach an impasse at the end of an evening's work, and the temptation is to keep going. Don't give up. Solve this thing before you go to bed. But you just get more and more exhausted and unproductive, and you're just taking your edge off for the next day too. It's better to back off. At the very least you'll be sharper the next day. You may also find that you've got a different perspective.

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