Goodreads asked Douglas J. Emlen:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Douglas J. Emlen I wish I had a better answer here.....writer's block drives me crazy! As a full-time scientist/professor, my biggest problem writing is finding free blocks of time. Preparing and giving lectures, meeting with students, reviewing manuscripts and grant proposals, writing technical papers, faculty meetings, committees, grading term papers and exams....my days (and often evenings and weekends) are packed. So when I manage to clear a few quiet hours for writing, it is absolutely sacred. And nothing is more frustrating than squandering hours of this "sacred" time beating your head against the wall stuck, with no words gushing forth. The worst are the days where I not only fail to write new material, but in the process I manage to convince myself that sections I've already written are terrible -- these days I actually LOSE ground!

Yet writer's block happens all the time. For me I change locations. I have searched for places where, for some bizarre reason, the writing works (at least more often than not). Too quiet and I get distracted and restless -- so the stacks of the University library don't work. Too accessible, and I get interrupted all the time - so my office is out, as is my home when my family is around. Some background noise helps. Like a hum of white sound it lets me tune out my surroundings and immerse myself in the material.

I finally found a part of the student center at my university that works well, with students bustling past but not looking for me, so it becomes a background blur. And a coffee shop with hard stone floors that echo with just about the right amount of background hum. They also have fantastic coffee and a really friendly staff. So, for me, the secret is finding the perfect place, and this works most of the time. But when I hit the wall I have to get up and move, and try someplace else.

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