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Goodreads asked Adeline Knight:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Adeline Knight A writer I admire deeply gave me great advice years ago: that the only cure for writer's block is 'bum on chair.' What she meant is that you just have to keep putting yourself back at your writing desk, and put one word after another, and silence the critic in the corner/on your shoulder, and eventually...eventually!!!...you'll drop into flow.
But if this doesn't work, then I usually try to trick myself into feeling that writing fiction is a very, very naughty and sneaky thing to do - like a secret act of rebellion against the world. Make writing feel less like a chore and more like a guilty pleasure by making arbitrary rules for yourself like:
1) You can only write fiction in bed (this was Edith Wharton's rule for herself - and clearly it worked for her!)
2) You can only write fiction when you're meant to be doing other things (like your normal day job, or your tax return, or your homework, or your grocery list)
3) You can only write fiction when a pet is sleeping on your lap
4) You can only write fiction when your in-laws are visiting and you really should be entertaining them as the perfect host...but you're actually locked in the en-suite bathroom, writing on the loo
5) You can only write fiction on your computer at work, in full view of all your colleagues in your open-plan office (but beware, this is high-risk writing...which is exactly the point!)
6) You can only write on trains, buses or planes, when everybody else in your row or cabin is fast asleep.
Adeline Knight
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