Goodreads asked Ariel Atwell:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Ariel Atwell When I really hit a wall, I put down my pen (or laptop) and do something different that will refill my creativity well. Last week I was having trouble with the opening section of my next book Twenty-One Nights. The hero and heroine were not cooperating. So I took a break and read one of the classic Regencies of all time--Jane Eyre. Of course if JE were written today, Bronte's editor would have made her kill the first third of the book. The story would have started with Jane and Mr. Rochester meeting at the side of the road, or more likely in bed! lol. But in those days readers needed lots of back story and descriptions. They didn't have TV or movies to paint pictures in their minds. Some would not have known what an ocean or a mountain even looked like if they hadn't seen a painting--no photos, no video, no Google. Words were need to tell the stories and paint the pictures of places and things and images we take for granted today.

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