Goodreads asked Roddy Thorleifson:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Roddy Thorleifson If I start a book at the beginning and just see where it leads me, then I'm sure to get writer's block. It happens when I realize that I’ve led myself to a dead end. What I do now is to start a novel with a summary. I write a vague description of a cool idea. Later I revise it, adding and deleting to bring it into focus. I repeat this until I have a clear outline of the whole story. It’s about one tenth the length of the finished product. Each time I work on it, I do as much as I can do, and then I put it aside. When I look at it again, later on, I can see what’s needed. When I’m happy with it, I start the first draft.

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