Goodreads asked Allene Symons:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Allene Symons As a journalist I am accustomed to working on deadline, and that brings on the adrenaline, but if I am writing on spec and don't have an actual deadline I have to trick myself into getting started or rebooting. I have created two visual ways of humoring myself into action: If I am stressed and twitchy and balking over plunging into a writing project, I look at a file card I have propped by my computer screen. It has a pasted-on image of John Stewart (lately of Daily Show) as if he is speaking his famous phrase "Settle!" To me, this means focus and get to work. The other file card has a pasted-on image of Eleanor Roosevelt and her famous phrase "Do one thing every day that scares you." Consulting this "mentor" quote helps when I need to push past a particularly stuck place (or when I need to figure out how to use yet another social media/online app or platform).

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