Goodreads asked Sam Wiebe:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Sam Wiebe Think of it this way: your first act poses problems for your protagonist (or 'main character,' in mugglespeak).

The second act solves those problems, but introduces newer, harder problems. And the third act resolves those problems, happily or otherwise.

At which stage do you usually get blocked? The second act. Which means you haven't found honest, satisfactory solutions to those problems.

So you have two choices: you can deus ex machina those problems, (or as Chandler says, "Have someone with a gun walk into the room.") Or you can work through them. The second way is harder, and, I think, more honest.

You the writer, in other words, are in the same position that your hero is. Solving her problems will solve yours.

So think outside the box. Do something you wouldn't normally do, something that will wake up the problem-solving mechanism. Read, take a long exhausting walk, a day trip, go see a play. When the answer comes, you'll know it.

None of this will actually SOLVE writer's block, mind you--sometimes it's just nice to understand our afflictions.

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