Goodreads asked Amanda Witow:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Amanda Witow In my experience, writer's block is the result of one of the following: too many ideas, too few ideas, self-doubt, or lack of motivation.
Too many or too few ideas can certainly feel crippling, but I just find the right bit of inspiration to focus me and suddenly the extra notions buzzing around my head fall away and the necessary ideas unfold.
Self-doubt and lack of motivation are the real killers that I struggle with. My favourite authors are absolutely amazing and it's hard to not compare myself to them. I know (intellectually) that they all sit down and write crummy first drafts too, and that they have to rewrite and edit and revise. Just like me. Doesn't make it any easier know (emotionally). So I'll read some of the nice things my critique partners said about my last chapter, or make my husband read something and reassure me that it isn't utter garbage (the trick there is to not give him something that is, actually, utter garbage). A little bit of reassurance goes a long way to soothe the self-doubt.
As for the motivation, 8 times out of 10 it's tied up with the self doubt. 1 out of 10 is the too many/few idea issue, and the remaining 1 time out of 10 is because I'm tired from day-to-day things. Work/volunteering was draining, or the renovations around the house aren't going as planned so I'm frustrated, or I'm physically tired from lack of sleep or illness. On those days, I give myself a pass. Sometimes I do need a bit of down time to recharge and relax, and forcing myself to write isn't always the answer.

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