1. Read a good book.

2. Listen to soundtracks or other music that gets you in a creative mood without distracting you(Josh Groban does it for me) .

3. Turn off your internal editor . Repeat after me: The first draft is crap. And that’s okay.

4. Get enough sleep. Eat well. Exercise. A strong body makes for a strong mind.

5. Don’t argue with your characters. If they refuse to do a scene a certain way, change it. Even if that means rewriting the story.

6. Discuss the problem with someone. I’ve found that when I’m stuck, if I talk it out, it allows me to see it from a different angle and I can usually fix it–even if the other person doesn’t say a word.

7. Reevaluate the project. Drop it if necessary. That’s only happened to me once. 100 pages in I realized it wasn’t working. I needed to completely rework the story. I put it away and started a newer, stronger story. Since then, I’ve been playing with plot ideas for the older one. I’m going to start it soon. It’s going to be much stronger.

8. Take a break from writing. Instead, read a dozen novels. By the end, the creative side of your brain will be tingling.

9. Don’t overextend yourself. I can’t create the depth necessary if I’m trying to move between two projects. Nor can I switch back and forth between editing and creating. Creative writing and editing do not play well with one another. When I’m writing, I DO NOT EDIT. They’re two different mindsets. It takes weeks to completely engross myself in one or the other.

10. Write, edit, read. Do one of these daily.

Q4U: What do you do to overcome writer’s block?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!