Goodreads asked Alison Huff:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Alison Huff I think every writer’s worst fear relates to running out of things to write about… it’s right up there with giving a presentation to a room full of people and realizing midway through that you forgot to put on pants before you left the house.

In my experience, inspiration is everywhere and usually shows up when you least expect it. I keep a text file on my laptop and a notepad entry on my phone that’s filled with random ideas that pop into my head. Might be an idea for an article or story, might be a funny thought I had about potholes in the road, whatever.

I jot that stuff down because 1) I’ll forget that awesome sentence I just came up with a minute ago, and 2) I might be able to use that idea for something one day.

You will find inspiration in the weirdest of places, but that’s how it works. It’s like lightning; you’ve got to keep a bottle handy so you can catch it before it disappears like a fart in the wind.

When I’m feeling less than inspired or I’m in-between projects and not sure what to do with myself, I go and check out the stuff I threw into that file of random thoughts and notes. Something might strike a chord and lead me to write something amazing on a day when I felt that task was otherwise impossible.

Worst case, I grab my earbuds, put on some good music, and play solitaire on the computer. I play the game on auto-pilot, almost, and my mind freely wanders along with the music. No pressure because I’m not struggling to think of something to write about… if it happens, that’s great. If not, well… I just took some much-needed downtime for myself. Either way, I can feel good about it—and I'll see what tomorrow brings.

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