Goodreads asked Bill Mesce Jr.:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Bill Mesce Jr. I don't know where I read this, but I've come to agree with the idea that there's no such thing as writer's block. It means that a piece isn't ready, either because it hasn't quite jelled for the writer, or the writer hasn't solved some problem with getting the story down on paper. Over time, I've found that to be my own experience; that when I've hit a wall, it's because I'm stumped, not because I'm blocked. I think what often gets construed by novice writers as writer's block is setting to work on a piece prematurely; you're blocked because you really don't have a handle on the whole story. I usually don't sit down to start a piece unless I have a fairly good idea of kinda/sorta what the whole thing should be like. A lot of discovery goes on during the writing, and as the piece progresses it may evolve into something different from the concept I began with, but I do feel when I start that I have a fair idea of the beginning, middle, and end, and what I'm trying to accomplish. This may mean I keep a story in my head sometimes for years waiting for it to come together, but it's also why when I begin, I can bull my way to a finish, at least for a first draft. Not everybody works this way. I do know writers who sometimes only have the ghost of a concept and discover the story and the characters as they write. No two writers are the same; everybody finds their own path. What works for me could drive someone else up the wall.

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