Tiia asked Elizabeth Gilbert:

How you start writing? Do you have any lack of motivation or do you know always what you are going to write? Have you got any writer's block and how you got rid of that?

Elizabeth Gilbert Here is my advice: I get out my kitchen timer and set it for 15 mintues. I am not allowed to stand up until the 15 minutes are over. During that 15 minutes, I write something. Anything — a letter, a poem, a list of people you hate, a prayer, all my favorite words, a childhood memory, a dream. Something. I might even sit there for 15 minutes writing, "I don't know what to write!" but I learned long ago that a "bad" day of writing is still a good day. You have to write through the bad part to get to the good part. As the great reporter David Carr says, "Keep typing till it becomes writing."

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In terms of writing - what do you do when you hit writer's block? How do you overcome the terrifying act of doing a rewrite for a novel?

Ms. Prohaska asked Elizabeth Gilbert:

How do you find the time and energy to devote to creativity when you have to balance other obligations in life? Do you have to take a leap of faith and give up some things in order to nurture those creative ideas that come into our lives? I feel like ideas float to me all the time, but because of my job and life, I am always saying no. It's dispiriting. I really want to say yes one of these days. How?

Rhonda asked Elizabeth Gilbert:

I am at a complete and total crossroads in my life, financially devastated, spiritually spent. I am where you were on the bathroom floor. Paralyzed and without direction or resources, I don't know how to move forward. Any advice would be appreciated...

All answers from Elizabeth Gilbert…

Elizabeth Gilbert

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How you start writing? Do you have any lack of motivation or do you know always what you are going to write? Have you got any writer's block and how you got rid of that?

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In terms of writing - what do you do when you hit writer's block? How do you overcome the terrifying act of doing a rewrite for a novel?

I am at a complete and total crossroads in my life, financially devastated, spiritually spent. I am where you were on the bathroom floor. Paralyzed and without direction or resources, I don't know how to move forward. Any advice would be appreciated...

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