Goodreads asked John Everett Branch Jr.:

How do you deal with writer’s block?

John Everett Branch Jr. I don’t deal with writer’s block, because I have never yet had writer’s block. I’ve never lacked ideas to write about; while I seldom know, from the moment I pick up an idea, what the first words should be, I can always start jotting notes and find the beginning later; and though I don’t always finish what I start, it’s almost never because I can’t but only because I don’t. If for now I don’t see how to conclude a story, I simply set it aside, knowing that I can return to it later.

For myself, I don’t even believe in writer’s block. In part this is because it doesn’t happen to me, and in part it’s because the concept is fishy. As I noted in a blog post, other creative endeavors are not, that I know of, attended by blocks. I’ve never heard of architect’s block or chef’s block. In any case, there are ways around the kind of obstacle that the term “writer’s block” connotes; there are ways to stimulate the imagination, a few of which are mentioned in a New Yorker web article that my blog post links to.

If the question really means “What advice do you have for dealing with writer’s block?” I can answer that. Write down ideas whenever they occur to you, keep them in a file, and read through the file now and then. If you don’t know how to begin a project, start by writing notes. Work consistently. If you start to run out of steam in any given session, stop and do something else. If you find yourself stalled, try a creativity exercise.

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