[Cicero]

I have two solutions to writer's block.

One is to have something even more unpleasant that you are trying to avoid doing. For instance, nothing drives you to the word processor faster than a big pile of student papers that need correcting.

The other, which I use more consistently, is simply to sit down and start writing. Then revise, and revise, and revise.

In this way I've written six books, maybe a hundred scholarly articles, and I don't know how many reviews.

I tell my PhD students not to do too much research before they start writing. They can always go back and add or change things. If you spend too much time thinking and researching, it paralyzes you.

Anthony Trollope put in a certain number of hours every day. If he finished a novel before the allotted time was up, he pulled out another sheet of paper and started the next novel. And they are GOOD.

[twigs]

I really like Anthony Trollope too. I find that knowing I can revise has helped me tremendously to write. I learned as a professional that I am a much better editor than writer. So if I can get anything down, even if it is written poorly, I can rewrite it later--and it will be better than anything I could have written the first time around. People who teach writing are now beginning to emphasize the revision function. That is good.