Clare Furniss

Everyone gets stuck. Writing well is difficult, and writing a whole book – well, it’s madness really. What person in their right mind would do it? I found it really reassuring to discover that even the very best writers find it impossible at times. Thomas Mann apparently once said ‘A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people’. There are different ways of getting through it. Do something else, go for a walk, or move onto the next bit and come back to the bit you’re stuck on, or write something else, or get someone else to read it and make suggestions… Just don’t panic. It doesn’t mean you can’t write. Every writer has been there.