on Career Authors:

To write my forthcoming novel, The Next Thing You Know, I had to get inside the psyche of a guitarist: The creative flow of writing a song, the exhilarating rush of taking the stage.

The pain when the process isn’t working like it should.

There are so many parallels between all the creative arts, it’s no wonder so many of us populate our stories with characters who are painters, sculptors, crafters, creators. Characters we intuitively understand something about.

The other day I was watching an interview with acclaimed musician and songwriter John Mayer when he said something so profound about writer’s block that I felt compelled to pause the video and run for a pen to jot it down. That got me wondering: How do other musicians view creative blocks? And what else can we writers learn from them?

Here are three great tips worth singing to yourself when things get tough.