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Comment by carmen medway-stephens on April 3, 2012 at 22:55

A holiday usually works for me but that's expensive, a day trip to the Gower can also work, sitting down with a bottle of wine and your note pad, meditation, a mad dance to loud music (ha) or create a mood board with your goals written on, positive images etc...something you can see as you write. Also I've resigned to the fact that at the moment I'm not writing and that I need a break. But ultimately if you start listening and watching the world around you things will start falling into place naturally.  Good Luck & Happy Writing.

Comment by Peter Cox MBE on April 1, 2012 at 22:09

Hi  Rowena

First of all - it's normal so don't beat yourself up.  If you were ready to write whatever comes next you'd be writing it. If you'd done the right preparation, planning, research, thinking, struggling etc - you'd be writing it.

Somewhere in your brain there will be a key to unlock the problem.  Break it down into the tools in your writers toolkit.  Dont try to do everything at once. Be very specific.  Go into the problem from each character's point of view.  Take a fresh look at your structure.  Use all the basic tools you have.  Another trick is to stand outside the problem and role play various people looking at your problem - like a director you know, or actors or other writers - get them to ask you questions.  See what your answers reveal.  A huge amount of writing is about asking questions.  From experience I think the majority of time spent 'writing' is actually 'pre-writing' - getting everything in place for your sub-concious to be released to write.  Pre-writing includes getting stuck, getting lost and getting brain ache! Welcome to the brain ache club!

Comment by Matt Ball on March 30, 2012 at 1:55

get outside. Go for a walk. Do something inspiring.