It’s something that happens to everyone that writes, they get a block; nothing will move from them to the page – be it paper or computer. So – how do you over come this when it happens? Over the years I have tried a few different things as suggested to me at various events/courses:

• Hat/bowl of words – you take a sheet of paper with words on it – say from a newspaper, cut them all out and have a hat/bowl with them all in. then when you need a hand you grab two bits of paper from the hat and you have something to write, you can get all sorts of strange things and topics from doing this!
• Objects – take two objects at random, either from a walk or in the house, and you can use them as some sort of inspiration.
• Reading – and I don’t mean plagiarising – I mean reading something like a newspaper – there are often news articles out there to give glimmers of ideas, you could read a journal aimed at something you are writing about, will give you insights into that field and something may just “click”.
• Go for a walk – I often hear of people walking and having their mind clear when something just comes in – hint – take something with you to make notes with, a pad of paper or a mobile phone with a note taking app on it (I use OneNote as it syncs with my laptop and I kind of live in it – but Evernote or similar would work).
• Talk to strangers – in the café, on the train, in the queue at the shops. Talk to people and you get all sorts of stories – go dog walking and talk to other people out walking their dogs – find out what their dogs get up to and you have a plotline of sorts!

So – take these for a spin if you have to, and please share any others that you have found useful!