"How well do you know me?" your novel asks.

Do you ever say to yourself, "today is the day I'm going to writer for five hours straight!"? Come on. . .fess up!

And did you decide to clean the kitty liter or dust under the couch or even take a tooth brush and scrub the hardware on your toilet? It's okay, don't be ashamed. We've all been there.

And we've all blamed it on WRITERS BLOCK!!!!

(I couldn't resist, Calvin and Hobbs is one of my all time favs!)

I'm not saying all that cleaning isn't important. In fact, my desk has to be spotless before I can even think about writing. This is stress that I put on myself. When writers ask me about writers block, I don't laugh, but I don't really believe in it. I think that stress has a lot to do with writers block.

Stress? What? We don't have stress. We have the best job in the world. We get to pour our every thought on the page. . .

. . .until we really sit down to work and all the other stuff in our lives creep in.

I'm not going to debunk whether or not you believe in writers block, but I would like to offer some tips on how to push through the times you feel stuck, unmotivated, blocked, whatever you call it.

1) Keep a pad of paper or journal with you at all times.

As writers, even if you have another job, ideas or story points are always popping into our heads.

(So maybe I should take my own advice on this one. Yes, I was driving and I had a very important red herring for my novel, Splitsville.com. I didn't have any paper handy, so I downed my Red Hots candy and scribbled on the box.)

Regardless, lesson learned. Now I carry pad and pencil in my car and purse at all times.

If you have an idea, you can write it down. When it's time to sit down and write, you can refer back to your journal and instantly have a place to start.

2) Read, read, read.

Writers always tell that to other writers. Successful writers always give that as advice when asked. It's true. Think about it. 

Reading helps you escape, it melts away your stress, and your creative juices start to flow. A lot of times someone's words will trigger a new thought to the scene your writing. OR give you an idea on how to expand the scene.

I have a hard time with dialogue tags. I'm one of those authors who can't stand to use he said, he yelled. Blah, blah, blah! I love finding new tags within other author's work. Hopefully you will find reading will help you keep going on your novel.

3) Take a trip for research.

Research can be fun. My novel, Carpe Bead 'em, had a neat little coffee shop setting in a few scenes of the book. When I knew it was time to work on that scene, I had to get the smell, the customers, the lingo exactly right. I packed up my laptop and headed to the little coffee shop that my fictitious coffee shop was modeled after, and let my creativity fly. 

Not only did I get the descriptions of the smells, feel of the shop and its customers, I began to write, write, write.

4) Change writing locations.

If you are having a lot of distractions in your writing environment, I suggest looking back to when you first became a writer. For me it was writing in the back seat of my van during school pick up when my now four teenage boys were in elementary school. It was a place that I couldn't get up and fold laundry, let the dogs out, start dinner. It was boring to sit there for an hour or so and wait. With nothing to do, my characters began to talk to me, helping work through scenes. Before I realized it, I had over two thousand words. Talk about getting my mojo on! I did this every school afternoon for over three years. That was a lot of writing.

Now my kids don't need me to pick them up, but on occasion you will find my van in the grocery store parking lot or even my driveway, writing away.

5) Free hand it!

(Did I mention I have a LOVE affair with Red Hots?)

I know, I can hear you now. Are you crazy? I am a tiny bit, but believe it or not, if I'm stuck this never fails me. The first paragraph might be crap, but I just start writing and my characters begin to rock on the page.

Have you had writer's block or gotten stuck? What are some of your suggestions? Do you think you will attempt any of my ideas?

Other great blogs to help you get words on a page:

Author Lois Winston was a guest this week on Ellis Vidler's Unpredictable Muse.

Some people believe that if you pamper your muses that it will help with writers block. Anne R Allen has a great blog on how to pamper your muse.

Author Clarissa Draper's take on writers block is boredom!