It's interesting for me to talk with other writers or students of writing about what they do when struggling with the thing that for the sake of argument we'll call Writer's Block. The symptoms are various. It can be a complete inability to put pen to paper, finger to keyboard. It can be frustration with the way the material is coming out, even though it may be coming out in reams. Or it can be a writer who has successfully completed a work having trouble moving on to the next thing.
The advice I have received and give is when you're feeling like you can't write, that's when you need to write the most. Getting past the difficult, unproductive times increases the frequency of the rich times, and by getting through those low patches you show that you won't quit no matter the circumstances. After all, writers write.
One thing I always encourage my students--or any blocked writers--to try are the many, many activity books out there. There's an entire market for books about writing by writers (or other artists) in the vain of Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. For myself, some of my best idea have come from tasks in these texts. They're fun, they're simple, and they keep you going. Often, just having someone put a task in front of you to write about, a "What if" or a "Can you" is all the jumping off point you need.
