Take a half hour break and immerse yourself in something completely different. Forget about your story completely. It may be that both you and your characters need a break. Go soak in a tub, have a cup of tea, or take a nap.

It may be all that you need to get going again. You may even find that your greatest inspirations occur, while you rest. Your unconscious can handle any problem if given a chance. If you have developed your characters enough, you may even hear them urging you to get back to work and telling you what happens next.

For those more severe occasions, it is good to come up with an outline. From ok what have I written so far, to where do I want this story to go you can sometimes pick up your train of thought again. Or you can try picturing your ending first and work backwards. This may sound strange but it works.

Nationally re-knowned hypnotist and NLP specialist, Daniel Olson, taught me that technique. He said, "Picture the ending then look back at your present self and tell me all the things that you needed to do to get there. What steps will your story need to take to get from where you are now to where you want it to be? "

Start from the last chapter, then the one before it, and the one before that one, until you get to the beginning. Fill in as many details as possible until you begin to see the whole picture step by step. Before you know it, your story will be done.

Remember everyone has suffered from writers block at one point or another. Now you have a way to blast through that block and get back to the business of writing.

Caterina Christakos is the author of several childrens books and how to books. For more writing tips or to get an autographed copy of her latest books, go to: