In a Suite 101 interview with Michael Jung, Alethea Eason, author of the middle-school novel Hunger and more than a dozen children's short stories, had these suggestions for what to do when the writing isn't flowing:
"Put anything on paper to begin. Scribble
and write about the story of your scribbles. Cut up an email, a class
assignment, a diary entry and paste it together randomly. Type it over. Is
there a place where the words grab your attention, even if they don’t make
sense? Go with them and see where they lead you."
Another strange but fun method I've used from time to time: grab a novel randomly from your shelf. Write down the first sentence. Then grab a second novel and look at the first sentence of that one. Now write as little linking material as possible to connect the two with some kind of logic. Here's a example (yes, I'm worried now because I really did pick these two randomly)...
first sentence of "As Far As You Can Go," by Lesley Glaister: "The lift is lined with mirrors, with many Cassies." First sentence of "Gideon" by Russell Andrews: "Once again he woke up screaming." Whew, those are not too tough, are they? Something like: "The lift is lined with mirrors, with many Cassies. They all turn to him, they smile, and they produce a knife from their purses.... Once again, he woke up screaming." (I'm sure you can do better--give it a try!) Of course the point isn't to come up with great writing, it's just to get your reluctant brain working.
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