Can anyone help? What do YOU do when you have writers' block?

I collect quotes or fragments of sentences, and when I have writer's block I take a break from the thing I'm stuck on and do a short writing exercise using those fragments. Other exercises include finding a random picture online, or using The Secret Door and using the place it drops me off at as the backdrop for a poem/short story.

What is the secret door?

It's a UK website that acts kind of like Google Maps, but the destination it takes you to is completely random. You could end up in a cave in Japan, or a candy store in Wales. You can check it out here: http://www.safestyle-windows.co.uk/secret-door/

Another option that's worked for me and a bunch of people is to just start writing strings of nonsense words until you start going somewhere with it.

Eh, I have tried that one, but it doesn't really work well for me

I'm lucky, and i don't really get writers block, but i do have problems sticking to one story, and what do when that happens, is turn out all the lights and distractions, and put myself in the place of my character. I act out in my head how that character would react to random situations, it works for me.

That sounds like it could work...

Glad to help.

I'm not sure what kind of writing you do, so I'll just talk about what works for me... (Is a serial m/m romance fiction writer... Yep.)

Since I finally let my muse loose a few years ago, I have yet to experience writer's block...In fact, one might say I've got inspiration overload. I look for inspiration everywhere... Movies and TV shows, books, quotes, songs, forum posts, even photographs and artwork... When I get an idea I like, I write it down... Just recently I combined all the ideas I had squirreled away in Word files on my computer (that I hadn't worked into the start of stories) and I had over 30 story prompts. That's not counting the 9 stories I'm bouncing around between and the ideas I have written on scraps of paper.

I also let myself get wrapped up in the world of my characters, only I use Barbies and Kens as visual aids if I can't get into the mindset while I'm writing... I pull out as many as I need, assign them particular characters, and then talk the story out. Obviously, my method won't work for everyone, but it is yet another example of working through what could otherwise be an impasse. You've just got to find what works for you and your style of writing.

Another thing that helps me, that keeps me from getting frustrated, is that I don't into the mindset of "I have to finish this before moving on"... I just work on what I feel like, even if it's just elaborating on concepts. It's all practice and I can tell my writing has improved. (Although, I'll admit, I have yet to finish a story... I'm getting closer though. I've got two that have complete summaries, and a solid plan for how to they will tie into the next in the series. So, yeah, I think this only helpful if you don't have a deadline. LOL)

First off, LOVE the Adam Lambert pic :) Second, I have started using a lot of my music for inspiration, it seems to be pushing some things through

I have a document saved somewhere on my computer that I would use for writing and drawing; it consists of "100 themes", which are pretty much 100 random words to choose from. It was originally a challenge created by someone some time ago to write a story that focuses on the theme or whatever comes to mind when you first think of the word. It seems to have worked quite a bit for me when I'm bored and looking for things to write about.

Yeah, I smile when I look at my forum replies, because Adam's there looking at me. XD

Even though I don't find it necessary, I think music is great for inspiring stories/plot twists and creating atmosphere. I'm glad it's helping you. Just keep working on it (even if all you are working on is editing; it's still progress) and write down all your good ideas. If they don't apply to what you are currently working on, you can come back to them later if you'd like.