Move your feet.
I’m not sure why this works, but trust me, it does. If you’re staring at your computer or your notebook and you’re stuck, get up and get moving.
Personally, I like walks best. I go alone, but I take my character with me and we discuss the problem. Yeah, we discuss this out loud, which is why I love the desert trails around here — coyotes never give you strange looks. Sometimes I yell at my character and complain that she’s being difficult and sometimes I just share my problem and ask her what she wants. For some reason, she doesn’t answer when I’m sitting in front of the computer. But that all changes when I get moving. And really, most any kind of exercise will do. A jog or a swim or a bike ride. If the weather is lousy, I’ve been known to go to the mall and walk around there. And I can tell you that at some point during my walk, I will learn something about my story or my character that I didn’t know. Something that makes me smile and feel like maybe I’m not hopeless and maybe this book isn’t terrible, after all.
And that’s when you really get moving…to get home and write it down before you forget. 
Have a secret method that works for you when you’re stuck? Please share!
This is a new feature I hope to continue every Tuesday, where I share a writing tip that’s worked for me. These entries will be short and sweet and cover all sorts of topics–but feel free to ask questions or suggest areas you’re interested in.
Oddly enough I do my best thinking about what I’m writing when I force myself to not think about it. I pick up a book or put on the TV and suddenly my characters start screaming to be heard.
I’ve had that happen to me, too!! Just proves you can’t force things…not even if they’re fictional.
I also like a walk to work through ideas, but I bring my dog along so people think I’m talking to him, and yes, I do have a reputation in the neighborhood for being a crazy lady, but at least they add, “but her dog is cute!” I find when I’m trying to force the plot in a direction my character just doesn’t want to go, she’ll “visit” me and knock me around, metaphorically speaking. Once I listen to those visits from that part of my imagination that is in tune with all these fictional characters, then things go smoothly again.