The words on the page should be dancing to your tune when instead they’re a jumbled mess not telling the story that you were aiming for. Frustrated? Me too. This is often a sign that something is wrong with your story.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and reassess. Admit the stuff up. Fix it. Move on.

I created a tight production and publishing schedule for 2016/17 but didn’t account for the obstacles that were inevitable to arise.

* Life
When you have children, a job, hobbies, and trying to do ten things at a time, the day to day realities are going to get the better of you

* Burn out
I hate it. I’m working everyday on eliminating it through regular breaks and doing things that re-energise me like going for a run, weight training, drinking wine with friends, reading a good book, but it doesn’t always work.

* Too high expectations
Yes, there is such a thing as expecting too much. I expect more and more of myself each and every day and nothing ever seems good enough. I’m not sure why that is. I’ve had lows in my life that it’s difficult for me to recognise that that was actually me and now I feel that I need to work extra hard to prove to myself that reality is different.

* Writer’s block
This is more of a lame excuse than anything else. I don’t really believe in writer’s block. If you are working on multiple projects, have outlines and are passionate about what you’re doing, you are not going to suffer from writer’s block.

I’ve been working on book four of my Lexi Ryder Crime Thriller series. It was supposed to be published in June, then July, then August. It didn’t happen. All the above mentioned have arisen and paralysed my productivity. It sucks. It’s frustrating. It’s driving me bonkers.

But I’ve finally figured out the problem.

The story was going in multiple directions and not what I expected. I was surfing Pinterest the other day (don’t you just love it?) and came up with a solution.

Go figure. Pinterest can actually lead to productivity. Would have never believed it had somebody told me. Pinterest is what keeps me up at night. Not sure whether that’s so so sad or just a part of being a creative. Whatever works, right?

So what do you do when you’re stuck on a piece of fiction or non-fiction?

Relax.
As hard as it may seem relaxing is the best thing you can do. If you stress over it you risk analysis-paralysis taking over and you’ll end up getting nothing done. Just take a breather and step away.

Work on something else.
Sometimes the brain is just tired of the same activity. By switching tasks like moving away from working on a scene in your novel to writing a blog post (like I’m doing right now).

Go for a run (or do any type of exercise).
Sweating it out is useful in that it burns excess energy and can give you clarity once you’re done. Exercise works wonders for my productivity. Everything starts falling into place as long as I include at least thirty minutes of exercise most days of the week.

Read a good book.
Take a break, make yourself a cup of tea (or coffee, or glass of wine), put your feet up and enjoy an hour reading a book.

Look back.
Read what you’ve written. What’s working what isn’t? Read it out loud so you can hear how the words sound. What are you trying to convey?

Add a surprise.
If you’re writing fiction throw in a barking dog, or a gun going off, or an old flame from the past. A bit of extra tension might be what your story needs.

Write the end.
Middles are hard. Don’t worry about it. Work on a different scene or chapter. Nobody said your book or articles had to be drafted in a coherent matter. That’s what the editing stage is for.

What do you do when you get stuck on a piece of writing?