It’s interesting to watch an author go deep into her novel, writing day and night and with such enthusiasm, and then suddenly face a total loss of creative words. It can be so challenging that she stops writing and forces herself to think so she can get passed writer’s block.

It’s one of those challenges that happens to many of us authors, whether it’s in the middle of a book, at the beginning of the process when we’re putting the story together or at the end when the plot has changed and we’re left in limbo. And while there is no one particular solution, there are many things that authors can do to help get passed writer’s block and back into the depth of their writing.

Here are seven tactics that I’ve used and found very successful in getting passed writer’s block.

1. Put the novel down and walk away from it for a while. Rehashing ideas or trying to fit in something that isn’t what you intended because your thoughts are locked can often ruin the pace or the heart of the story. Sometimes it’s easier to put everything to one side and just walk away from it for a few days – and that’s a few days not months or years. You don’t want to lose the novel by forgetting about it, but you want to eliminte the stress of trying to think by forcing yourself not to think on it for a short period of time. This frees up your thoughts and allows you to come at it in a few days with a fresh approach.

2. Read a novel. Find a novel that is of a similar genre and intensity as yours. As you’re reading, analyze it and see how this author has overcome the conflicts in their book and how the characters reacted to the conflicts and to the ending. You’re not reading to steal their ideas, but through the inspiration of reading you’ll be getting fresh thoughts for your own book, and through this you’ll be picking up on ideas or creating new ones that would be perfect for your own novel .

3. Talk to people.  Present scenarios to family and friends and learn what their reactions would be to the conflict in your story that has lead you to writer’s block. Sometimes their response is the very inspiration that you need to continue writing a great story.

4. Watch a movie or TV show. Again, you’re not watching so you can implement what someone else has written, but sometimes a simple conversation between characters or something totally unrelated can happen and fill your created mind with several ideas of how to continue on with your own story.

5. Read your work for fun. If you’re part-way through writing your novel, print off what you have written, make yourself a cup of your favorite tea and sit down in your comfy chair so you can simply read it in the atmosphere of reading a great book. If you can read uninterrupted, that’s even better because you’ll begin to enjoy your own work from an outside point of view. And when you get to the place where you ended up with writer’s block, you just might be surprized to see the continuation or ending come because you’ve got your thoughts deeply engaged in the story and your creative mind will automatically carry on with the story.

6. Review your story and your notes. Stories often go off the original plot scenario because as we’re writing, different ideas and conflicts begin developing along the way and these changes often enhance the story. But sometimes we get too far off the original plan and the story becomes too complicated or even just the opposite, too boring. By rereading from the start what has been written and comparing that to what we had originally planned, we can delete the part that threw us off track and get back to the story line that we had set out in the beginning.

7. Go to LinkedIn. There are many groups on LinkedIn that are dedicated to writers and authors, and “writer’s block” is an issue that is frequently discussed. Other members will talk about how they overcame this issue and give suggestions that may be just what you’re looking for. And if you can’t find a discussion about writer’s block, then start one and watch as other authors come to your aid.

Writing a novel can be a lot of fun and can bring many exciting rewards, so we can’t let something as annoying as writer’s block steal the joy we get from writing our books. It’s a temporary setback but it can be conquered, and hopefully these seven suggestions will help set you in the right direction so you can complete your writing and produce a terrific story.