Hey, LMP, so happy to hear you eluded those thugs, Wrongway and Deadend! Your latest version sounds right to me, like it grew out of that forest from a nice twisty tree root-- and I forsee all sorts of complications!
The first task with writer's block is to figure out which type it is. If the story's still live and basically in the right place, forcing it or using stream-of-consciousness -- I like to type in nonsense curses when I'm not working out my left hand-- that will work. If you've left it too long and the story's gone flat, you've got to start it all over again in your mind. Reread it, sleep on it, then take a long walk or do some other gentle mindless activity, pulling it around in your mind where you left off. You may be working on the wrong story, one you don't feel anymore at that point in your life, so switch or start a new one. You've got to write from a strong feeling you're having now, or it won't flow. You may have a systematic glitch, like editing too early -- editing stops the creation process, so make yourself wait at least 4-10 pages before you review your work, don't, don't start editing at two pages or less! There are various tricks to keep yourself from looking, if you can't look you can't edit -- turn off your monitor is a popular one. I like using symbol font. You may be anxious about judgement/deadlines, /review/publishing -- I'm afraid the only cure for that is to gain higher wisdom-- Ah, I need a drink! Have a snifter on me: (--) brandy, mangojuice, your choice
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