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Anybody else have this problem?
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Oh yes,
Maeggaladiel, most assuredly I do! All the time. In fact I just recovered from being stuck for a week. I was at a very important part in the story. The conflict has just been introduced, the conflict that will be the main driving point for the story. But then... the characters fell silent. They didn't want me to do anything with them, they didn't want me to give them any dialogue... they just remained stubbornly silent.
And then just yesterday they opened their mouths. Two boys going with the soldier? How ridiculous, they cried! Our friend Barin is coming too! And then the second chapter opens up with characters never
heard of... characters thousands of miles away from the people I was previously dealing with! A king and queen and their daughter, and her 'Instructor?' Where did
they come from. But now they're there and the story has hope again.
EDIT: Yikes! To use a Tolkien example, I can say that one of my characters in the White Horse has told me something very unexpected. He fought in the War of the Ring, and he was Bard to King Theoden?! I'm very surprised but if that is true I suppose... it is.... I guess. These characters will never give me peace of mind!
I never force myself to write when I'm stuck. I get stuck for good when I do that. I've tried it before and good books have had to be set aside until they're rekindled in my mind. When I force myself to write when I'm confused and unwilling to write because I don't know what's happening all that gets put in the book. The book becomes confusing, forced, and boring. I give myself the opportunity to practice the virtue of patience and I wait. I think about it during the night when my imagination is working best. I think out scenes and atmospheres, and I wait for the characters to tell me what they did next. I let the characters be themselves and let them do what they want. I make them become real people and I'm their biographer. They tell me what happened; I write their history. Sometimes they fall silent and won't tell me and if I make up what they say and do they get mad at my faulty interpretations and remain silent for months.
Just wait. Take a walk and think about it, listen to music... something like that. I've mentioned that I act out my stories before, and I'll say now that it helps when I'm stuck. I'll act out a scene already written and oftentimes it will keep going and I'll know what happens next. Patience and time... that's what I need to get past the silence of my characters.
Happy writing to all!