Dear Barbara,

A few weeks ago, I decided to get serious about writing the romance novel that burns inside me. I made an outline, worked out my characters, got an idea of the various scenes I want to include, did my research and made heaps of notes. The problem is, now that it's actually time for me to sit down and get to the actual writing part, I can't seem to figure out where to start.

There's nothing quite so satisfying for a writer as when the creative well overflows, when your characters pull you out of bed every day, begging you to tell their story and give them life. For most writers, these creative bursts are rare, fine moments. Treasure them while you can! In between these deeply imaginative times, you can accomplish solid work, but the process feels a bit more like "work." There is less a sense of divine flow to our typing fingers, and more of a struggle to figure out what Ted will say to Jane next. A much higher percentage of our pages are produced in this fashion.

But what do you do when your typing fingers stall completely? When the creative well dries like your heroine's mouth after she first sees the hero? Time to woo your Muse and indulge in a little creative regeneration. Having stared at my own office walls for one too many hours, I've devised a plan of action to court the Muse and put her back to work.

When I sold my first book, I was ecstatic � until I hit a writer's block that lasted for a year and a half. Now that I've experienced it, I know that it's both real and painful for a lot of writers.

It's very simple: our subconscious (which is our friend and wants to help us) believes that writing is dangerous, and so it wants to stop us doing it. And because our subconscious, as the root of our creativity, is where our stories come from, it's in a very good position to stop us writing!

From the day I first discovered her lurking in my head, my muse, Gertrude, and I shared a terrific relationship. That is, until recently.

After five blissful years and seven and a half completed manuscripts, Gertrude took an unapproved vacation. No warning, no disagreement to precipitate her departure. One day she was there, the next she'd disappeared. Ideas no longer flowed from my brain to my fingertips. I spent weeks staring at a blank page in my Word document. Day and night, regardless of where I was--the supermarket, my son's baseball game, in bed--a voice echoed: "What happens next?" And for the first time in my writing life, no answer came to me.

I've heard successful writers proclaim they don't get writer's block because they won't allow themselves to get writer's block. Others have said that writer's block is related to motivation, or lack of. All I know are my own painful experiences of starting a new book and eventually drawing a blank. I've learned some techniques to help me work through my own writer's block and maybe they'll work for you: