Here is a quick tip that has proven to be extremely helpful for me with my latest writing. On the horrible occasion when you suddenly find yourself stuck on a scene, before you resort to other “writer’s block tactics,” consider this: there is a problem a few sentences back.
I can’t remember if I heard this directly or through a fellow writer, but I do know this advice came from a college professor. The idea behind it is that, somewhere back when you were successfully weaving the scene, something came through that ultimately “tied a knot” in what you were trying to do. Maybe this was a bit of dialogue that was uncharacteristic. Maybe this was a simple detail that distracted from the scene, or else caused the initial tone to shift. Whatever the problem, I have found through experience that if you go back just a few sentences and locate that one bit of information that doesn’t feel quite right, fixing it will help you get immediately back on track.