Ah, ye olde writer’s block.  The oft regaled mental condition that has caused many a writer to drink, caffeinate, dust, vacuum, cut off various body parts and say sayonara to the world.  If Pfizer could come up with a pill for it, I’m sure they would.  But they haven’t.  Lest we are left to contend with this bitch on our own.  Where does it come from? How do we make it go away?  Well, ever stop to think that the drinking and caffeinating and Zolofting we do to contend with the issue might be part of the problem?  Not to mention the sugar and Splenda and dairy et al with which we self-doctor our concoctions.  First things first, clear the mind.  Eat a vegetable.  Do a cleanse.  Put down the Diet Coke.  Go for a run.  Close Facebook.  Meditate.  Next, put your ass in the chair.   Silly as it may seem, if you don’t make time for writing, it ain’t going to happen.  I don’t care how many times you circle your kitchen contemplating an inciting incident.  Sit down and face the blank page.  Third, make sure you know where you’re going.  If you don’t know what your hero wants, you’ll get lost in the middle. If you don’t know what he needs, you’ll get lost everywhere.  Get clear on the answers to those two questions and you’ll have a fair compass to guide you through most storms.  And lastly, know that not everything is within your control.  Eek!  A difficult pill to swallow, pardon the expression, for we writers who think everything we type is.  After all, it’s just us, a screen and a keypad.  Or is it?  If creativity is the spawn of God, Source, Universe, The Big Kahuna, then perhaps there’s a force greater than us wielding the pen.  And it may have its own way of doing things.  So don’t force it.  Instead, listen.  The words will come, especially if you’re not high on Chai.