I like to pick up my quill. Writing with a quill forces you to write past the point where you'd typically stop, and by the time you do run out of ink, you're already onto the next thought. It helped me figure out that those inspirational hiccups are really very brief...but, if all else fails, go get coffee and browse the bookstore. Nothing makes me feel guiltier and forces my Muse to jump into action. After all, it's about time you joined the ranks of those authors, don't you think?

I've tried a number of things but what seems to work best for me is to just walk away from the story for a while. Write something else, like a poem or something humorous, and then go back and look at what you've written with 'fresh eyes'. I rarely lose my muse because my stories dictate where I am suppose to go. It's mostly like watching a movie; and if I approach it like that, all the foreshadowing and character connections come and feel much more natural to me. Then I know my muse is clicking, but everybody has a secret technique that works for them. My technique is to feed my muse with an abundance of literature.