Writer's Block

I'm sure you've all heard of the infamous "writer's block". Here you are, writing along just fine, and maybe you get to the end of a chapter and you just go blank. What now? Sometimes writer's block hits at the beginning of a story. You have this great idea, but when it comes to writing those first few lines, you stare blankly at the computer screen or paper.
Everyone has a different take on why writer's experience writer's block... and what it really is. I don't know that I'd say it was definitely a "block", just more a break in the flow of work. Some times words flow so quickly from my brain that my fingers have a hard time keeping up. Other times, I stare at the screen. Like now.
I had this whole list of blog ideas, but none of them jumped off the page and said, "write me!"
Stories are so different than any other type of writing. You mesh with your characters, feel for them, feel with them... even the villains. Sometimes though, the stories go quiet. Many times I find myself drifting back a few chapters, or even to the beginning, and thinking of things I need to change when I haven't even finished the book yet. When that happens, the story I'm writing might go cold... blank. Not necessarily a block, just a break in the flow of writing.
My advice for dealing with writer's block, is just to keep writing. Don't stop your story flow to worry about what needs to be changed in the past, or about grammar. Just keep writing. And, if you do get stuck, I have two main tips I use.
First, write something else very different. Several years ago I came across a website that had short story contests every few months. I only entered a few contests, but I loved the different types of stories that were asked in the contests. Flash Fiction was one of these, and it works wonders on a writer's skill. A couple other ones I'd suggest trying are trying to write a story in all dialogue. That's a difficult one, but can be fun! Also, try writing a story with each sentence beginning with the next letter in the alphabet.
Writing something else can take some time, but sometimes refreshes the creative flow. Usually though, if I get stuck, I do one thing: SLEEP on it! So many times this has helped me when I've had a story issue I was worried about. This works in writing, and in life. Just sleep on it.
So have fun and keep on writing. That's what I'm going to do!