Writer's block refers to the state of being mentally exhausted and unable to come up with any new, meaningful ideas for your book. It is something most writers struggle with at one point or another. Even after writing several bestsellers, many writers will still find themselves fighting writer's block.

Should you find yourself in this situation, and you most probably will, there are several practical things you can do to unlock your creativity once again.

Take a Break: Forcing your mind to work when it is not willing will just frustrate you more and leave you even worse off than you were before. Taking a break from your writing allows your mind to rest and hopefully come back refreshed and ready to write again. Otherwise insisting when your mind is not into it will just make the situation worse. Take a moment and let the mind rest.

Change Your Routine: Do something completely different or outside your usual routine. You can take a walk and if you always take walks, then try walking in a new environment. Even something as simple as watching a different TV program from what you usually watch might stimulate your mind enough to get your creative juices flowing again.

Change Your Environment: Try writing in a completely new setting. If you were writing at home, try writing in a new place like a coffee shop, or you could stay home but try writing in a different room. If you have been working indoors, then it might be a good idea to try writing outside. The change does not have to be major, but just something new might excite the mind enough to get creative again.

Exercise: A healthy body and a healthy mind always go hand in hand. Exercising will therefore not just help your body but your mind too. Do any type of exercises that feels right for you. You can go with intense cardio, you can choose yoga, or even outdoor exercises like jogging. Whatever exercise works for you, go with that or a combination.

Change What You Are Reading: As a writer, what your mind consumes often has an effect on what it puts out. Therefore, if you are failing to find inspiration to write, it might have something to do with what you are reading. This could include magazines, newspapers, and even the genre of books you read. Try some new and different reading material.

What If?: The 'what if' technique is an excellent way to experiment with different ideas for your book. Put your characters in different situations and see if that storyline flows. What would happen if _____? What if _____ happened to _____? How would it affect ­­______? This allows you to create different subplots to test and see which one makes more sense.

Different techniques will work for different people and for different situations. The first thing is to establish what you think it is that is blocking your creativity, and then see which of the above techniques will best suit your particular situation. Use a combination of the techniques if you need to.