What to do if you get stuck Sometimes your lack of motivation doesn’t have anything to do with your mental or physical state, it comes from feeling frustrated that there is a writing problem you can’t solve. For those times, I have six strategies for you to put into practice: i Go back. The problem probably is rooted in what has gone before (or what has not gone before). What could happen earlier that would make this moment more interesting, more challenging, more suspenseful, more funny, or more whatever you want it to be? Sometimes this means going right back.