Another thing (I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it a technique, but I've found it can work for me) is to just plow through the part that I'm stuck on in any way possible, regardless of quality. This usually results in run-on sentences of this type:
"And then I did X, Y, and Z, and this happened and that happened, and then the cops came and then we found Susan's head in the dryer..."
But after a couple pages of this drivel I find the words are flowing again.
Some might call this "giving the inner writer permission to go back to work" or "annoying the inner writer out of their sulk" or something like that. The conversation might drift into some very murky psychological waters, but it's valid for a lot of inner blocks.
My tip for breaking writer's block involves jumping into the story, either "Quantum Leap" style where I take over a particular half of a conversation or as myself to talk with one of the characters. Is your hero having trouble figuring out an unusual social or political circumstance? Imagine a circumstance where you could put a word of advice in their ear, or drop a flyer with a hint in the sales pitch for some new restaurant. Has your character gone completely off the rails in terms of development? Drag him/her/it out of the story entirely and give them a talking-to, perhaps even in your writing space.
Note that you don't have to actually
use the results of these experiments in your finished work, but it might be interesting to keep it on file.
My own inner muse is rather capricious, can vanish for long periods and prone to floods of... well, let's call them ideas for stories that would be "tough sells" to most outlets. But rarely, if ever, do they lack at least some valuable nugget I can transplant onto something else, or even use as a seed for a different story.
Good luck!
