Among the biggest mistakes that writers stuck in a rut make is thinking that their writing sessions are going nowhere. Perhaps the scene you wrote doesn’t seem to advance the story, perhaps the explanation doesn’t really fit into your nonfiction book.

Rather than view the writing session from a negative perspective – which often leads to a sour attitude when approaching your next session – instead look at it as a positive learning experience.

When your writing session is over, reflect on it. What can you learn from it? Try to identify a specific reason the writing is not up to your standards. Even if the answer is “I’m not sure how to write crisp dialogue,” that’s still something.

Now follow-up by reading about how to write tighter dialogue and see if you can revise the conversation you’ve written to make it better. Now that initial session was productive – it was simply the first draft.

Of course, if your vehicle is caught in mud or snow, not every effort to spin it out will succeed. Rather than be frustrated, though, examine why your effort to get out didn’t work and then trying a new solution – like tossing sand in the rut – will prove much more fruitful. And just as certainly as you must get your vehicle driving down the road again, so you must keep writing!