You open up a new document prepared to write the most brilliant prose the literary world has ever seen and you…stare at the blinking cursor then you stare some more. What’s happened?

You are experiencing the symptoms of writer’s block. Before you panic, you should know that the writer’s block epidemic afflicts 100% of the writing population at one time or another. But don’t despair. There are many ways to cure writer’s block. Here are five of the most common:

1.) Take a step back. If you struggle with putting words on the page, take a step back for two or three days to recharge yourself. It might be you’ve simply run low on creative ideas and need to recharge.

2.) Brainstorm. Sit down with a piece of paper and make a list of all your ideas. You’re not allowed to judge or scratch through any ideas. You’re there to simply explore the ideas.

3.) Add more conflict. A common problem, especially for beginning novelists, is failing to add sufficient conflict at the beginning of the story. Everything goes along fine until that conflict is resolved and suddenly the writer feels bored with the story.

4.) Write what you care about. Jerry Spinelli once said, “My Golden Rule: Write what you care about.” Write about topics that naturally interest you. Space? Cooking? Politics? Ask yourself what entertains you then write about it!

5.) Start an idea book. Start a notebook or file on your computer as the “idea book”. Keep all your random ideas, scraps of dialogue, and bits of description in your idea book.

6.) Start slowly. Sure, you need to open with a bang. But if that’s proving too difficult, start with backstory that you can delete later. Then when it comes to the difficult part (the opening) you’ll have some experience behind you.

7.) Write a bad first draft. Next time you’re tempted to put off writing, let yourself to write an awful first draft by promising yourself you can rewrite later.

Finally, if you get stuck (or even if you’re just beginning), use a writer’s journal. One of my favorite lines to start with is “ok, here’s the problem…” then I launch into a long, rambling description of the problem whether it’s my lack of description or my lack of plot.

Usually, my writing journals are filled with random quotes from characters, quirks I want to layer in, and sometimes entire scenes.

Some of this stuff makes it into my story and some of it doesn’t. But that’s not the point. My writing journal gives me a way to work through problems.

Remember, writer’s block always has a cure.

Debra Weiss, editor of Today’s Teen Writer, is a freelance writer living on the East Coast. When she’s not writing or editing, she can usually be found at her website.