It's often said that a writer holds his characters in his head… but what if he stops writing?
I am such a writer. I've completed one story on this site, have another in progress, and a Tumblr ask blog. However, I've not written a word in a long while and I feel guilty because of it. But why?
Writers have the peculiar task of keeping the personalities, motivations, and wills of their characters in their minds. They need to for their characters to act believably. I think it is this requirement that fosters the guilt in writers when they stop writing; the characters bugging you to keep the story going.
This is the conversation I had with my characters. This was not planned. This was not pre-written. This was not edited for anything other than spelling. I simply sat down at the keyboard and started typing. If any other writers find themselves feeling the same sort of guilt I had, I recommend you have a conversation with your characters. Talk to them. Reason with them. Find out what they want. It sounds ridiculous but it helped me. I hope it can help you.

Yes, moderator, I'm aware this is a meta story. I hope your discretion allows it as I only share in an effort to aid other writers.