“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’…. And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.”  ― Maya Angelou

And while you’re playing mind games with your muse, try some mental manipulation. If invention is the mind’s misfire, the key to inspiration lies in self-deception:  http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?language=en