Can Anyone Help Me Find My Mojo?

I was planning to write lots of stories while I was on holiday but somehow I couldn't find the inspiration.  I came up with a few new ideas but on reflection, they all seemed a bit run of the mill. The feedback I've had recently is that although my stories are well written, the themes are well used, with nothing to make them stand out from the crowd.  So I kept rejecting my ideas because I didn't think they were original enough to be worth writing up. 

The other thing is that I'm working on my novel for the RNA's New Writer's Scheme and I'm finding it hard to switch between long and short fiction.  I did manage to work out some plot problems I had with the novel and I've been working on that since I came back which is taking up rather a lot of my time.  The trouble is I fear its taking up too much time so I can't get my head round writing and submitting short stories.  Part of me tells me not to worry, to get the novel finished and then go back to the stories, but I don't want to loose the momentum. 

Redundancy looms and I would really like to have a bit of time to try and earn some money from writing, but if I concentrate on the novel now and it bombs, I'm back to square one. Now, while I'm getting paid, should I be concentrating on getting my stories out there or should I pin my hopes on the novel? Or can I find a way to do both?

So, my question to all you freelancers out there is - how do you balance short term projects against long term ones?  Answers on a postcard - or in the comments box - please.

I'm A Bit Stuck

I’ve reached the 75,000 word stage and now I’ve run out of plot. I know where I want to get to but I’m not too sure how to get there.

As I’ve already mentioned, I started this novel during NaNoWriMo and have tried to carry with it since, albeit much slower.

Because I had a specific word count in November to get through each day, I decided I would write what flowed easily so I jumped from one event to another depending on how the mood took me.

The result is that I have a lot of text but also quite a few gaps and I’m not sure how to fill in those gaps.

I’ve taken a methodical approach and printed off all I have, read through it and made a list of the missing bits. Unfortunately quite a few of the missing bits read “What happens next?” which isn’t particularly helpful.

I could do with sitting down for a few days, immersing myself back in the book, and do nothing but concentrate on sorting these problems out, but unfortunately at the moment life keeps getting in the way and I have to grab my writing time in fits and starts.

Does anyone have any helpful hints on how I can start to kick start some plot solution ideas in the limited time I have available to me?

Any help would be much appreciated!