Something Angie Frazier and I talked about once was also to take our characters on vacation to a place that was outside of our story. See what they did there. Give them a rest from the story. It doesn't go in the book, of course, but it gets the character talking again. Sometimes I write down author-character conversations as well; a sort of private e-mail discussion behind the public blog (er--do I have multiple personality issues? Don't ask... :)