How can you write if you don't study others? That's what reading is for and you should be reading casually every day at some level. I have got stuck on some things, not necessarily writer's block but more of technique block with the revisions. So, I have been reading more.
I dusted off a copy of Analog magazine I bought earlier this year and hadn't finished everything yet and sat back this evening. I consumed several of the short stories, science fiction themed, but I read them to focus on the dialogue and interactions. This is where my technical block has been and several of the stories I need to revise are dialogue dependent between the characters.
Also by reading you get different points of view, new ideas and reflection on your own work to see between the cracks that normally you get blinders on. In fact one of my stories that I have completed I may re-write another version and make it science fiction based and submit it. Currently it's set on the ocean, but very easily I can set it on a ship in space and keep the same plot, characters, theme and message only the setting changes.
My point is don't forget to read for fun, your mind will pick up the rest.
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