I'm afraid that piece of advice - if you don't know what to write, then move on to something else - sounds a bit drastic to me.

In the past, I've been on that point several times, always within the same story, and I finished it nonetheless, and quite successfully too, according to my readers.

Unfortunately, "I don't know what to write" can cover a lot of situations. Sometimes it can simply mean one is having writer's block, but sometimes it can mean that one has a character with nowhere to go. Or, in other cases, the author led a character in the wrong direction and needs to realise it, then find a way to backtrack and go in the right direction.

Does asking for and accepting story ideas from others somehow predict a lower quality to the finished text?

I ask my close friends and family about the difficulties I face in some plots. Sometimes, they don't even have to say anything - just talking miraculously brings the answer up. Sometimes they ask 'but why did X happen' or 'why do you want Y to happen', and that leads me to a solution. And, occasionally, they'll say 'it would be really cool if W happened instead' and it acutally is the solution.

Discussing ideas with someone and being offered ideas is not cheating or a sign of bad quality (unless 70% of the plot was suggested by someone else, that would sound more like co-authoring). Most of the cases, I believe it helps spice up one's creativity as people help the author to open their eyes and see the possibilities they've been blind to. Besides, the story isn't just an idea, it's the execution, too. In a radical example, you can give two authors the same idea, the same exact plot even, and end up with a piece of trash next to a work of genius.

So when is 'asking what to write' a sign you should move on?

I suggest going through several steps before giving up. But keep in mind that 'what do I write next' will need to look back and see if the solution is to give up on the dead end and go back to the crossroads, or if the solution is to create a new path through the woods.

a) try to bainstorm options

b) if you don't have someone to talk to, talk to the walls (or a doll or a pet). Vent the problem and explain to them how the options you've looked at don't work . Explaining in detail why it doesn't work is important because it may help to spark a solution to a detail which will, in turn, help undo the entire problem

c) if you have someone to talk to, tell them the problem and ask them to offer solutions (but warn them in advance you're going to shoot all their solutions down - their job is to keep shooting ideas at you despite your apparent negativity)

d) make diagrams of the plot up until the point you're stuck at; if you already have the ending figured out, add it to the diagram. Then go through crazy, obviously unfit ways to bridge the gap

e) if nothing works, put the whole project in your drawer and wait for a month

f) even if you put it away, leave a summarised diagram of the plot and the problem somewhere visible but out of the way. As you walk past it day after day, a solution may come to you.

g) watch films and read books and if any has a situation similar to yours, see how they dealt with it. Or just enjoy the story and let your unconscious work in the background.

If after trying all of this, and waiting for one or two months, you're still without ideas, then put it away for one full year. If after that year, you still can't work out a solution, then it may be appropriate to move on to something else.

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