When stuck on a writing project, you may have been advised something along the lines of "don't force it" or "let the words come to you." If you do get inspired like that, I envy you. Most of the writing I do requires a good amount of force and simply wouldn't get done otherwise. If you've stalled out on a piece, maybe these methods can help:Go off-brief. Way off-brief. Say you're writing an article on new genetics research for your alumni magazine. You know the copy tone of your publication, and you know your audience. Good. Set that aside for a second. Write a paragraph of the article for a completely new audience, using a different tone. How would you tell the story of this research to readers of a literature magazine? A Web site for teens? An overseas press release? A couple things may happen: you may stumble on an idea you can use for the real article, or you may just succeed in shaking out the sillies. Either way--progress.
Kneesocks, parlay, cucumber. Grab the nearest book, open it and blindly point to a word. Take a sentence you're struggling with and rewrite it using that word. Do this twice more. Now throw these out and tackle the sentence with fresh eyes.
Walk it out. I knew a writer who would swim laps, keeping a notebook at each end of the pool to scribble ideas on after each lap. Sadly, you're probably stuck at the office. If you can, grab a notebook and pen and get out of there, if only for 15 minutes. Write as you walk. A brisk walk outside or even a few times up and down the staircase will make you more alert and, most importantly, get you away from your computer. If anyone looks at you funny, just send them to me.
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