Dear Mel,
I'm a student writer for my local newspaper and I have a column due on Monday! But I can't think of anything to write about... I've been brainstorming for like, 3 hours without even getting up from my computer. You seem creative- Got any ideas for me?
-Stumped Columnist
Dear Stumped Columnist,
Ah, Writer's Block. My worst enemy. Writing for this blog, the Mash, my school newspaper, my other blog, and A.P. Lang/Comp essays requires a lot of creativity. As much as I'd like to write about how much I love powdered donuts every week, I'm constantly forced to come up with new ideas. Often I find myself sitting in the dark, my face illuminated by the computer screen. I watch the cursor on my Microsoft Word document appear, then disappear, then reappear.
However, I have developed some sort of remedy that cures Writer's Block.
Read closely.
1. Get up from your computer and get your blood flowing. Dance, jog, jump, or sing. Do laps around your bedroom if you must.
2. EAT. There's nothing like a handful of Goldfish to get your creative juices flowing.
3. Talk to people and find out what they want to read about. Ask your parents, ask your friends. Trust me, someone will have an idea for you.
4. Do some good, old-fashioned web surfing. (Surf's up, duuuude!) Reading pieces written by others will surely give you some fresh things to think about.
5. Don't stress. Over thinking will just kill it. The best columns are the hilariously random ones. Think outside the box!
Try writing about your favorite T.V. show or something. Or, a better idea: Write about how you feel about the terrorists being shipped to IL who will, in the words of John Kass, "fan out across the prairie and kill all of us in our beds".
Happy writing!
-Mel
A good, newfangled way to do the old-fashioned web search is stumbleupon.com, or just putting random words into Google and clicking, "I'm feeling lucky." Haha about the Illinois prison, Mel.
"I'm Feeling Lucky"... So daring.
i read that kass article, too. Funny.