Every day for the last few months, my wife and I have been down to only one car, which means on the drive to drop her off at her job, I have to listen to what she likes. I’m a talk radio buff and she prefers music; but during the stretch that we’re driving in, they’re usually talking, doing things like the “Senseless Survey.”
The gag is, they call up folks claiming to be from the US Senseless Bureau and see how many stupid questions they can ask an unsuspecting victim before they catch on to the bit and hang up. At best, it’s a bit of silliness; at worst, wire fraud.
However, the basic idea isn’t all that bad for writers who are stuck on a project. We all know writing can feel like a chore sometimes and the words just won’t flow.
A good solution to break the logjam is to get silly … not by calling up real people, but by asking yourself dumb questions about them, like what color their sock are. Or what cologne or perfume they wear. Or whether that female character who seems so wooden to you when you’re stuck, prefers granny panties, Fruit of the Looms, Victoria’s Secret or a crotchless panty style.
If nothing else, it’ll get you laughing, which is usually an effective medicine against writer’s block.
