I know the feeling. You really, really, really don't want to write. You're blocked. You've hit the wall. The words just won't come. You're bereft of inspiration.

But your writing project needs to be finished (or started!) So what can you do? Well, I have an idea. Ten of 'em, actually.

1.Write something else. Most of us who write professionally have a hierarchy of horribleness. That is, we know which projects are going to be a little bit awful and which ones will be tremendously awful. My advice? Start with a less awful one. Procrastination, yes, but it's productive procrastination. (You'll be happier to face the Project of Doom once you have a bit of good writing under your belt.)

2. Ask a series of questions. Stuck? Instead of writing your article or report in the "normal" way, brainstorm a list of questions your readers are most likely to wonder about. Then answer them. This may take only minor editing to turn into the "real" report or article.

3. Write an email. This is a variant on the old trick of pretending to write to a friend. But verisimilitude is important. To maintain the "this isn't really work" illusion, you must write your piece in the body of an email. (Just use "move block" to copy it into a word processing document when you're done.)

4. Change your setting. We all get bored and stuck in ruts. You may be dreading writing because you're dreading your office. So move to another room. Try the kitchen table or the cafeteria. Or decamp to a coffee shop. It worked for J.K. Rowling.

5. Go for a walk or run. There's lots of evidence that we think better when we're moving, so take your writing on the road. Just be sure you have a way of capturing your thoughts. A small digital recorder does the trick very nicely.

6. Do a brain dump. Sometimes you just need to get all the information out of your head and onto paper. Mindmapping, which I've written about many times before, can be very useful for this. Take a blank piece of paper, turn it sideways and write your topic in the middle. Draw a circle around it. now draw some lines radiating out of the circle (like spokes on a wheel) and write down all the other words that come into your head. Draw circles around them, too, and join them to the spokes. Keep going until your head is empty or until you feel, "aha! Now I know what I want to say."

7. Write the headline or title. A headline or title is a bit like a poem. It must distill your big idea into a very few words. It must also be catchy. When you write the headline first, the entire direction of your piece is likely to become clearer. This will make writing substantially easier.

8. Find your best time for writing. We all have our own biorhythms. I used to be a night owl. It was my best, most productive time for writing. In recent years, I've turned into a morning lark. Now I do my best writing at 6 am or earlier. But I'm a disaster by 11:30 am because my blood sugar is crashing and I'm starving. As Socrates said: Know thyself. Identify your predictably "good" times and use them. Don't try to write during your bad ones.

9. Tell yourself you have to write for only five minutes. This is the trick they teach to runners. Okay, so you don't feel like exercising today. Well, pull on your sneakers and tell yourself you have to run for only five minutes and then you can quit. Many times you'll discover that the simple act of starting will give you enough momentum to continue. It works for writing, too.

10. Stretch. Even if you're not blocked, you should do this. Stand up. Reach your hands to the ceiling. Now, clasp your hands behind your back. Straighten your shoulders pushing back against your shoulder blades almost as if you were trying to get them to touch each other. Those of us who work at computers all day tend to spend a lot of time hunched forward. This kind of stretch is not only good for your back, it's also invigorating. Breathe deeply a few times, too. Oxygen stimulates the brain.