Conversely -- re word processors -- sometimes when you are stuck -- actually putting a pen in your hand and seeing what flows out, will free you up. It's a brain-hand thing, I've found, and it works, I think, to deliver what's in the unconscious very directly. Because you can write too much on a computer. Too easy.

The other thing I do when I'm stuck is to print it out. Seeing it there in print and being able to manually cross words or whole paragraphs out or change words, somehow makes the writing a tangible thing. This is when you're pretty much at the end of your second or third draft. I use different colored marking pens -- red, black, blue, sometimes yellow. Red works for replacing words above the crossed out lines (in black, of course). Yellow highlights. Then I type it out, repeat the process if necessary -- and amazing how quickly it's "there."

And yes, deadlines help a whole, whole lot!

Yes, having a deadline worked for me every time.