I've been writing headlines all day and nothing seems to be working. Sometimes you crank out pages of lines before you get that one headline that everyone is happy with (or mildly satisfied — you take what you can get). The average reader never sees past the headlines, so you've got to get the message right. I've never been the type who feels my first draft always hits the mark. Then there are days where I just can't hit the target at all. Sometimes a good approach is to not think about the job (and the looming deadline). I still work through my issues by writing, but it needs to be a departure from the work.

I recommend contests and word games. They seem to help me anyway.

There's a contest on Syfy that's been entertaining me on days like this. "Name That Movie" asks you to come up with a title for this upcoming film:

Demon Knight? (Nah, that was a movie with Jada Pinkett Smith)
Unholy Crusade?
I Dub Thee Sir Satan?

When it comes to titles, Syfy looks for sophistication. After all, this is the cable channel that gave us classics like Mansquito (half-man, half-mosquito) and Anonymous Rex (a velociraptor P.I.). So you have your work cut out for you. Hurry, the deadline is February 14, 2010. The winner receives a film credit, a camera and a computer loaded with film editing software. You can get the plot info and official rules on syfy.com.

Art directors, I didn't forget you...

Hatchwise is a logo design contest site. People "hire" you through posting competitions. Every contest offers a cash prize for your work, an average of $200 per contest. If you want to keep your design skills sharp, subscribe to Hatchwise as a fun departure.

I never expect to win these things. (Maybe it's because I tell everyone about them.) It's mindless entertainment that frees my mind. While coming up with eight stupid movie titles, I also came up with a dozen new headlines. If I'm lucky, maybe 2-3 will make the cut for the ads and direct marketing pieces I'm working on.