Write 250 (or so) words regarding whatever is on your mind. Don’t think about it; write 250 (or so) words.
Print your writing out, grab that printout and your favorite pen, and sit somewhere else. Edit your brief piece. Circle your favorite phase. Circle your least favorite phrase.
Return your computer and translate your written notes into the original piece. Done? Read it out loud.
While many pieces flow easily from concept to publication, the majority need a nudge at some point. My most recent piece about Robots has been around since December and was starting to show its age, so I nudged.
Printing out an incomplete piece and editing it with a pen gives me permission to hack a work to pieces. I can edit here in my text editor, but seeing much more of the piece shifts my perspective from the craft of words and paragraphs to crafting the entire work.
It took practice, but one of my favorite editing moves is furiously scribbling out a paragraph that simply no longer works. The physical act SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE CROSS OUT SCRIBBLE liberates my thinking.