There are many ways to be at a loss for words. The best way is to know that the word is out there, to almost be able to grasp it, and just not be able to bring that word up. Perhaps you should upgrade your memory. When that happens, a good solution is to leave a blank and keep going. Or, if you have time and are haunted by not being able to retrieve that word from your little pea brain, go take a shower or a walk or drive around for a bit. The word will come out of hiding when you are not looking for it.
A worse predicament is to know that what you are writing about it pretty much BS, so that there are really no words to use because what you are writing about is really camouflage for something else. For instance, your client has goofed in some large way. Say, your client has clear-cut thousand-year-old trees in a National Forest when actually they meant to cut the trees that were on the other side of the highway, or something like that. So now they are going to run a full-page ad in the newspapers about how environmentally friendly they are.
This leaves you with two words, and only two words. These words are "committed" and "dedicated." If you know more and other words, please let me know because these are the two I am stuck with. You will be forced to write, "We are committed to the environment and dedicated to the communities we serve...." or some variation thereof.
You can interchange "committed" and "dedicated." It really doesn't matter. And it really doesn't mean anything, does it? Talk about a cheapening of the word "commitment." Yes, I played my part. I'm sorry. I did it only in desperation.
And now, when I read about some entity's commitment or dedication to something, such as children's health, I figure that they must have been responsible for poisoning a whole kindergarten somewhere. That's how cynical this business can make you.
Then, there's the last situation you may find yourself in when you can't find the right word. You have simply run out of words. There are no words left, and both you and I know it. You have used them all up. There is nothing more to say. Yet your ad (or whatever) is due at 2:00. I feel for you. I've been there. And I'm sorry to tell you, but you are doomed. When you have used up your words, they are gone.
I've seen what you've done when that's happened. We've all seen the ads on TV and elsewhere where it is clear that the writer has simply run out of words. It is painful to watch, because we know the pain that caused this travesty. But don't beat yourself up. Sometimes even the best surgeons have a patient die on the table. You're just in advertising and PR. If you run out of words, you might be fired, but no one will die.
I know that this is what must have happened to the creative team that gave us the Volkswagen "Fahvergnugen" campaign. Those people must have really been out of words. What were they thinking?
I just hope that the same doesn't happen to any of us.
