Glaring At The Horrid Sight of A Blank Page

Being a writer can be quite a lot of fun. You get to sit at a desk and pour your heart and soul into stories that inspire people. You get to imagine what a different world would be like, and you get to be the guild that leads others on grand adventures.

It’s such a wonder when you are in the middle of a project; although, there is one tough part that everybody faces. It comes at the beginning, and it is known as…

The Blank Page

Grimacing At Its Sight

“How do you start it all, what do you say?”

Sometimes, a writer will sit for hours debating this question. I know I have done it numerous times. Right now, before starting this post, I had to stare at the looming bleakness of an empty MS Word document. I started typing random words just to make it seem less unwelcoming, but why?

I know if I try, I can fill up this page no problem. I write all the time, and I’ve written rather long papers in a relatively short time. Surely this blog post is no different. I can fill it up with words. right? Yes, I know I can; although, which ones do I use?

Why We Do It

I think that as a rule, writers want their work to be not just great, but fantastic. They want the reader to be completely in awe. And, well, some awards would be nice too.

The spelling, grammar, story, character arcs, and the like. Everything must be amazing, but we know that a perfect story hard to come by. It takes a great deal of work and a ton of inspiration. Nonetheless, we want to obtain perfection, and this causes us to hesitate.

We know that the key to a good story is the hook. We know this deep down in our hearts, so we take a moment to think.

“What would be the best thing to say?”

While it is good to take this moment to gather ourselves, what happens when this moment turns into an hour? What happens when it turns into a day or week? A year?

Climbing That Mountain

 

For some people, the easiest thing to do is to start an outline. They can work on their story, get everything in order, and wait for inspiration. Then, if it comes while they are working out plot holes, they have a place to record it and start the race to the end.

Now, perhaps I am just impatient, but this doesn’t work for me. Outlining only helps me to find what to say, but not how to say it. I am still stuck at that, “How do I start?” phase. So, I have developed a personal rule.

If I cannot think of the best way to start whatever it is that I am writing, then I have to write down the first thing that came to mind. I might not be the best thing to say, but you cannot improve what isn’t there. I make myself say something, and I build off it.

Later, if I hate the beginning, I can go back and rewrite it. Those first rough words got the rest of my words flowing, and that is what is important. Are there better tactics, maybe, but this is what works for me.

Your Two Cents

Since most of the readers on this blog are some sort of writer or blogger, let me ask you this question. How do you get past that glaring white screen? Do you have any special tactics?

Drop me a comment and let me know.

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Have A Great Week,

Donatello,

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