The Dreaded Blank Page
Or How I Learned to be Happy & Love the First Draft
Hey there, writers & writers-to-be!
Whether you’re facing a blank page in MS-Word, Scrivener, Final Draft (for screenplays), that sense of existential dread still hits like a snowball from You-Know-Where.
So how to get past this hump, worse than an Wednesday?
Take a deep breath, apply your fingers to the keyboard, and begin. Yes, it really is that simple. I know procrastination is a huge part of most writers’ days, but you don’t have to be afraid: unlike Alien, in space, someone can hear you scream.
Here are two great pieces of writing advice from two esteemed pros. The first, Ray Bradbury, is a writer whom I had the privilege to know. He said about his process: “First I throw up, then I clean it up.”
What was he trying to tell us? That the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect: not even remotely. Just let your fingers fly and your brain will do the rest: You’ve be surprised how many ideas and plot twist are lurking in your subconscious, ready to be unveiled.
Also, take up the fighting words of Pat Cadigan (original cyberpunk; winner of two Arthur C. Clarke awards): “When you’re writing, lock your critics out of the room and tell them, “F*** you!”
Now, Pat didn’t mean just the outer critical voices, those “friends” and editors who tell you you don’t make the grade. Primarily, she meant YOU: yes you, the strongest critical voice of all, telling yourself you suck, you’re an imposter, you’ll never sell anything . . .
It’s beyond critical to silence this inner critic, ‘cause most of the time, they’re wrong. I told myself early on I would never sell anything before I went on to sell 38 short stories and wrote 14 novels. A good writer friend of mine suffers from “imposter syndrome,” yet still manages to move thousands of her books on Kindle. Clearly, somebody likes her.
Try to fill your psyche with another, positive message: “I really am good. I really am a writer. I can do this. My work is better than 95% of the crap that’s released.”
See? That wasn’t so hard. Take the advice of the two pros above and you will never find yourself staring, horrified, in at a blank page again.
Write on!
