Facing the Blank Page

Reflections on the start of the writer’s journey.

“Brain Pickings” hosted by Maria Popova is an endless delight and source of inspiration. Recently, she put a spotlight on a wonderful video featuring 8 notable writers including Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, and Jonathan Franzen, and their thoughts on how to overcome creative block as evidenced by one’s fear of the blank page. Some quotes:

“The blank page in the mind has to be filled before you have the courage to face the actual blank page.” — Jonathon Franzen

“A blank page is also a door — it contains infinity, like a night sky with a supermoon really close to the Earth, with all the stars and the galaxies, where you can see very, very clearly… You know how that makes your heart beat faster?” — David Mitchell

“There is something compelling about the blank page that beckons you in to write something on it — it must be filled.” — Margaret Atwood

Watching the video reminded me of a post I wrote back in September 2008 called “The Despair of the Blank Page”. Here it is:

It beckons you with a daunting whisper. It mocks you with its dull emptiness. It freezes your soul with its ice cold whiteness.

It is — the blank page!

How can a mere 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of white paper provoke such anxiety, such horror, such despair?

The despair of the blank page — the writer’s bane!

Laying eyes upon the blank page provokes a catch in your breath, a twitch in you muscles, that special tightening in your sphincter.

Fear. But fear of what?

Fear of the not knowing. Not knowing what words will appear… or won’t appear. Not knowing if the words will make sense. Not knowing if the sentences will be good. Not knowing if the story will work.

I could lay a little “power of positive thinking” on you. You know…

Imagine the possibilities!

My experience with those positive thinking platitudes is that when your blank page remains blank, the writer’s life becomes about the power of positive drinking. And look where that got Hemingway!

Thus, instead of behavioral modification, let me suggest a more philosophical, even, dare I say, spiritual approach.

I ask you to consider the possibility that your story already exists.

It is already there… all 120 pages. From FADE IN to FADE OUT. Written. Rewritten. Edited. Spell-checked. Properly formatted. And ready to go.

The story concept exists already.

The characters exist already.

The plot exists already.

The dialogue exists already.

The themes exist already.

It is there, waiting for you to find, uncover and reveal it.

Okay, Myers, if it’s waiting for me, then where is it hiding out ‘coz I sure as hell can’t find it!!!

Your story’s right there… on your blank page.

“The despair of the blank page: it is so full.”

That’s right, your challenge isn’t the emptiness of your blank page, it’s that there is so much there already. All you need to do is see it…

And you’ll see it when you believe it.

You can choose to stare at that blank page. Sometimes that is quite valuable — clear the mind, focus your thoughts, go into a state of deep concentration. But in general, the best way to find your story on the blank page… is to start writing.

Believe it… then you’ll see it.

Start writing. And watch the magic of your story reveal itself to you… as your blank pages becomes full.

For most writers, the process of crafting a story is an iterative one. We know going into the first draft, it won’t be perfect, indeed, it will require us to pound out several drafts. Therefore we ought to be freed up when approaching our initial take knowing it will be an imperfect document. Just put down words. See where they take you. Discover as much of the story as you can.

The first draft is a journey of discovery. It’s best to set aside — as much as possible — perfectionism and our inner critic.

Put something down on paper because that gives us something to work on.

Here is the video:

To read the “Brain Pickings” post, go here.