Shoutout to a random book I found at the library in April

I used to think I needed a full outline before I could write a single word, which meant I never started. After reading a chapter in 'The 90-Day Novel', I just pick a character and write them into a weird situation, like finding a door in their basement that wasn't there before. How do you all get past that blank page fear?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_park3mo ago

Honestly, is it even that deep? It's just writing, not defusing a bomb. Sometimes you just gotta type some words and see what happens.

campbell.evan3mo ago

Yeah, that blank page is the worst... I heard a writer say once that you can't edit a blank page, but you can fix a bad one. So now I just aim to write the absolute worst first sentence I can think of, just to break the ice. It's like giving yourself permission to be messy, because you can always clean it up later. That weird door idea is perfect, it just gets the wheels turning without all that pressure.

elliotr391mo ago

Yeah I used to think staring at that blank page was just part of the process but @campbell.evan you might have actually changed my mind with that worst-first-sentence thing. It's weirdly freeing to just type something terrible on purpose and then suddenly the pressure's gone and you can actually start writing. Gonna try that door thing next time I'm stuck too, anything that gets past the paralysis is worth a shot.