Help! stranded on a blank page...

[Brooke]

obviously, every writer/artist/animator/person who has ever lived knows blank page syndrome.
i have formatted this document, added the headers and footers, aligned the margins and the page size just right, and i've got my whole story ready to go straight from my brain to the page.
and it's been sitting here like this for a week. ARRURGH.
if there were a magic potion to drink and immediately get rid of blank page syndrome we'd all be chugging it by the gallon, so i won't ask for the secret. i just want to know how to make myself get over worrying that the first line is going to be bad or not hooking the reader enough.
i mean, the logical information is sitting in my brain staring at me; "it's the first draft, you'll rewrite this sentence a hundred times. just jump in and start writing already," and i'm staring riiight at the keys like maybe a fully finished novel will appear on my screen if i just stare hard enough, but obviously, nothing.
again, i'm left to be a petrified new writer staring at the blank page (though i'm pretty sure writers of any experience do that).
not exactly sure what i'm asking for in this post other than... argh. what do i do to get myself to just write?? like, i'm not the only one who can be away from their computer all day, thinking of how much i want to write and how great it'll be, but then when i sit down, my brain goes kaput. right???

 

[E G Logan]

obviously, every writer/artist/animator/person who has ever lived knows blank page syndrome.
i have formatted this document, added the headers and footers, aligned the margins and the page size just right, and i've got my whole story ready to go straight from my brain to the page.
and it's been sitting here like this for a week. ARRURGH.

I tidied out my files yesterday – yes, I know, displacement activity – and I found some bits and pieces, including a document called "Finish The Damn Thing". (I can send you.) It includes 10 Top Tips on 'How to complete your half-written novel'.

The author, Lizzie Enfield, favours 'just get some words on the page'.
One of her pithiest hints is: You can always edit a bad page but you can’t edit a blank page.

 

[SarahC]

You could try not starting at the beginning? The first line of a book is arguably the hardest line of all, so come back to it. Maybe write some dialogue and start building a scene around it? That's my go-to when I get stuck. Or, another thing I do is start scribbling in a notebook to break through the 'screen-staring' phase. Even just a few paragraphs with pen and paper - then once you start typing them up, you no longer have a blank word document and all will be well

 

[RK Wallis]

Or check out this month's craft chat to get you going? https://colony.litopia.com/threads/march-2023-–-flex-your-writing-muscles.12253/

 

[Eva Ulian]

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I just know what you are going through... I'm stuck too...I'm stuck now, I was stuck yesterday, and I'll be stuck tomorrow- probably. So, right now I'm going to that damned page where I left off so many moons ago and just write one word- shit!

 

[Hannah F]

Chat to your character - whichever one is starting the novel. Chat to them about anything: what the weather's like where they are/how they're getting on with their homework/who is their BFF/what's their favourite color and why/anything. Write down their replies. Once you get them talking, they'll take you into their WIP (your WIP but they'll think it's theirs). And as above, you don't need to start at the beginning. Even if you do start at the beginning, it mightn't end up as the beginning anyway.

 

[James Charles]

Put one word down ... then sip coffee ... put another word down ... then sip some more .... Reminds me of the song, "put one foot in front of the other ...

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I've been writing a while, and I know the feeling. It hits me when I try starting a new story when I have not finished the one that occupies my mind. For instance, I am trying to finish the second draft of a fantasy novel, but I keep looking for short story contests to enter. The muse does not give me words for the short stories. She waits with open arms, but only for the novel. Maybe you have a work-in-progress that needs fulfillment before you move on to a new blank page. The story is often in charge of a writer's life, not the other way around. Wishing you the best in everything.

 

[LJ Beck]

Write something only you will ever see. Something you'll never show anyone, ever. It can be shocking, disgusting, funny, heartfelt, ridiculous. Doesn't matter, it's just for you. Write ten lines just for you. Blab your story onto the page. Throw caution to the wind. Then keep going. Fill the page with crap you'll never show anyone. And keep going.

 

[Mel L]

I would scrap the formatting, which is clearly creating stage fright by setting up perfectionist expectations. Just open a new doc and use any old font. Better yet, get a piece of paper and a pen. Sometimes these people are shy and need to be coaxed out in more comfortable circumstances. Offer them a drink in a quiet bar rather than taking them out to a fancy restaurant!

 

[Pamela Jo]

I suspect this is why so many artists become alcoholics. It's tempting to have a drink to lower that mental bar to starting. You are young enough to figure it out wo having to resort to absinthe. It's fear that is holding you back. Fear of what? Maybe the books you wrote and put aside feel like failure? Wasted effort? Your brain is protecting you from having more feelings like you had when you set them aside in the closet. Most self sabotage comes down to that. If you don't play the game-you cant lose. If we've been hurt sometimes we shutdown feelings. The downside of that being -you may not feel pain but you also can't feel joy. The part of your brain that creates is also the pre-verbal part that makes decisions like "I dont want to ever feel like that again." Think the child that you were before you could speak and express yourself. Try having a conversation with that darling one about how you are strong enough to make them safe. That you can protect them after you expose them on paper. If you can watch Stutz on Netflix it might give you a line on how to handle being creative and taking risks . Here's a review of the Tools.

 

[Hannah F]

I would scrap the formatting, which is clearly creating stage fright by setting up perfectionist expectations. Just open a new doc and use any old font. Better yet, get a piece of paper and a pen. Sometimes these people are shy and need to be coaxed out in more comfortable circumstances. Offer them a drink in a quiet bar rather than taking them out to a fancy restaurant!

Maybe not a quiet bar. You're too young to drink.

 

[Hannah F]

Can I say, your posts about not being able to write are very well written. You can write. Punch that block out of the way and just write. Don't edit, just write.

 

[Brooke]

Chat to your character - whichever one is starting the novel. Chat to them about anything: what the weather's like where they are/how they're getting on with their homework/who is their BFF/what's their favourite color and why/anything. Write down their replies. Once you get them talking, they'll take you into their WIP (your WIP but they'll think it's theirs). And as above, you don't need to start at the beginning. Even if you do start at the beginning, it mightn't end up as the beginning anyway.

i'd have to talk to the person he is at the end of the story, because before the events of the book he'd probably tell me to give up lol.
also proud to report that since i posted this i have written... three pages. not much, but better than nothing, i guess? still writing!

 

[MattScho]

From my experience:
Do not fall into YouTube holes and get lost there for a week. Or five.
Do not discover a NetFlix series you simply cannot live without.
Do not decide that this is the moment to get really, really good at Candycrush, or FreeCell or...
Do not realize that baking bread seems like it might be a good idea.
Do not realize that what you really want to do is re-read Tolkien, or Barre, or, really, ANYONE! or really, start with them as a way to avoid writing.
Above all, do not worry about this.
Everyone on here has been through this. It sucks.
It may be that you aren't finding your muse at the moment because you don't know your story as well as you think, or your characters. It might be worthwhile to write about these things, to yourself, separately from the idea of novelin'.
Maybe it's a good idea to write something else, something short and quick. Or to offer a beta read, etc.

 

[Hannah F]

i'd have to talk to the person he is at the end of the story, because before the events of the book he'd probably tell me to give up lol.
also proud to report that since i posted this i have written... three pages. not much, but better than nothing, i guess? still writing!

Yay!

 

[E G Logan]

You could try not starting at the beginning?

Exactly.
And when you get to the end, or even near it, you may decide/realise that the start needs to be different. But by then you will know by how much and in what way.

 

[Josephine]

i'd have to talk to the person he is at the end of the story, because before the events of the book he'd probably tell me to give up lol.
also proud to report that since i posted this i have written... three pages. not much, but better than nothing, i guess? still writing!

Praise yourself extravagantly for every bit you have done, even if that only feels like a tiny bit! Seriously, positive reinforcement works. Practise it, cos it's counter-intuitive to do it when you feel like you're "not enough", and that's when you most need it.
Also, I found it really useful to set myself a ten minute timer with the intention of writing any old crap and, here's the magic, promise myself to delete it afterwards. Write, delete. No re-reading. Do this a few times, see how it goes for you. It really helped me anyway!

 

[CageSage]

From an author who struggled until put a sign up over his workspace:

An APPEALING Character Strives Against GREAT ODDS to Attain a WORTHWHILE GOAL.
He defined Character as: a distinctive personality, and added appealing, then deliberately and cold-bloodedly created his characters by listing all the possible occupations and personalities (two columns) - and see what clicks. Then he chats, interviews, argues, plays chess, etc. with them until he understands who they are, what they want, why they want it, and what they're not willing to do (he makes them do that at some stage in the story). And then he did it for the second character, who had also to be both part of the first character, and a foil, and a complete and unique character and voice.

Sounds simple, but that's a good place to start. It can also help to write down bits and pieces of the 'conversations' for use at a later stage. Maybe.