A lot of writers, both pro and just starting out, really struggle with the horror of the blank page. It’s the pressure of the enormous potential staring back at you. That book could be and is anything and everything. Before the blank page is broken and a path chosen your book is perfection itself.
That’s a lot of pressure.
There are a few ways to get around this.
Wild Tapping
Typing any old letters in any old order is a good one, really, because sdjk;lk fkdjb;hbg dfhgqeriu;l8e wrpoitoptrhnjwq afjkbfdsuirw sdvkjbefwuhw is a truely terrible piece of writing, so anything from there on in is an improvement.
Big Plans
This is one that I use myself and with my students. A very detailed plan getting more and more detailed until it develops into your book. You write down any ideas you have in amongst the plan, where ever you think they should go. Any lines that you want to use but aren’t ready for yet? stick them in the plan.
Improving a Bad Book
This is a weird one and not one that I’ve used myself, but a close friend and colleague of mine chooses any old guff in roughly the right genre, ‘find and replace’ functions the names and then over writes the book in her own style changing the plot, the characteristics and the settings as she goes. These end up unrecognizable and she really does produce a lot of strong work.
Breaking the Blank Page
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