The Dreaded Blank Page

Instigator of Writer's Block

Ah, the dreaded blank page. The scourge of writers, both professional and not. A thing of nightmares.

I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t have some magical tip to get yourself past this part. However, I will share what I’ve done to help myself.

I am a planner. That is, I like to have everything laid out before I even start writing. I outlined like mad in high school and college, which was a big reason why I could churn out a 3-4 page paper the night before, give it a quick edit, and receive an A+ when I turned it in. That outline had already written my paper for me, I just had to add words between the ideas to make them flow and bam, done.

And templates, boy are templates nice. Emails? Make a template. Letters? Templates. Got a report? Outlined. Have a meeting presentation? Yeah you get the idea. But I can guarantee you, it works. It is ten times easier to adjust a template or outline than to write something from scratch.

But Samantha, you say. What about your novel?

Yes. I outline like crazy for those ideas too. No this does not stop my characters from overriding my plans, much to my frustration. (Hence the required additional scenes that I am currently avoiding writing through productive procrastination). But that’s a story for another day.

I’ve tried the three act method. The beat sheet. Storyboarding. Note cards. Then, I found the “Snowflake Method.” An outline method on steroids? Count me in! And, well, it actually worked.

This thing is crazy. You start with a single sentence and you somehow END UP WITH A BOOK. It’s like

The guy even tells you how long it generally would take a person to complete each step, goes into detail for each piece, and even suggests resources to help you out. Seriously if you haven’t yet, and are a mad outliner/planner like I am? Check it out! No I’m not being paid to advertise, I just love it! I’m very much a “a million projects and none finished” person and I’ve finally completed my first two story drafts thanks to this method.

As I said, this is just what has helped me. If you’re more of a “fly by the seat of your pants” writer like my roommate?

Good luck.

Okay, okay just kidding. Character/world development, as well as idea spit balling with a fellow writer, has really helped her get out of her own blank page funks.

This can also help when your muse goes on strike because of “homework” that your editor has given you.

All in all, I hope this helps my fellow writers.

Happy slaying!