by Lindsay Price

Created on: June 09, 2009

Blank Page Syndrome

There's no worse feeling for a writer. A blank page with out a single scratch. Nothing on your computer screen but a blinking cursor. No ideas, no words, no sentences. The well has run dry and you haven't even started. Perhaps it's your first project, or your third or your thirtieth. How long have you been staring at that blank page. A day? A week? A month?

How do you break the blank page syndrome? How do you get back in your writing groove?

You are not alone.

That's the first thing to realize and the most most important thing. Be aware and acknowledge that you are not the only writer to suffer from blank page syndrome. Every writer from the beginner to the most experienced at some time stares at a blank page. It happens to everyone, so let yourself off the hook.

After you've done that, stop suffering in silence! Get online, join an e-group, twitter about what you're going through, join a writer's group - talk, write, communicate. This should not be seen as a punishment, 'oh I have to talk about what a loser write I am.' And you shouldn't just communicate with anyone, make sure you talk with other writers as opposed to Aunt Ethel who would never understand the difference between blank page syndrome and a hole in the wall. Communicating your issues with fellow writers will achieve a couple of things:

* It allows you to externalize the issue get it out of you instead of having it fester inside.

* Someone else out there will be going through the exact same thing.

* Someone else may have just found the greatest exercise for curing their syndrome.

* Someone else may have fifty exercises to help you out.

* By communicating the issue instead of just thinking about it, you may come up with an answer.

Put words on that blank page.

Any words. Start with one word, one sentence. Write about being stuck. Write about what you had for breakfast. Keep up the habitual act of writing. The longer you stare at the blank page the easier it is to let it stay blank. Then a week has passed and then two and then three. That's the worst thing that could happen and should be avoided at all costs.

Set up a firm schedule for yourself. Start small, write for fifteen minutes everyday, then stop. Again, let yourself off the hook for not putting in four, five hours. Don't think of yourself as a loser who can only write for fifteen minutes. Think of yourself as a writer who is actively solving a problem. You're not staring at a blank page, you're problem solving! The act of writing, of putting words on a page can be just as valuable to your process as working on a specific project. And it's a simple fact that writing will always make you feel more like a writer than a blank page will.

When you're itching to write more than fifteen minutes, then add more time. And when you're itching to do something project based, again start small. Leave yourself wanting to write more. Before you know it, you'll be writing full steam ahead.

Try these ideas to keep up the act of writing.

* Keep up an observational journal: go outside every day, and write about what you see. Or go to a coffee shop, a park, a street intersection.

* Use Writing Exercises:there are so many writing exercises available, do one every day.

* Use the Dictionary: randomly pick a word and write about it. (For example, research the word 'Medianeras' - it's an awesome word for a writer to write about!)

* Use Inspirational quotes: find quotes from a writer or an individual who inspires you, then respond to their words.

The bottom line is to always be writing, to keep your time short and to let yourself off the hook. You'll never stare at a blank page ever again.

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