Overcoming The Blank Page

If you're like me, you know the agony of the blank page as you're about to write almost anything. Whether it be an important email, short story or school paper, you can apply these three elements of my writing process that I guarantee will change your perceptive on writing.

Before coming to Chapman University, it seemed as if writing and I were enemies. I would immediately see the blank page and feel as if it were consuming my thoughts. What I wanted to express would not come out, and it would lead me to a constant cycle of frustration. Thankfully, during my first semester at Chapman I took a Creative Writing class. In my creative writing class one of the first things we learned was how to overcome that "blank page." The trick in doing so relied on writing nonstop. That meant not worrying about grammatical errors or the "flow" of the work. My only goal was to write exactly what came to mind and ignore the voices in my head that caused me to overthink. The second element we learned was that it is normal to have a very badly written first draft. Good things are made over time, and that is why we have revision. As you can already guess, the third element of my writing process is revision. As mentioned earlier, my first draft may only consist of ideas constructed very choppy. When I come into my revision phase I make sure to view my work with a fresh, new set of eyes and make that connection between my ideas and include details that brings everything together. During the revision phase it's crucial to be fully open to change your work in another direction you did not have in mind at first. Programming my mind to be free to make mistakes, advanced my growth as a writer and allowed for not only my writing to become much more effective but enjoyable. I now carry with me a journal wherever I go. If I hear or see something that inspires me, I will make sure to write it down and use it as inspiration later.