The blank page syndrome is defined by difficulties in starting or continuing a work. Scary, it can make you doubt yourself and your ability to create. If this happens to you, nothing is lost: you can try out some of these tips!

Write in one go

This is one of the most common tips for writing the first draft of a work! Many authors get stuck trying to get a perfect result from the first sentences. However, you have to get used to the idea that a first draft will surely be bad.

During the first phase of writing a work, an author produces raw material that he can reread and correct afterwards. It is therefore useless to be complex or blocked by thinking about the final quality of your text during its initial writing.

Set a quantitative goal

Constraints can be liberating! One of the easiest rules to set is how many words you want to produce in a writing session. This process joins the first trick: write in one go until you produce the hundreds of words or the few pages that constitute your target.

The goal itself should be realistic while representing completion in your project. It should allow you to embrace a certain regularity in your work by providing you with a benchmark in your progress: the number of words typed during the day. Do not hesitate to test small quantities first (150 words, 300 words…) before increasing the quantity over the days.

Test the Pomodoro technique

Beyond the number of words or pages to write, you can adopt a time constraint. The Pomodoro technique is ideal for this, and it only requires a simple kitchen timer! It will force you to write your first draft in one go and focus on the creative act itself.

The original technique is very simple:

1. Set yourself a task to do. This could be to finalize the first draft of a chapter, to advance in a certain scene, to write 300 words or to develop a character.
2. Set a kitchen timer for 25 minutes.
3. Work on the task until the timer rings,
4. Take a short break,
5. All four sessions, you can take a break a little longer.

You can change it and restrict yourself to a single daily writing session only. The idea is to free your mind by focusing for a short time on a specific and unique task.

Take a little walk

Writers, thinkers and creatives have a long love affair with walking. Why not trust him, when you feel the blockage persist? Walking will allow you to breathe, take a break from your work day, take a step back and take your mind off your feet.

Besides, you might find inspiration during a stroll. Beyond the many authors praising walking, the phenomenon has been studied by researchers at Stanford University. Their conclusion was already known: walking develops creativity.

Relativize the importance of your writing

The blank page can sometimes arise from lack of perspective on your writing. Your short story, your novel, your poetry, your blog post or your professional writing are surely very important, but much less than you imagine.

There is no point in blocking yourself out of fear that you will miss what should be a great work. Relax and don’t be afraid of the result. Ghostwriter Inside suggests to keep in mind that most of the work will take place during the next phase: proofreading-correction.

Ask yourself about your work

Why are you trying to write this text? Orwell believed that there were four reasons for writing. Which one is yours? Why are you suffering behind your blank page?

Reminding yourself of why you are writing this text may help you to clear the stray thoughts that block you. Going back to the basics, to the questions you asked yourself before you started writing, could simplify your work.

Change the subject!

Ray Bradbury explains quite simply the blank page syndrome: your subconscious is telling you that it doesn’t like what you do. During his speech at the 2001 Annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, the author of Fahrenheit 451 explained that he had never worked a single day in his life, since he had always written in joy.

According to him, if you are confronted with the syndrome of the blank page (“writer’s block”), it may be because you chose the wrong subject.

This advice is primarily intended for those stuck on specific text. Why not stop what you are doing, and move on? Or consider another way to continue your work?

This abandonment can be temporary or permanent. Why is this topic blocking you? While waiting for an answer to this question, maybe you should stretch your fingers and mind with another project?

Forget your surroundings

This is Charles Bukowski’s point of view that we find throughout his life, his work and more specifically in air and light and time and space.

In this poem, Bukowski invites his reader to create whatever their living conditions: when they return from work at the mine, in a small room with three children or during an earthquake. Creation cannot be explained by “air, light, time and space”. His work environment is only used to invent new excuses.

Think of all the authors who created despite difficult living conditions. Remember that there is no other artistic field requiring so little material investment, except mime. So take advantage of it.

Get into a routine

We will return to this subject in the future in a future article, but we can consider ourselves “creatures of routine”. If you can make it part of your lifestyle to spend half an hour or an hour a day writing, you won’t be able to part with it.

Do you feel bad when you don’t follow your daily routines, for example when you don’t brush your teeth before bed? Ask yourself what is preventing you from making writing part of your “natural” habits… and especially how you could forge a new habit.

Take on a literary challenge

Constraints (size, theme, literary process, etc.) can constitute a liberating framework. Sometimes the blank page arises when you are faced with the immensity of possibilities and questions defining your project. A literary challenge removes the weight of those choices and allows you to focus on other aspects of writing.

Sketch A Layout And Choose Features

Once you know what your audience wants and you have worked out the details of your idea you now need to put it all down on paper. The best way to do it is by simply sketching it out on paper. Design your mobile app on paper and organize your thought process and thing and note down all the different features you want to add to your mobile app. By sketching it out, you can get a fair idea about how your mobile app will look like and how to program Philips universal remote. app or any app that you wish for.

To each his own technique!

And you, what are your methods of writing?

Do you often face the blank page or other forms of blockage? How do you manage to overcome them?