Facing Fear Of The Blank Page

Advice from one of my favourite fiction writers

It may sound psychopathic but every year around this time I update my personal manifesto, which is really a collection of mottos, goals, advice and ideas that provide me a little guidance for when good intentions go bad. You can read it below if you want. Near the bottom of that manifesto lurks a goal that has found itself a nice comfy home far away from the action. That goal is, ‘Write something of note’. Is this the year?

On the way to work this morning I was listening to the 'Writer's Routine' podcast, which I found by typing the name of one of my favourite authors into the Spotify search bar. Christopher Fowler is the creator of the 'Bryant & May' series of detective novels not to mention a small library of other titles in fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels - he's even written video games! Sadly he passed away last year, a youthful 69 years of age, of a cancer that he knew was terminal so he used his remaining years to write the third volume of his memoirs, about writing.

I love books about writing and storytelling and can recommend Stephen King's memoir-cum-writing-guide 'On Writing', Chuck Palahniuk's 'Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different', as well as story guides like Will Storr's 'Science of Storytelling' and John Yorke's 'Into The Woods'.

Anyway, I was reading Christopher’s memoir 'Word Monkey' this morning and, reluctant to leave the comfort of his world, I looked for something of his to listen to on the inevitable commute and found this interview:

Not only is Christopher a great writer but a lovely, quietly spoken, considerate interviewee who shares his thoughts on writing, writers and life in general with candidness and authenticity. No tacky hawking of wares here, just thoughtful answers to the questions all us aspiring writers have of someone so successful and prolific as him, and you know what I found out? Not only does he write two books a year but, to warm up, he blogs first EVERY SINGLE DAY likening it to stretching before a workout.

He doesn't plan his blogs or over engineer them, he just uses them to empty his brain and warm up his fingers before the real work begins, and I think that's a great idea.

Like anyone faced with a blank page, and especially aspiring writers, the agony of how and where to start can be overwhelming. The pressure we put on ourselves to make every word a work of genius is absurd and unrealistic. Not every run is going to break a world record, but it doesn't mean you stop running, it means you run more. Same here, not every page or post is going to win a Pulitzer but that doesn't mean you stop writing, it means you write more.

So, instead of aiming to write something of note I am simply going to aim to write every day either for this blog, my content business or my production company. And I'm not going to overthink it but treat is as a warm up for whenever that 'something of note' arrives.