So many people say
that they are afraid of the blank page and they can’t figure out
what to write about. Maybe that is the problem, they are
trying too hard to think about what they should be writing instead of
just putting words down onto paper.
Recently I gave
myself a challenge and that was to try and just write for 30 minutes
and see how many words that I could get down onto paper. It is
amazing to see how much writing you can do in half an hour when you
put your mind to it. It does mean that you are going to have to
ignore a few things for that time but it can also make you feel so
much better when you see the results. When I say ignore, I mean you
are going to have to get away from social media and let those emails
just wait for 30 minutes before you jump and deal with them.
My challenge for
everyone is to try and write for just 30 minutes and it doesn’t
matter what you write about. You can write about your family, the
weather or anything but try and spend 30 minutes of just putting
words onto paper. You might be very surprised with how many words
you can generate in that short of a time period.
When I challenged
myself I didn’t have a topic that I wanted to write about I just
started with what was on my mind and then it continued and I even
wrote some of this blog during that half an hour. Yes, my challenge
to myself resulted in me figuring out that walking away from all the
other distractions can help me figure out things that I want to write
about and how I would like to help others deal with the fear of the
blank page. I did deal with the fear of the blank page for quite a
while and then I slowly started to see that a page doesn’t last
being blank for too long. Most days I start my journal with some odd
comments but it breaks the log jam that is in my head and it lets me
write. People don’t see what my journal says because that is what
helps me figure out my day, my feelings and even issues.
Being able to see
that you can write can make a world of difference to how you see
things. Yes, the challenge helped me today because I hadn’t been
writing much and maybe the challenge will help you. For me the
challenge helped me write almost 1,600 words in that half an hour.
You may find that you can get just 200 words written but at least it
is something written and that page is no longer blank. Remember, the
first edit of what you write is just that it’s the first attempt
and then you can go back if someone else is going to read it and make
it clearly.
So now that you have
finished reading my blog I want you to spend 30 minutes and try and
just write. It doesn’t matter the topic or anything else, it just
is some time to put some words down onto paper or onto the computer
page and see how it makes you feel. You could be very surprised and
see that you have a lot of things you want to write about so go ahead
and write.