What Do Your Books Say About You?

Writing and Cameras

Writing All Over Again

IMGP8771

 

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead

where there is no path and leave a trail.    

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

There’s no one road to writing a story. No matter how many books an author writes, each time is still the first time. The only time. The beginning of a new journey.

That’s what’s so scary about this profession. Each time a book (or short story or poem or any other form) is finished, ultimately it comes down to this:

 

ID-10023307

*

A blank page is once again staring me in the face.

And I’m supposed to fill it.

It doesn’t matter that I wrote 300-plus pages of a novel that’s waiting in the wings to launch. That was the past. This is now.

There are plenty of ways to avoid it. More research perhaps, or chores to do. Days and weeks of not thinking about it. That blank page hovers, but with enough effort it can be relegated to the very back of my mind. Because what if when I sit down to try my hand at it again, nothing happens? What if that page remains blank?

It’s possible. But if I don’t try, it will be inevitable. Right now there’s a wisp of a story idea floating around and if I want it to become solid, there’s only one way to make it happen. I need to start again.

So I’m going to stare that page down and fill it. And then the next page and the page after that. It’s scary and exhilarating. It’s writing. It’s work and joy and terror. Is there anything better?

 

 

* Image courtesy of nuttakit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

4 Comments
  • Karina • August 10, 2015 at 8:55 am

    the less you think about it, the more likely writing will happen. I have been faced with this many times so I’ve set systems in place or prompts to get me going the moment I sit down. The blank page looks less scary then. 🙂

    • J. M. Levinton • August 10, 2015 at 9:09 am

      Thank you!

  • jan • August 10, 2015 at 10:52 am

    No, there’s nothing better! You’re absolutely right! : )

    • J. M. Levinton • August 10, 2015 at 4:40 pm

      I just need to remind myself that when I want to hit my head on the desk. LOL

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives
Recent Posts