Facing the Page

Annie Dillard (1989) says, "The page will teach you to write."

The trouble is - you have to face the page, or the screen as it were, if you want to write, if you want the page to teach you. It's blankness can be overwhelming. I find that sometimes I just have to dive in and get started. This is usually after sitting down, drinking tea, getting more tea, checking email, looking at the blank page, drinking more tea. . .

You get the idea.

It does not matter what comes out so long as you are getting ideas out of your head and into word form. This, my friends, is writing. It is facing the page. Sometimes, it gets easier once you get started.

Just keep at it, even if it is bad. . .really bad.

The longer you put it off, the scarier the task gets. (This is true of most things.)

Dive in my friends! Get something on the page.

Dillard, A. (1989). The writing life. New York: Harper and Row.