Some writers fear staring at a blank page for hours (or days) on end. This fear is most often rooted in impostor syndrome, but it’s easier to overcome than you might think.

How to approach a blank page

If you’ve decided to write a book, you have some ideas. If you find yourself frozen in front of a blank page or screen, try changing your ideas about what starting your book looks like. No one just sits down and starts typing beautiful, witty prose.

Let go of any sense that you’ve failed because you haven’t finished a chapter or even a page.

Instead of thinking about ‘writing a book’, do something that’s much more manageable and productive: write about one idea that is related to your book. If you need help getting started with this, look at how I explain using questions to outline your book here. Once you have this kind of quick outline, you can just answer the next question.

This writing doesn’t even have to be in the form of sentences; you just need to record your thoughts so you can go back and develop them.

Change of scene

If you’re still struggling to write, try changing your writing situation. Move from your computer to pen and paper, or to unlined paper (preferably not white) and coloured pencils or crayons. It’s harder to judge what you’ve written in crayon!

The point of these exercises is to get your creative juices flowing. You may not think you need much creativity to explain SEO or the latest sales funnel, but writing is always also creative. Get out your crayons and start letting your ideas take shape.

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