It sits before you, daring you to move forward. An endless expanse of white, an unknown and unexplored conduit for your imagination. The blank page is often one of the most intimidating things an artist can face. Nothingness. The void, waiting to be formed and shaped. An empty canvas waiting to carry your art to others.
The intimidation of the blank page does not come from the task of filling in the white space but in overcoming our own doubts. I remember my first NaNoWriMo. I sat there, staring at the blinking little cursor, worried that my vision could not be carried forth. That I was not good enough. That My story was not long enough. I wasn’t a real writer. I couldn’t write anything. The white void had no answers. Only I could hear the echo of my doubts.
An artist has to be brave. We have to take those fears that threaten to swallow us and snuff them out, if only for a moment. We take a deep breath and plunge forward. We must dare to tread into the wilderness of the unknown. Each word, each sentence a path blazed forward. Progress made. A story told. Determined, we press onward, even as those same doubts come back to ring in our ears.
Many people choose to work through their problems on a couch. The writer works through them there, in the wilds of the blank page. We wrestle with our problems with words and plot devices. Writing is an exercise that constantly expands our capabilities. You will press against the edges of what you are capable of, and those edges will press back. It’s ok. You are growing. Each word builds upon the next, giving you the confidence to say “I can do this.” With each finished page you say, “I can write this.” Each chapter completed you stand taller, “I will finish this.” Finally, when the story is told, you will look back and say “I am a writer. This is my story.”
Each of us have our own doubts, our own failings in certain areas. Be it with plot, or character, or setting, or dialogue; each writer must overcome their weaknesses to complete their works. There is only one place that a writer can find their own voice. There is only one place where we can find our own stories to tell. The blank page. Now is the time write that story down. Now is the time to wrestle your doubts to the floor. You have a story to tell. You can tell it, but only if you dare to take that first step into that white nothing.