Anna Paulson interns for Julie Klassen. She graduated in May from Concordia University, St. Paul with a degree in English.
Ernest Hemingway hunted lions in Africa and fought bulls in Spain, but when asked about the most frightening thing he had ever faced, he answered, “A blank sheet of paper.”
As a writer and a recent college graduate, I relate to the anxiety of a white canvas fraught with possibilities. At my commencement ceremony, mingled joy and apprehension stretched taut on the air as I awaited my diploma with fellow graduates. It was the dawn of our careers, but also the end to college and preparing for the “real world.” Like cannonballs launched into space, we had survived the pressure and built the momentum to blast into the rest of our lives. Now, we only sought a place to land.
In a similar manner, taking ideas and scripting them into words means ending the fantasy and beginning the reality of novel-writing. I think most writers are perfectionists. We have a vision. We desire to convey that vision. But we are scared. We make excuses. We cannot…quite…begin.
Julie Klassen & Anna Paulson
Mark Twain once remarked, “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” As author and mentor Julie Klassen has taught me, while it is important to brainstorm ideas and research your topic, at some point, it comes down to beginning to write your own words.
What helps you to jump into a blank page? What encouragement or advice might you give a future author? Is there something you wished you had known when you graduated from college?
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Welcome, Anna! Great words. The blank page terrifies me too. I think one of the things that most helps me face that blank page is the fact that there is a delete key! I may get 10,000 words in and discover this story just is not working, but I have the freedom to delete delete delete and start all over again. Best of all, those 10,000 words were NOT wasted. Not really. I learned from them. I learned what didn’t work and that leads me, ultimately, to what WILL work. Of course, this is a wonderful metaphor for life. Sure, the consequences of the delete key might be a bit greater in real life, but still, God can use even my mistakes and do-overs to finally get me to what does work.
Anna spoke right to the secret places of my writing struggle. And, Deb, your words add great encouragement.
Thank you, ladies, for your honesty and the pep talk to “end the fantasy and begin the reality,” knowing that what ends up on the page doesn’t have to be perfect the first time.
Happy writing (and deleting!)
~Heather
Thank you, Heather! So glad we can encourage one another. Happy writing (and deleting) to you too!
Excellent wisdom, Deborah. Thank you so much!
I enjoyed this article and the quotes shared.
Thank you, Karen!
Well done, Anna. Thanks for blogging with us today. With your talent and attitude, I predict a bright future for you. 🙂
Thank you so much, Julie. 🙂
Anna,
Welcome aboard. I’m thrilled to make your acquaintance.
One of the things that helps me jump into a blank page is a timed writing. Sometimes, I just set a timer and start writing with no other objective but getting words on paper.
Sometimes I use a writing tool like Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die. I don’t know what there is about either method, but they work for me.
At other times, I change the color of my fonts and/or the page background. I’m an artist as well as an author, so the endless variety of color combinations can help stir up literary creativity, too.
If I’m really into it, I set the color scheme to match whatever type of scene I’m working on. There’s nothing for a scene of suspense like light text on a dark background!
As for what I would tell a new novelist…. Just getting started is the most difficult part. But you can’t do it once and be done with it. You have to “just get started” every day. Sometimes more than once. Keep after it! Never give up.
Thanks for the post and, again, welcome. Best wishes on your own noveling journey.
Carrie
Thank you, Carrie Lynn, for sharing such helpful advice! I appreciate your encouragement.
Anna, welcome! I’m so excited that you’re working with (and learning from) Julie Klassen. She is one of my buy-her-books-as-soon-as-they-come-out authors.
My advice, which I constantly have to work on due to focusing/ADD issues, is to get into a regular routine with your writing. If you write at the same time every day or for a set number of hours a day, that habit may help you when (if) you get writer’s block. You’ll be used to sitting there at your computer (or with writing pad in hand) for such-and-such a time, and hopefully you’ll stick to it until the words start flowing again.
Oh, and if you need a good copy editor, let me know.
Blessings and best wishes for your career!
Andrea
andrearenee2004@yahoo.com
writingtoinspire.blogspot.com
Blessed by your advice and support, Andrea. Thank you.