I struggled with writing the first line to this post. Should I start with the quote? Something about imperfection and bad drafts? I wrote an outline for this post, but the introduction evaded me. Then I thought: the honesty of it was the best way to start. The blank page taunts so many of us, and I\u2019m no stranger to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This post is inspired by the Jodi Picoult<\/a> (author of My Sister\u2019s Keeper, among others) quote: \u201cYou can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.\u201d To me, this quote means imperfection is better than not at all. Writing a bad draft is something many of us fear, but you can always edit a bad draft. You can\u2019t edit a draft that doesn\u2019t exist. Writing something <\/em>is better than nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you struggle with the blank page (like me), here are some suggestions for getting you over that hump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Write a bad draft! This is the first and most obvious answer. Just write something on the page, whether it’s a stream of consciousness babble or a poorly done version of the scene you have in your head. Eventually, you can edit the draft and make it better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A bad draft is not a reflection on you as a writer. We all write bad drafts; it\u2019s just a fact of the writing process. That\u2019s why we edit and make it sparkle later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If absolutely nothing is coming to you, you can try using prompts to spark some creativity. Both Reedsy<\/a> and Tumblr<\/a> have great prompts for writers of all kinds, but you can also Google for genres, pairings, settings, etc if you need something a little more specific to your tastes or story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Start with small goals. Say, 100 words for the day. Once you meet your goal, you can either stop because you accomplished what you set out to do, or you can keep going because you have the momentum now. You can also move the goalpost as you hit it, up and up, until you\u2019ve written way more than you intended!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t pressure yourself to write something big starting off if that\u2019s not your style. Some people work best with challenging goals, but that\u2019s not for everyone. Sometimes, you need to start small and work up to something bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t have the starting scene in your mind? Write later in the story. What scene do <\/em>you have in mind? Get out the stuff that\u2019s clawing to get out first. It\u2019s okay to write out of order and come back to the beginning later. Maybe you\u2019ll have an epiphany as you get to know your characters and setting better.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blank page can be a major hurdle to overcome, but you can do it. Hopefully these tips help. If they don\u2019t, don\u2019t despair. Nothing is a one-size-fits-all when it comes to writing. What works for one writer might not work for another. Finding the thing that works is an important step for all writers. Good luck getting over that blank page!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I struggled with writing the first line to this post. Should I start with the quote? Something about imperfection and bad drafts? I wrote an outline for this post, but the introduction evaded me. Then I thought: the honesty of it was the best way to start. The blank page taunts so many of us, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,113,46],"tags":[115,114,96],"class_list":["post-1072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-pep-talks","category-writing","tag-pep-talks","tag-tracknov-2025","tag-writing-advice"],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner-150x150.png",150,150,true],"post_slider_layout_landscape_large":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",1200,675,false],"post_slider_layout_portrait_large":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",1200,675,false],"post_slider_layout_square_large":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",1200,675,false],"post_slider_layout_landscape":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",600,338,false],"post_slider_layout_portrait":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",600,338,false],"post_slider_layout_square":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",600,338,false],"full":["http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png",1920,1080,false]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TrackNov-Event-Banner.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1074,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions\/1074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/izzyking.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Bad Draft<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prompts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Small Goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Start Later<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n