Facing the Blank Page

One day a student asked Taiga, "What is the most difficult part of painting?" Taiga answered, "The part of the paper where nothing is painted is the most difficult."

Yes, facing a new blank page can be difficult. Especially the start of a book. It's that time when I stare at the ceiling and think, then sometimes just give up and let the subconscious work on it.

For me, I need one good line to jumpstart the process. Usually with one line, I can get a paragraph at least, and the first scene or chapter, too.

I don't write in chapters. I write in scenes and then cobble them together in chapters at a good hook. So sometimes my stuff will be 10-11 (when I know they should fall with other scenes after chapter 9...) So if I don't have any inspiration for a scene (in or out of sequence), I usually go to my last chapter, edit a page or so to get back into the groove, then hope a good line will come.

My latest book start was "The time experiments weren't going at all well."

May you be fearless in in the face of the blank page today!
Robin