Beat your blank page fear (without ChatGPT)

The blank page scares people. Even professional writers. It can feel like an insurmountable obstacle - how can I create something worthy of filling this page? Now we have ChatGPT, many people get round it with AI content. It fills the space. But does it add anything worthwhile? And are we losing the ability to think for ourselves in the process? By outsourcing first drafts to AI, I'd argue we're just avoiding it. But conquering the blank page is easier than you think. As someone who has written professionally for 13 years, here's how I do tackle first drafts.

Prime your body

It starts with getting into the right headspace. And for that, you need to move. Get the blood flowing, the oxygen pumping. I like to walk or do yoga for at least 20 minutes. When you get back, open the windows in your writing room. Get some fresh air circulating. Oxygen helps feed your brain.

Prime your mind

Next, you need to clear your mind. Get out all the niggly thoughts that are eating away at you. Like many creative professionals, I do morning pages. It's a brilliantly simple free writing exercise – just write for three pages. Write whatever is on your mind. It does not have to make sense or be grammatically correct. It can be on any topic you like. You can write any way you like. You never have to read it again. It helps clear away the intrusive thoughts, so you're ready to move on.

Ground yourself

I then do a quick, grounding five senses exercise. Five things I can see, hear, smell, touch and taste. I can be as descriptive as I like, but I prefer to keep things simple, holding a single moment in my mind.

Write messy

From there, I'm ready to write. But only on paper. I don't write first drafts on screen unless I'm under a tight deadline. I find my words flow far better on a lined page, the weight of the pen in my hand. On the page, I'm free to scribble, my scrawl flowing away from the lines, vicious strokes through half thoughts, frantic circles around budding ideas.

There's an energy to writing on the page that the screen lacks. As the ideas come alive, my gesticulations turn wild, my lines become mountainous slants. I look quite mad. It's the flow state. No judgement, no critiquing. Pure creativity. Time stops. Physical needs cease. It feels electric. Returning to reality is exhausting.

Embrace imperfection

Most of what you write will be crap. There's no getting around it. Even seasoned pros can write utter drivel. Most of my first drafts are rubbish. But there are always diamonds in the rough. Gems of phrases you can polish up. The most important thing is getting it over with. Once you've conquered the dreaded first draft, you've beaten the page. You've filled it. And you can fill it again, and again. You just need to start, and accept it will probably be a bit rubbish.

Refine the good stuff

Now you take a break. Ideally overnight, but at least a couple of hours. Go for a walk, do chores, put your mind and body in a different physical and mental space. When you're ready, take your work to a different physical location and review it. Third spaces like coffee shops are good for this. Editing and refining are different mental modes to the raw flow of creativity, so it helps to change physical places to get yourself in the right frame of mind. Again - priming. With a fresh perspective, it will be obvious what's right, what's interesting, what can be developed further. The parts where you feel your curiosity pique are the phrases you should work on. Have fun with it. Lovingly ditch everything else. Repeat until you feel the work is good to go. Even then - sleep on it if you can.

In praise of the pain of first drafts

ChatGPT helps us avoid the pain of writing that first draft. But in skipping it, we miss the electric highs and lows of the creative process. We miss the leftfield ideas and weird connections we're able to spark, and AI cannot. We lose the human heart behind the language. Yes, it's efficient. In the efficiency, we lose our creativity. In automating that process, we turn the blank page into another task. And slowly, our ability to express ourselves, our thinking, our being through words atrophies. And I can't help but feel that is a crying shame.