I don’t care who you are. When you sit down to write the first page of your screenplay, in your head, you’re also writing your Oscar acceptance speech.
Nora Ephron
thewritersworkshop.net
I have a book in my head and my goal is to write enough to attend a workshop at the Fine Arts Workshop Center In Provincetown in the summer of 2013. Now this may not sound like an insurmountable task unless, of course, one has not written a single word. Then it becomes a little more difficult.
When I was teaching I was lucky enough to have my class conduct a Skype interview with award winning children’s book author Linda Sue Park who wrote an incredible book, A Long Walk to Water, that we had read in class. One of my students, who has a severe language based learning disability, intends to become an author and asked a great question. He wanted to know if she ever had writer’s block and what she did about it. Of course like everyone that writes she agreed that not being able to do so on occasion was quite disturbing and then related a story of a friend of hers, also an award winning novelist, who writes for 15 minutes a day, every day. She limits her time this way and rarely experiences writer’s block. My thoughts were that she must be a furious typist but I thought is seemed do-able. So, I promised myself I’d spend 15 minutes a day writing, every day, no excuses. That never happened, except for blogging which wasn’t supposed to count for that 15 minutes, until today. A full page is out of my head and saved on to the computer. I’m sure I’ll edit the crap out of it, figuratively and literally, but I like it. I can feel it when I read it it. Now that I’ve told all of you I suppose I’ll need to follow through too.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
Benjamin Franklin
Magnolia Beginnings 
Yup…now ya gotta do it! YAY you…15 minutes you’d otherwise spend where? doing what? Exactly! Just do it.
xo
I knew you’d keep me in line!
🙂
I can relate to this. I’m a journalist who never wrote a book. I don’t feel I have “writer’s block” — more like “book block.” I highly admire you for sharing your thoughts with us. Just knowing that what I’m going through is “normal” for authors is enough to make me realize that someday it can happen for me too. 15 minutes really goes a long way — these baby steps can eventually lead to you moving mountains with your words! Good luck! 🙂
As someone who writes for a living, I am all too familiar with the ominous glare of an empty page. 🙂 But just putting something, *anything* down is, for me, the biggest step. Once I have a ‘straw man’ that I can respond to, it seems like the creative juices begin to flow. Hang in there, Maureen, putting yourself out there through writing is tough and takes courage, but I know you can do it!! 🙂
Blogging has been a great starting point and thanks to the feedback I get on here I’ve gained confidence to get the crazy thoughts out of my head and on to paper/screen. Thank you so much for the vote of confidence. It means a lot.
i once read that “you can’t think your way out of a writing block, but you sure can write your way out of a thinking block”
🙂
Good advice. I really do think a big part of it is just to keep writing. No need to keep everything but it’s important not to give in to the temptation to just stare at the screen for awhile and then shut down the computer. I’m very thankful that no one calls me out on the posts that are crap and instead give some very encouraging feedback. This blog has been incredible for confidence and making some brilliant new friends such as yourself.
Wow! It takes guts to come out and say that – the BOOK!! Well done! I’m an undercover, top secret…writer. I’m so good at it nobody even knows about the book. I’m so good even I forget it sometimes too. Well, accountability is the first step. 15 minutes everyday is the next. I wish you well. I wish you boundless inspiration. You go fill up that notebook and get that book out girl! Hugs xx Shaz
That is a good part of the reason I announced it. I know there are people on here tha will hold me to it and I’m grateful for that. Until yesterday it was only this plan about which I never uttered a word. My friend, I can’t help but point out that you’ve sort of disclosed your top secret status. Shall we keep each other on the path?
Why don’t you write your book as a blog first – even a private one. Blogging contains you to the one page a day limit…then just keep going day after day.
That is a really great idea! Thank you.
You are very inspiring.
Thank you. You are very kind. Thanks for reading.
How exciting!! Another first step. You are full of first steps this year – I like that!! 🙂