Oi! There’s that word again… It’s stalking me…

Apparently, even staring at a blank page is a syndrome. (Get ready for eye rolls at fifty paces)

According to Masterclass, Blank Page Syndrome is another word (make that three to whomever wrote the definition on the Masterclass website and learn the correct definition of these things before you state it. Or write it! Rolls eyes and scoffs) for writer’s block. (Oi! God help me! There’s that phrase again.) And can hit at any point but most commonly when starting the writing process.

Meh!

While doing a quick google search for this supposed syndrome I even came across Struggling Artist Syndrome. Is anything NOT a bloomin’ syndrome these days?

Where’s Jeff Goins when you need him to debunk this shit?

Anyway, here’s my take on this. And no, it’s nothing to do with writers’ block. (I need to keep those words out of my mouth and off my page!)

For me, I sometimes had a weird issue where I’d sit down to write my Wrathbone stories and stare at the page until I came up with the first line. Or look at the clock and wonder what the hell I was doing. If I wasn’t going to write then I should be doing something off the to-do list so something got done instead of wasting time.

And no, way back then I had no idea there was such a syndrome (rolls eyes) concerning staring at lined notebook pages.

I’ve mentioned this before.

After having a one-on-one chat with myself, the three reasons I didn’t want to write at a particular time were simple. Distraction, lack of inspiration, and lack of preparation.

I then asked muse, why don’t I want to write? The answer was, because I don’t bloody well want to.

Simples!

Of course, it could also be your insecurities, or life needing to take precedence. 

After happening a couple of times through the years, but not giving it much thought because, meh, I don’t care to waste a lot of time wondering why, in 2024, when I sat down to write my cop show trilogy, it happened again. But this time distraction, lack of inspiration and lack of preparation weren’t on my radar.

There were three new aspects to why I stared at the page in my J. Burrows, 240 page, 8mm lined, A4 spiral bound notebook, only at Officeworks. (This is not a plug, but if they feel like sending me some for free…thanks)

The first new aspect that came to me, thanks to asking and muse replying, was this.

Me: Why am I not writing. I’ve had this feeling before. I know what my first scene is, I have my outline and characters, I know what I’m writing. What’s going on?

Muse: It’s because you’re not yet in the rhythm of writing.

Me: Perks up like a meerkat and tilts my head. What do you mean?

Muse: You haven’t written a book in months; you have to get back into the rhythm of physically writing. Of setting aside three hours at a time and doing the work.

Me: Makes sense. What else?

Muse: You’re not yet in the rhythm of who these characters are. You know what they look like and what they do, but you aren’t in the rhythm of them.

Me: Interesting. Go on.

Muse: You’re also not yet in the rhythm of the world in which they live.

Me: Very true and it all makes perfect sense.

I wasn’t yet in the rhythm of the characters or in the world in which they lived, or the physicality of handwriting ten pages a night for six weeks.

Made perfect sense

It was a habit I had to get back into in order to get it done.

And then I had another thought, and remembered back to an article I’d read about the author who actually writes the romance books Sarah Ferguson gets paid to put her name on. She writes a lot of other novels for her publishing house as well.

I came across it by accident and read it with a lot of interest. She said she writes the first 30 – 40 pages and then goes back and edits them over and over until she’s happy with the story and then powers on to the end.

It reminded me that many a famous author has said write a shitty first draft. And lo and behold, I said, don’t worry about how shitty it is, I’ll fix it in the edit. Let’s get to writing.

A third issue for me, is the physicality of writing which I discussed earlier. I handwrite, it’s long, arduous, and tiring with arthritis, so my body tends to baulk at sitting down for three hours a night to get ten pages done. Moving forward, I either suck it up and learn to type up my first drafts instead of handwrite, or handwrite a shorter number of pages each night. But that means it would take twice as along and it already does compared to ten years ago.

But I find, once I’m in the rhythm of sitting down five nights a week and writing ten pages, it takes 2 – 3 weeks to have no issue with it and my body goes with the flow because it’s now in the rhythm of the physicality of writing!

It makes so much sense.

Of course, the reason you could be staring at a blank page is simply because you didn’t bother doing the prep work and outlining your ideas and story and coming up with your characters and world building.

But that’s a you problem. Not a blank page problem.