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<\/a><\/p>\nFrightening, isn’t it?<\/p>\n The blank page, that is. \u00a0And that damn little flashing\u00a0cursor, mocking your fragile writer’s psyche blink by blink. \u00a0Of course the\u00a0cursor isn’t\u00a0the real problem. \u00a0Blame your Inner Critic, the voice whispering ‘ugh, that’s not nearly good enough if you want to\u00a0sell in a market that’s full of\u00a0guys like George Martin and Pat Rothfuss’<\/em>\u00a0when you try to jot\u00a0down the first words of your new fantasy epic. \u00a0Or, it’s the part of you\u00a0that snickers under its breath when a clich\u00e9 somehow ekes its way into your prose, though you have tried to be diligent. \u00a0The Inner Critic is a useful bastard when editing and polishing, but not EVER when facing the white eternity of a blank page, poised to create.<\/p>\n Your only viable response?<\/p>\n KICK THAT ASSHOLE IN THE TEETH AND WRITE LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!<\/em><\/p>\n Really.<\/p>\n Uncork those\u00a0creative juices and let the words roll forth, in all their terrible glory. \u00a0When the backspace button offers a friendly smile,\u00a0KICK HIM IN THE TEETH, TOO! <\/em>because in a first draft, ain’t nobody got time for that. \u00a0Backspace is for revision, not creation. \u00a0In fact, backspace is the opposite of what you’re trying to do when you sit down to tackle a\u00a0pesky ‘blank page’.<\/p>\n Some folks call their Inner Critic ‘writer’s block’ and, since this is such a well-known issue, accept the fact that their creative brain is diseased for at least the rest of the day, contenting themselves with email checking and Tumblr tumbling. \u00a0The concept of ‘writer’s block’\u00a0has never made sense to me, simply because\u00a0it’s not a valid excuse for other professions, so it shouldn’t be for mine, either.<\/p>\n (As an aside, could you imagine a construction worker getting to the job-site and suffering from ‘jackhammer block’? \u00a0“Steve, why the hell aren’t you working?” “Sorry boss, but today I’ve got jackhammer block. \u00a0I just can’t jackhammer. \u00a0I’ll be playing Candy Crush over here if you need me…”)<\/em><\/p>\n Getting words on the page, therefore, is of paramount importance. \u00a0Everything else can and must come later. \u00a0Anyway, if you believe that Martin or Rowling or Rothfuss or any other famous writer’s first draft was glorious, wonderful, etcetera, well… you shouldn’t. \u00a0Those folks had a great idea, wrote it down, and then polished it into the shiny work that we see today. \u00a0In fact, thinking anything else demeans the work that those authors had to put into their manuscripts in order to sell them. \u00a0Phew *steps off soap-box*<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n