A Place to Start

A place to start:

it’s a rare morning that I stare at an empty page and not know what I’ll be writing. Sometimes I’ll not have an opening line that begins the proceeding flow of words, but at least I’ll have a theme in mind, and then it’s simply a matter of trading thoughts around until the right idea captures my imagination. Often, I’ll come to the page with only an opening line and an entire theme will build from there, surprising me with the eventual outcome. But it’s seldom that I arrive at my desk without a single idea in mind in which to write of, no theme, nor first line, just the emptiness of the page to greet me.

and that’s okay too.

it’s a place to start.

there was a time though, when that would have completely scared me as a writer, believing that inspiration had to be apparent from the beginning or that a struggle would ensue. An empty page wasn’t a place to start but a challenge to be filled, having arrived to the page full of ideas that would mark me as a writer, and all I had to do was arrange them in a perfect order. Emptiness was an impediment to my success, a frightening prospect if it lasted longer than a moment.

which of course it often did.

and I found little joy in writing.