Embracing that blank page

Hi team! In my last post, I outlined the processes I have used to avoid ever having to face that dreaded blank page. Today, I'm going to tell you why we need that blank page. Why it is essential to our process. Why at times we have to embrace that blank page and to protect it. And why we absolutely should tread carefully when employing tools to bypass it (yep, I'm going to get into AI in here).

“Just make it exist first. Then make it good.” You've probably heard that or a version of that, right? It is great advice and essentially it is aimed at people who get overwhelmed by the huge task ahead. Writing is rewriting, and so on.

However, here's a problem I have noticed over my career: once something exists, once it is put down and made real, it seems harder to move away from it.

We shift into refinement mode. We get fixed on certain things. We find ourselves in a creative funnel where, even when we're trying to consider all options, we're actually only going one direction - a direction that was fixed the moment we found a concept or story we liked and wrote it down, even if it was half-baked or won't hold up to scrutiny. Creators drift back to earlier ideas, often without noticing. They get resistant to change. They miss so many other opportunities. Change (and improvement requires change) becomes more and more difficult.

I've seen this with myself and I've seen it a lot while working with other writers and creatives.

To give a practical example, let's say you have a draft 1 scene and you have notes and you know you need to implement some changes. You have the solutions generally figured out and you sit down to write. There are two possibilities: 1) you open your scene and you edit and amend or, 2) you delete it and write it fresh. Each path will give you different results and there is a high likelihood that, if you edit the existing scene, it will end up very close to your first version and may not go far enough in fixing it.

By allowing yourself to start fresh, you can freely implement the new ideas. For the stuff that already worked well, simply by having to write it all again, you're more likely to only retain the best of it, the leaner version of it. And it will probably be a bit more cohesive because it hasn't been crafted at different times through a series of patches.

That's just one example.

On a bigger picture level, this can be even more of a problem, especially very early on in the creative process. In the beginning, every idea should be open. Every possibility should be considered. All those weird, crazy, ill-fitting notions should be entertained. You have to keep the process wide open.

To do that, you have to reject the “make it exist” mindset. Only make it exist when it is truly ready to exist. Before that, the page is blank. Keep it blank until you're ready.

There is truth in this for most creative processes but I have been thinking about it a lot when it comes to discussions of AI use in creating or writing. One thing I noticed playing with AI is that it can get very fixed. It has its systems. It defaults to certain things (often right down the centre) and can get caught in its own loops. And trying to push those models, it's not easy to break them out of certain patterns. They are not the systems to go to for blue sky thinking and the moment you get them to "ideate" for you, you have not only put yourself in that funnel, but into a more restrictive funnel that was not of your own making.

The models will get better, but that problem will remain. They don't assist the creativity. They block it. Because what they can take away from you, even at their best, is the blank page. They take away your ability to stay open, to entertain those weird, crazy, ill-fitting notions. So the whole AI thing is a wider discussion and maybe I'll post more about it but, when creative people ask me about it, my answer is usually: step away from the AI.

Regardless of that particular minefield, I have realised the value of the blank page. Of allowing all ideas to be a possibility rather than constantly being in refinement mode. That wide open thinking.

So find the processes that are best for you. If the blank page is paralysing, as it once was for me, find your ways through that. But while doing so, keep your creativity flowing and be open to everything.

Until next time!