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One sentence at a time
Tuesday 21st July 2026
Sometimes I don't write because I believe I won't have anything say. I could be 60% through a novel, but I'm not writing the scenes I know I need to write, because I don't think the words will come.
There's a fear there.
I approach the blank page with a blank mind, so what makes me think any words will come from that blankness? I mustn't write yet - I'm not ready.
What I need to remember, after all these years, is to take it one sentence at a time. The first sentence is an act of pure creation, a leap of faith. The first sentence must be written with this mindset:
What I am about to write might be bad. And that's okay. I am not afraid. I would like to write this book, and the only way to write it is to write it. Creativity, guide me. Here I go.
It feels uncomfortable. After all, I don't want to write anything bad. I want it to come out beautifully first time, even though that's rarely how it goes.
But the first sentence leads to a second sentence. And that second sentence isn't a pure leap of faith, it isn't "something from nothing". It follows the first sentence. The first sentence tells the second sentence where to go, and the first and second sentences tell the third sentence where to go, and so on, like a game of "yes and".
You must write that first sentence for the game to begin. Every time.
"I can't think of anything" isn't an excuse. Start broad, end specific.
"I can't yet see this scene in my mind" isn't an excuse. Force yourself to see it. Writing is how we see.
Write into the dark. One sentence at a time.