The Lonely Page: Strategies and Tips for Any Writer

The page is by definition lonely. When I write a page down, I expect there to be more. When I do not write a page down, I am in the midst of doubts. The doubts will always plague the writer of prose, especially before we have written. These are a few tried and true tips on writing anything from an article to a novel, and strategies on how to make that page not as lonely.

We need to make the page fun. An essay on writing can be a fun thing to do. A challenge, perhaps a topic we know nothing of, can help break the mood of the unwritten page. Once we succeed in writing out one page, we are in for a treat. The article or novel will always be ten times easier if we just force ourselves to write something out. A strategy I use is to just get a hundred words down, because, after that, the page looks a lot better.

We need not think of others on the first page; that is what editing is for. We intend to have some fun with the first page. We intend to discover something new as we write on that first page.

The page is lonely until we can find the means to do it. A small tip: write the ending first. Many comic book writers will use this strategy. They will know the scene they want to end the comic book, maybe a few other random scenes, and they will build from there. We can do the same. The lonely page we write need not be the beginning; we can make it a challenge and more enjoyable by finding a clear scene and starting there. You might be surprised at the results: the story could take shape in a different way; or it just might be one of your better articles.

All the strategies aside, we write because the pages look good together, and not alone. If we just write down a page and run away from the challenge, we will never look at it the same we again. We, the writers, are constantly evolving in terms of our taste for certain styles and stories. That one page we wrote may not look anything close to interesting if we quit on it. We must continue because who we are at that moment could change in a day or a year.

Try to write the ending first, always consider the first page the hardest to let out, and remember we as writers are constantly evolving. That page may turn us away some days when we just do not know what to write. We can edit it a million times, but the lonely page needs some friends in order to be something great.