For several days now while I’ve been walking the dog or on the bus, or running my eyes down my To Do list (see March post) the knowledge that I still haven’t written my June Blog Post has become as pressing as the post remains elusive.
A blank page is rarely a problem for me when I’m writing fiction. ‘Throw the idea down and see what you can make of it,’ could be one way of describing my process.
I touch type and work directly onto a laptop. I can get the words out as quickly as I think them which has two, seemingly opposite, effects of providing distance from the words appearing in front of me while allowing me scope to contemplate what I’ve written.
Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t be without my notebooks either. Handwritten notes are the form I use to make observations and examine my writing life. The notebook is the place where I study my characters, explore scenes and settings and work out themes and plots. Working on the laptop allows me to delete, add, and move words, paragraphs and even chapters as the work evolves. It gives a tangible feeling of freedom and of craft.
The reason for the Blank Post is because, at the moment, I’m teetering on the brink of a final manuscript. I’m obsessed with the glacier-creep towards the end of this edit. I am living for the small filip which each finished page gives me. Time spent on anything else feels like pages torn out of the book.
sarah jackman 