Blank Page Syndrome
Entry posted by labuza ·
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Blank page syndrome is not in a medical book or taught in psychology classes, but it is real. It is that fear of starting to write. You know what you need to do, you have a vague idea of what it will look like, but where to start? So you open a document, and it is just blank. It is a big white screen staring at you, mocking you for your inability to remember how to start a sentence.
Blank page syndrome is hard to overcome. Here is my trick, just write something. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even need to end up being in your final draft. But at least the page isn’t blank. At least you start seeing a structure. You might go back and change the whole thing. But at least there are black letters on a white page and you have begun.
I am finally writing a thesis proposal, the first document that will directly apply to my dissertation. I had instructions to start on Tuesday. I was given three weeks. I was so excited to finally be writing I couldn’t wait to start. Then blank page syndrome hit me in the face and I proceeded to find two days worth of work that has nothing to do with writing. In fact, I started writing this instead of writing my proposal. Blank page syndrome is currently overwhelming my productivity.
On that note, I need to go write… something… anything. Wish me luck!
**Update: Between writing this and posting it I overcame blank page syndrome and wrote 100 words. It’s not much, but it’s a start!
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