Monthly Archives: May 2020

Life, writing

The Blank Page

A blank page is both exciting and scary. It’s exciting because it represents opportunity, a fresh start. Anything is possible on that page. It could be the start of the best thing you have ever written.

Or it can be scary. If no ideas flow freely, it makes you wonder if creativity will every appear. If you stare at it long enough, it seems to be taunting you, inspiring self-doubt rather than opportunity, and soon you’re paralyzed.

While I tend to overuse metaphors, the blank page really is like a new day. Every morning is a new opportunity, a fresh start. Anything is possible. It could be the start of the best day of your life.

Or not.

Much like a blank page, how you look at it is connected to how it turns out. Are you prepared? Have you thought through your plans for the day? Are you open to new experiences? Are you open to creativity? Do you have an attitude of service, and are you determined to live (or write something) to benefit others? If you are a person of faith, have you invited God into your day (into your writing)?

Once you can answer ‘yes’ to these questions, the new day is not so scary, and neither is a blank page. It becomes a new opportunity, and your actions will be more focused.

How prepared are you for your new day?

In a future post, I’ll share some of my practical ideas for getting started with your writing on that real blank page.

Veronica's Musings, writing

New Beginnings

1 Comment

Whenever we come to a fork in the road that requires us to make a either make a change indirection or keep going along the same path, we make a choice and keep walking. We can look at it as the end to part of the journey, an opportunity lost, the beginning of a new journey, or a continuation of the original walk whether the path has changed or stayed the same.

I’ve experienced a big change in my work life recently. It’s not good or bad; it just is. But I can choose to look at it as a positive change, so I am choosing to see it as a new beginning. It’s a chance for rejuvenation and renewal, and those are good things, right?

So what does it mean for my writing, for this site, for my approach to my work? The first thing is that I’ll be posting here regularly again. As you may have noticed, I deleted all the old posts from long ago because this is a fresh start. I’m not the same person I was in 2016 (yes, that’s the last time I posted. Crazy, huh?), so I want this space to reflect who I am today.

I’ll also be taking on new clients again (grant writing and other types of writing gigs), and I hope to get back to some of my more creative pursuits. I have a novel that is half way finished, and several other book projects that have been languishing for years while I was focused on other things.