How to Battle the Blank Page by L.K. Shaw

[Note from Frolic: We are so excited to have author L.K. Shaw guest post on the site today. Take it away, L.K.!]

I’ve been sitting here for over an hour, staring at a blank page, wondering what in the world I could have to say that anyone would want to read. It’s a daunting task to be handed an assignment with the freedom to write anything related to myself, my writing career, or my books.  I think we, as authors, sometimes have difficulty talking about our art. Not that we don’t think it’s good enough, but more, how do we whittle down hours, months, and sometimes years of grueling work and sacrifice to a few, short minutes? Or maybe that’s just me? *whispers to self: please don’t let it be just me.*

That blank page, though, isn’t getting me anywhere. And neither is that blank page in front of you. So many of us struggle with writer’s block, self-doubt, insecurities, or whatever it is holding us back. It doesn’t matter if you’re a plotter, a pantser, or a plantser. What we have to do is discover the single thing that will give us the ability to rid ourselves of all the negative self-talk controlling us and take back our power. The power to succeed. 

We’re all looking to succeed in this business, but what you have to remember is, your success may look different than someone else’s. For instance, one author might define success as writing that first word in Chapter 1. Or typing The End. It could be hitting that publish button for the first time. Success for someone else could be selling one book, a thousand books, a million books. Maybe to you, it’s hitting a list. 

For me, success is something different. It’s also the one thing I too often forget. I haven’t always wanted to be an author even though I’ve been an avid “reader” since I was two or three. If you were a child of the 70s and 80s like me, you might remember the Richard Scarry books published by The Little Golden Books. I remember “reading” books like Good Night, Little Bear and Best Lowly Worm Book Ever. Those books made me feel good. They made me happy and opened my eyes to different worlds. Reading changed my life.

The first book I ever wrote, Secrets of Submission (now titled Submission), I started as a lark for National Novel Writing Month in November, 2015. After NaNoWriMo ended, I kept writing and went on to publish it in May 2016. A few months later I received an email from a reader who told me that the book resonated with everything inside her. That moment was a defining one for me. That, to me, was success. 

I don’t have to sell a million books or hit a list. Sure, both of those would be nice. But if I write a book that resonates with, and changes the life of, one person, then I’ve succeeded as an author. That is what gives me the power to stop staring at the blank page and write. What gives you your power?