Ah, the famous blank page! We all start there. From a blank page. A blank page is beautiful, a place where everything is yet to be built, where everything is still possible, where all ideas are still valid. A blank page is full of hope, it’s freedom, the power to imagine anything.
It is also the fear that grows when you remain frozen in front of your screen, the cursor blinking relentlessly, without managing to fill in your new Word document.
This fear, when it becomes paralyzing, has a name: leucoselophobia. According to the encyclopedia, it is a writer’s fear of not finding inspiration when starting or continuing a work.
The blank page is something all authors face one day, more or less often, more or less intensely, regardless of their experience, methodology, initial idea or the type of texts they write: articles or novels (fiction, non-fiction, fantasy or realistic).
Writer’s block isn’t a lack of inspiration, or rather, it’s not just a lack of inspiration. It’s a block caused by the overwhelming desire to create a perfect work, to the point where every idea that comes to mind seems flawed. Writer’s block is the fear of making a mistake. This anxiety is so pervasive that it becomes impossible for the author to begin or continue their work. When it persists, this fear can lead to abandoning the project altogether or experiencing a period of depression during which the author completely loses confidence.
The roadblock almost always occurs at a specific stage of the project. To help you pinpoint yours, we’ve outlined the eight stages of writing a book .
Once upon a time, there was my experience with the blank page.
This happened to me. When I was writing my first novel. Before I started writing a book for the first time—having only written articles for the press until then—I studied extensively: by reading (even taking notes to copy my favorite authors), watching films (for screenplays), and trying to learn the best techniques from novel-writing manuals or watching videos online. I prepared myself so thoroughly for writing a book that I put immense pressure on myself, telling myself I had to do this and that, that I had to overcome some journalistic habits, develop my imagination, and so on. So much so that when I started the first chapter, I disguised my natural writing style to try to resemble the writers I had chosen as models. And I over-intellectualized the writing process that, after three months of hard work, I had only written two chapters, which I revised again and again, never satisfied (and rightly so, they were very bad). So, I abandoned everything for three long months. Three months during which I told myself it was rubbish, that I would never succeed. At the end of those 90 days, I had the idea of offering my first two chapters for beta reading to people indirectly connected to me, readers who would tell me, in one way or another, whether I should persevere or if it was all pointless, because my attempts were truly too poor. I thought that if these people encouraged me, I could regain enough confidence to continue writing my manuscript and overcome this writer’s block. And it worked: my three beta readers—who didn’t know me before reading my work—came back to me with positive feedback, constructive remarks, and ideas for improving those first chapters, and I got back to work almost immediately. But instead of revising my first two chapters yet again, which I still wasn’t happy with, I decided to move forward, and the rest of my novel was written, not without difficulty, but with greater fluidity.
When you’re stuck, when fear overwhelms you, when you tell yourself that your story won’t interest anyone, that your ideas aren’t original enough, and that you have no style, there are different ways to break this vicious cycle and rediscover the joy of writing and your self-confidence. For me, it was getting feedback (both constructive and constructive). For others, it’s enough to write anything at all, regardless of whether it’s related to the article or story they’re working on; the important thing is to write to regain momentum. Others will postpone their writing, while some will prefer to go exercise to clear their heads. John Steinbeck, the American author of 16 novels and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, advised this: “Write as if you were writing not for your publisher, an audience, or readers, but for someone close to you, like your sister, your mother, or someone you care about.” Writing from the heart and with feeling leads the author to a certain letting go, a state often beneficial for returning to the writing of their book.
Much more than a lack of inspiration
There’s no magic cure for writer’s block. It depends on the individual, their relationship with writing, and the degree of writer’s block. Some (a few) even say it’s just a myth; others, a simple lack of inspiration. But writer’s block, or leucoselophobia, according to the encyclopedia definition, is much more than that. It’s a lack of ideas, of inspiration, combined with a severe lack of self-confidence (sudden or inherent) and significant pressure stemming from the fact that the text you’re writing is intended for publication, or at least for sharing with loved ones. A published story, unlike a personal diary or texts written for oneself, is akin to a self-exposure, even when it’s fiction. Like any artist, a dancer, a singer or a painter, creating a work, a dance, a song, which we then wish to show to others, to the world, inevitably generates stress, questions, doubts, and doubts (unless we only become aware of it once the work is finished).
When you imagine, or imagined, your life as a writer, you pictured yourself sitting at your computer, your fingers flying—no, practically twirling—across the keyboard, your imagination bubbling over, words jostling in your head and then lining up in perfect order, almost magically appearing on your screen. And then, a few days or weeks later, you’d type the final period of your work, a smile on your face, satisfied to have completed this first phase. Happy at the thought of rereading your text in a while to make minor corrections before sending it to publishers. Yes, it all sounds lovely, but in reality, it (almost) never happens like that. Amélie Nothomb wrote her first draft in a few weeks—after having mentally constructed her novel—and sent it as is to her publisher, Albin Michel. From every perspective, and in the best possible way, Amélie Nothomb is a literary anomaly, and even seasoned writers sometimes experience writer’s block. The phenomenon of the blank page isn’t limited to novice authors. They simply encounter it more frequently because they haven’t yet found a way to overcome it.
Ernest Hemingway said, quite rightly in my opinion, “The best way to write is to always stop when you’re writing well and you already know what’s going to happen next in your story. If you do this every day, you’ll never get writer’s block.” He had, it seems, found his own trick for continuing a piece of writing, and this observation makes perfect sense. If you systematically stop your daily writing when you think you’ve reached the end of the road, when inspiration fails you, when you’re tired, or when you’re hungry, it doesn’t really make sense, because what will happen tomorrow? Whereas if you decide to interrupt your work when it’s the right moment and you know how you’re going to continue your story, you’ll be eager to get back to your computer and you’ll literally throw yourself into your story.
What if the blockage stemmed from a lack of direction rather than inspiration?
The ten tips that follow will unlock most writer’s block. When writer’s block recurs with each chapter, it’s often because the project itself was never truly finished. The 4/4 support program puts a professional editor by your side, from the initial outline to the completed manuscript: twelve months, four quarters, fifteen hours of interviews, and a full reading of your text. It’s designed for authors who haven’t yet progressed beyond the first few chapters. Applications are required.
10 ideas to fill your pages with writing
Emmanuelle Jappert, a writer and literary coach, explains in an article published on our blog entitled ” Writing with Intuition or Structure?” that one working method is not mutually exclusive, and that authors who create outlines are neither right nor wrong compared to those who don’t. Writer’s block has nothing to do with creating an outline or with working methodology. The block is psychological, and therefore there is no foolproof method to avoid experiencing it. However, there are a few tips for overcoming it that everyone can try to apply according to their own specific challenges, personality, and intellectual processes.
1. Draw inspiration from books and elsewhere
Reading Toni Morrison novels, watching all of Quentin Tarantino’s films, going to the museum to see the latest exhibition of David LaChapelle’s photographs… Nourishing your mind with artistic creations can be inspiring and stimulating to start writing again and pick up your work where you left off.
2. Stop at the right time
Follow Ernest Hemingway’s advice by interrupting your writing work at the moment when the words are flowing, when you know exactly where you are going.
3. Working in groups
Finding a writing partner and scheduling sessions will push you to excel and write your text no matter what, preventing you from remaining trapped in your certainties and doubts. Stephen King said in his book of advice for authors, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft: “If you want to become a writer, you must do two things before anything else: read a lot and write a lot.” Having a writing partner will also allow you to ask for help if it’s the plot, for example, that’s blocking you from writing your novel.
4. Entering a routine
Establishing a writing routine follows the same principle: it forces you to write. You could add a goal, for example, of 1000 words per day. Some of us respond well to challenges and might find a way to progress.
5. Brainstorm
Try the sticky note exercise: jot down words on small pieces of paper, whatever comes to mind when you think about a theme or issue, then gather them together and see what they inspire. Changing your approach to writing, shifting from constructing sentences to solitary brainstorming on sticky notes, could prove effective in rediscovering your passion, desire, and inspiration.
6. Take a breath and step back
Take a long break of several weeks, or even several months. If you release the pressure, ideas might emerge, the desire will return, and your writing abilities will too.
7. Set aside and move on to another chapter
Skipping chapters can also be helpful if you feel stuck on a particular passage. Whether you’re developing a story with or without a pre-written outline, from a plot summary or detailed chapters, writer’s block can strike at any point in the writing process. However, the climax (the high point of a story) and major plot twists are often less prone to writer’s block.
8. Take a break, clear your mind, slow down your brain activity
Getting out of the house, doing something different, seeing people, exercising, clearing your head, and thus seeing your work with a bit of perspective could help you get through this difficult period. Robert Greene, an American author, explains this very well in his book *The Laws of Human Nature *: “The brain is constantly searching for similarities, differences, and relationships between its thoughts and experiences. Your task is to nurture this natural tendency… And one of the best ways to do this is to let go of your current problem. When we are absorbed in a particular project (writing an article, a book, a guide), our attention tends to become narrower and narrower as we concentrate… When we are more relaxed, our attention naturally widens, and we receive more stimuli. Most scientific discoveries… occur when the thinker is not directly focused on the problem. ” Surfing the web and simply relaxing will also offer you these moments of disconnection and relaxation.
9. Refocus on the “why”
Remembering why you’re writing, using the principle of visualization, can help you avoid writer’s block. Recalling why you want to achieve a particular goal helps you reach it.
10. Share your first draft, your first pages.
Finding beta readers while you’re still writing is something I did, albeit in a rather disorganized way, for my first novel. But if you want to take it a step further, you could consider conducting a survey among your readers (using a Google Forms tool , for example), asking them what they think of your work: what attracts them, what moves them, what interests them; you could ask them to describe the characters, what they’ve understood of the story so far… Anything you like, as long as your request is specific and focused, to gather reasoned and constructive responses. Because, of course, if you ask your mother to reread your first chapters by texting her, “So, what do you think?”, she’ll tell you you’re fantastic, much better than any other published author, and add that she means it completely objectively. With that, I’m not sure your blinking cursor on the blank page will advance much faster.