I am working on writing my next micro audio drama this week. Last night, I spent over two hours developing the framework of the story, the outline for the script. And during that time, I didn't once open up my scriptwriting software. In fact, I wasn't even at my computer. I was sitting on my couch, and to any observer, it might seem that I was staring off into space and only occasionally jotting down an idea. But I was, in fact, writing.
You know, sometimes the ideas are slow to form. Sometimes it takes time. Time to really think through ideas, story fragments, bits of dialogue, and snippets of scenes as they play out in your mind. And sometimes you need to do a bit of research to make sure that the ideas you have come up with are going to actually work.
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| Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash |
But just because you're looking at a blank page, it doesn't mean that you haven't been writing. All of the research, idea generation, and time spent ruminating on things is a part of the process; it's still writing. You're closer to the end than that empty, white space would lead you to believe.
Even if all you have done is eliminate some elements or ideas that just don't fit in the story you're currently working on, you have still made progress. Sometimes it's about whittling things down and scrapping the "bad" ideas so you can get to the really good stuff. And by "scrapping" them, I mean writing them down and saving them for later. There really are very few truly bad story ideas, only ones that are bad for the current project. As I've mentioned before, you never know when an idea might work out perfectly for a future project.
So, I guess the bottom line here is, don't be daunted by the blank page. And don't be anxious about that mental progress bar that doesn't seem to be moving yet. If you're thinking through ideas, you're writing. If you're researching, you're writing. And sometimes, staring at the wall is more than it seems. Sometimes that is writing too. It's all part of the process.
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