Tackling the blank page

[tarnished]

You just bought the cutest journal - it even has a picture of a bunny snuggling a kitten snuggling a puppy on the front. It's the perfect size, shape, binding, and soft or hardness of cover. You open it up, and ... BAM, you're overwhelmed with The Blank Page. You don't want to mess up your journal - you want the first page to set the precedent for all the upcoming pages! You have no idea what pen to use, no idea what pictures to paste in, no idea what color paint to splash on the page. WHAT DO YOU DO?

Here are some ideas!

- Do a title page - write out some fancy letters, outline them, put some subtle shadowing on the letters (shadows make everything look better). Write "This is the best journal EVER" then sign your name in your most fanciest way and write the date.

- Draw a flower in the middle of the page. Put a border on it. Write the name of the flower and jot your thoughts about how it makes you feel.

- Write in big colorful letters TODAY I... and then finish the sentence in as many bullet points as you can think of!

- Tape in a newspaper article from today!

- Draw the first thing you see in front of you, and then ink it with your favorite pen.

How do you conquer the blank page (or even worse, the first blank page of a blank journal!)?

Comments

[clare_dragonfly]

I would totally not write in a cute notebook like that, my writing is not for cute things :-P

I've never really had a problem with the blank page myself. Sometimes when starting a new journal I've thought about putting something special on the first page, but I usually give up and write the next thing (whatever the next thing might be) as though there hasn't been a break.

[shewhostaples]

It doesn't usually worry me, but if I am having problems I think about what's going on in the world outside - holidays, festivals, current affairs, etc. I am particularly fond of the first page of my last journal, which I began on Advent Sunday, and which features a purple and gold card I'd been hanging onto for years because it was so gorgeous.

I don't make myself write every day, though; I only write when I want to write, so I seek my journal out specifically, rather than having it sitting there staring at me.

[omnipotent]

I usually begin my journals with a few paragraphs about myself and my personality. I "introduce" myself to the book, if you will.

[arliss]

I usually pick two from the stack of blank journals I "just happen to have on hand", and keep both with the journal I'm close to filling. If this works the way it's supposed to, I finish one in the middle of a thought or a story or an anecdote, and continue it on the blank page of the new book. I have two because the trick doesn't work when I only have one and go, "I don't want to use this one, I want to use some other one I don't have with me." This way, I decide, open up, and go. I leave a page or two blank at the front, and when I finish that first entry I go back and put my name, the day's date, and any title I've chosen. And then I go back to the filled journal and either on the spine or inside on the title page where I wrote the beginning date, I write the ending date.

This method works for me--it prevents procrastination "because I don't have a/the right journal at hand. It prevents blank page syndrome, since theoretically I'm in the "middle" of a journal entry. And I get to chose my "next" journal under absolutely no pressure long before I'm close to filling the present one.

[syntaxofthings]

Ooh, I might start using this. I definitely have the problem of procrastinating because I am not sure which journal I want to use next. (Though at the moment I think I finally only have a couple of blank journals as possibilities, whew.) That also gets rid of the problem of not writing because I only have a few pages left and I don't know if I'll get everything I want out of a few pages. Thanks!

[quabazaa]

The dreaded blank page! I try to not care if it's ugly - I usually just date it and start writing, caring more about content than form. Once I have a few pages in a journal filled it stops being so anxiety inducing :P

The first page of a blank journal I don't mind so much - usually I will leave it blank so I can come back once the journal is filled and give it a retrospective title.

What I do have trouble with is when I am running out of pages. I am always reluctant to finish a journal (especially because I don't always have another lined up - it has taken me 6 months to find a journal I like before! eep!) so I write and draw less and less frequently, putting off the moment of truth for ages!