There's something thrilling about starting a first draft, isn't there?
You've got a shiny new plot filled with shiny new characters. You start your computer, open a new document and...
Wow.
That is one
empty page.
Many writers will have just finished editing their last project and so the sight of that blank page can be rather unsettling. After all, you're used to seeing pages filled with words - yes, words that you're changing, rearranging or deleting - but dammit, there were
words there!
Yep, that is one
empty page.
Here's an image that was given to me by a writer far more gifted than myself: think of your first draft as an ice-covered pond. Your beginning is on this side and your ending is
way over there. The pond is safe to skate on - just. The faster you get to the other side, the better. Stay in one place for too long and you'll start to hear the ice crack.
And look - that empty page looks just like it's covered with ice.
What do you do to get through that first draft?