The Blank Page

It's true that the scariest thing for a writer is a blank page.  I'm working on a new novel that's a reimagining of The Little Mermaid story in reverse: instead of a mermaid becoming human, a teenage girl becomes a mermaid.  I needed to begin with Ally (the protagonist) as a human and show why she would decide to become a mermaid.  Everything from her meeting a merman on was clear to me, but that first chapter completely stumped me.  I tried various beginnings and none of them felt right.  Then, just a couple of days ago inspiration struck.

My writing output has increased a lot since then.  I usually begin writing by rereading a page or two.  This gets me back into the groove of the novel.  I think that's probably why the first page is the hardest page to write.  There's nothing before it to latch on to.

New writing is harder than revision, but it's more fulfilling too.  There's something a bit magical about a story unfolding page-by-page.