The Blank Page

Just updating with a link to a writing tips YouTube channel – Writing with Jenna Moreci. I was told about this by a teen in my writing group who’s found it really helpful.

Jenna Moreci is an American YA dark fantasy and sci-fi writer and she makes short (and hilarious) videos about loads of different aspects of writing. They’re really very funny and entertaining as well as informative. (Some adult language and content so this is maybe for older teens, or if in doubt check them out yourself first).

Eg:

These are great tea-break fodder and might be good for your writing group to use over the summer to keep them inspired! Check them out!

Just to let you know there are more Tiny Masterclasses up on the Seamus Heaney Centre site (including one by me!)

Thanks to some wonderful Creative Writing students at QUB, we’ve got 5 minute videos on Point of View, Food Writing, using Memory to start a story, using Sound Maps for inspiration, and Writing Flash Fiction. I’d never even heard of a Sound Map but it’s a fascinating way to look at the world (or listen to the world)!

So if you’d like some bite-sized writing prompts for your young writers, look no further, check them out here!

This is an exercise for writers who feel completely paralysed by the prospect of a blank page. Blank pages can be scary for any writer. They’re so pristine, so empty! And you’re thinking What if I spoil this lovely clean page with my silly rubbish? What if I can’t think of anything to write at all?

You might also have lots of great ideas but the idea of putting them into words is scary. What if I spell everything wrong? What if I can’t think of the right words?

But you can make your brain feel safer by breaking the task down into very small chunks and this is one way to do that. It’s a bit like the Snowflake Method but it has emojis and is therefore way more fun: