If you're starting with a blank page, you're already doing it wrong

I’ve seen plenty of advice on “how to overcome the fear of the blank page” (and many of those tips are genuinely helpful).

But I think there’s a more radical approach.

If you’re starting with a blank page — you’re already doing it wrong. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a short story, a research paper, or a LinkedIn post.

Starting with a blank page means you haven’t done the prep work. You haven’t spent time researching, gathering materials, outlining, or making notes.

Because starting to write — isn’t the beginning of the process. It’s the middle.

Trying to create words and sentences out of thin air, staring at an empty page, is hard and scary. But structuring thoughts, facts, quotes, and ideas you’ve been collecting and mulling over for weeks? That’s much easier.

That’s how the “blank page” problem gets solved — before it even shows up.