All writers start with a blank page, yet even the most seasoned writers sometimes feel desperation in facing that blankness.

Where do we begin when we don’t know where to begin? How do we break through our initial hesitation to start the flow of ideas and words?

Perhaps the best way is to cut right through our reluctance to write, and start with any point at all—with our fears, our dreams, or even our sense of the blankness before us. When we allow ourselves to begin writing from any starting point at all, we work from the passion of our hearts, rather than the complex plans of our heads. We can then write freely, without hesitation or resistance, accepting what comes.

Read the quote of week from E. L. Doctorow, in which he says that he began to write the novel Ragtime by writing about the wall in front of him. Then give it a try! Write about the wall in front of you.