Fear of the Blank Page and Writing Anxiety

Hello, all! I was hoping to get some advice from the community. Basically, I have written a number of stories in the past (3+ years ago), but since that time, particularly since the end of my junior year of high school, I have been mentally incapable of writing much else. I am not sure what experiences have agitated this, but I will sit down and be paralyzed by the blank page and suffer from anxiety over the words I would potentially produce whenever I make the attempt to write. I do end up producing some sentences, but not without deep deliberation and scrutiny over every last detail, which I realize I should reserve for editing. Maybe I was not exactly looking for advice, per se, but I am merely curious if anyone else has experienced anything like this, and how they set out to contend with this hurdle. I feel it is imperative for my emotional well-being to break through this threshold.

Hello fellow writer! I do experience the same thing at times, and I have found to work for me is whenever I find myself unable to put down any words I'll do a different activity that initially inspired me to write in the first place. As soon as I find myself confident enough to try again, I'll put down as many words as possible before I have to change activities again. I'm not sure if it'll work for you, but it's something you could try.

That makes sense. I'll certainly try to incorporate that tactic more deliberately next time. To be sure, the activity that often inspires me to write is reading or listening to music, which I can do at almost any time. Thanks :)

I'm not a writer, but this reminds me this video. It also applies to me in a different activity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Ue08j1PG8

I agree. You need inspiration before writting. If you don't know what to write, you should start by thinking about it. You don't need to be in front of a white page with your pencils to think about it. I usually write a paragraph "in my head" while I drive to work, so when I get home, I can start writting right away.

I'll certainly heed you all's advice. And I hope that once I finish the story that's currently in my head, I'll share it with you all. :)

You certainly need inspiration. I find that what helps me most is looking for new music. It may not seem like it, but the different ways each person can interpret the same song can lead to a lot of different ideas and inspirations. It all depends on the sort of story you're trying to write, and what takes place in the next chapter. For example, in a fanfiction I'm working on, there was a section with a character afraid to follow her dreams, and I even made reference to, and credited a line from Flying Without Wings by Westlife, which goes "Impossible as they may seem, you've got to fight for every dream. 'Cause who's to know which one you let go would make you complete?" Music has power, there is no question in that. It's all about finding what works for the situation and what works for you.

From the sound of it, it could seem that you are thinking subconsciously that you are inept to write something on par with your previous creations perhaps? A mental block of sorts. You probably already know the following, but perhaps you've forgotten, as we all do. Starting is the toughest part. Sitting around, being anxious is easy. Waiting for inspiration to pop into existence is easy. You have to sit down, and write... even if it's garbage. Make a habit. Commit. You'll always find something in there and you can reedit, scrap or delete the bad, but you have to put in the grind. Nothing will appear if oyu don't. Mind you, not saying that looking at other things to inspire yourself is a bad thing. Far from it. also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR7XMkjDGw0 :p

Yea, I've run into this issue as well. I think it helps to not be constrained by any ideas or worry about doing your best. Just type w/e you feel like and keep it going non-stop for like an hour or another time locked time. This reminds me of the time in Barakamon, when the MC was paralyzed when he was commissioned to write the name of a boat. He was frozen for a while until some little kids started finger painting where the name was suppose to be and it broke his paralysis. just put something down and let your mind work. Eventually your mind will just flow. This just came off the top of my head, so I'm not sure how effective it would be.