The first real job I had out of college was as an Instructional Designer for an industrial training software company. I remember sitting in my office (my own office!) facing my tiny Apple McIntosh box-shaped personal computer and the grey-white expanse of a new document, blank. Blank, blank, blank. I was surrounded by notes, stickies, reference manuals, old training manuals, and piles of technical specs and manuals, and I couldn't think of where to start. I'd get up, go to the bathroom, stop by the kitchen, kibbitz with an office mate for five minutes, then return and sit down. The screen was still blank. I stared at it and felt a sucking panic. They're totally going to fire my ass.
Panic, dread, desperation, futility all knocked up against the knowledge that I had all the info I needed to write something. I knew I had the answers; I was just paralyzed in getting it all out of my head and onto the page.
WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL ABOUT ADDING POSTINGS TO THIS BLOG TODAY.
Finally, I typed a word. Then I backspaced over it and typed a different word. Backspace again. Third try. Okay, that'll work. Jesus, Lorie, just keep typing. Anything, nonsense, just type!
And it worked. I eventually created enough momentum to get into a flow and generate real content.
And, they didn't fire me.
This was a good precedent for creative producing - you gotta make stuff up as you go. :)
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