WEBVTT - You can't edit a blank page

0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:09.800
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:17.240
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.799
<v Speaker 1>tip is that you can't edit a blank page. So

0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.880
<v Speaker 1>if you are writing something, just go ahead and get

0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:29.560
<v Speaker 1>something down, because you can always make it better if

0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:34.199
<v Speaker 1>you have something to work with. Today's tip is a

0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.120
<v Speaker 1>version of a quote from Cass Sunstein, a professor at

0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Harvard Law School and a prolific author. He was interviewed

0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:47.040
<v Speaker 1>by Penn professors Angela Duckworth and Katie Miltman. The topic

0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:51.199
<v Speaker 1>of their interview is behavioral science and public policy, but

0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.520
<v Speaker 1>Duckworth and Moltman couldn't resist the opportunity to ask his

0:00:54.640 --> 0:01:00.319
<v Speaker 1>secret to writing so much. His response, you can't edit

0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:05.479
<v Speaker 1>a blank page, he continued, Sometimes I think to myself,

0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.720
<v Speaker 1>I have a project and I don't have any words,

0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:12.480
<v Speaker 1>and there's nothing for me to edit. So why don't

0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.160
<v Speaker 1>I put words and then I'll have something I can edit.

0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:22.440
<v Speaker 1>It sounds simple and logical, and as a writer myself,

0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.360
<v Speaker 1>I can tell you it is wise. You can turn

0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:30.240
<v Speaker 1>something into something better, but turning nothing into something is

0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:35.160
<v Speaker 1>a different matter. Best to get past the nothing stage,

0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.160
<v Speaker 1>So why not adopt these words which I have heard

0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.959
<v Speaker 1>attributed to other writers, as well as a motivational phrase

0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:48.520
<v Speaker 1>for yourself. You can't edit a blank page. The next

0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.120
<v Speaker 1>time you are having trouble beginning a difficult project, just

0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:55.560
<v Speaker 1>say these words to yourself. You can't edit a blank page.

0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.120
<v Speaker 1>So the sooner you get some words down, the sooner

0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.560
<v Speaker 1>you can get to what you will probably constitute the

0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:05.280
<v Speaker 1>book of your work. Now, there are a few tricks

0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:09.080
<v Speaker 1>to help you get past the blank page stage. The

0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.760
<v Speaker 1>first is to lower your standards. First drafts are almost

0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:19.320
<v Speaker 1>always terrible, so what carry on? Go ahead and write

0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:24.280
<v Speaker 1>something bad. Another option for getting past the blank page

0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:25.960
<v Speaker 1>is to realize that you don't have to start at

0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:30.600
<v Speaker 1>the beginning. Start anywhere you have something to say, and

0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:35.359
<v Speaker 1>then build around there. A third option is to plan

0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.040
<v Speaker 1>to visit the piece multiple times. Let's hope you don't

0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.160
<v Speaker 1>need to immediately publish whatever you crank out in the

0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:46.320
<v Speaker 1>next ten minutes. If you plan for multiple sessions, that

0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.440
<v Speaker 1>will lower the pressure for each time you touch the work.

0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:54.120
<v Speaker 1>This might mean jotting down notes in one setting, writing

0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:58.359
<v Speaker 1>in another, sitting and editing in a third. It might

0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.359
<v Speaker 1>mean getting down ideas for a presentation in one sitting

0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.960
<v Speaker 1>creating the titles for slides in the next completing the

0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.639
<v Speaker 1>slides in the next setting, and planning your talking points

0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:14.080
<v Speaker 1>in the final one. Once you get past the blank

0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.760
<v Speaker 1>page stage, you have something to edit. Now you can

0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.120
<v Speaker 1>make progress turning what you've got into what you would

0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:25.000
<v Speaker 1>like it to be. But until you get to that stage,

0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:30.399
<v Speaker 1>no real progress can happen, so best not to sit

0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:37.240
<v Speaker 1>on nothing for too long. In the meantime, this is Laura.

0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:43.120
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:52.760
<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.960
<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:06.080
<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.840
<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:14.720
<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:15.600
<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows.