{"id":993223,"date":"2026-07-28T12:08:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?p=993223"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:08:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:08:49","slug":"how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\/","title":{"rendered":"How to start your story strong (and stop fearing the blank page&#8230;)\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most important sentence you will&nbsp;write is the first one.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;the one from which everything&nbsp;else&nbsp;flows. The one that sets the story running. The one&nbsp;that helps everything else take shape.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also the\u00a0first\u00a0sentence\u00a0that your readers are going to judge.\u00a0That includes\u00a0agents, publishers,\u00a0critics\u00a0and anyone else who can damn your book to oblivion or raise it to the stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No pressure there,&nbsp;then&#8230;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even so, I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;want you to panic. I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;even want you to worry too much about getting those&nbsp;initial&nbsp;words down. Because the important thing to remember is that the first thing you write&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;necessarily the first thing that everyone else will see. Nothing is set in stone \u2013 or&nbsp;fixed&nbsp;to&nbsp;&nbsp;the&nbsp;page \u2013 until the book goes off to the printers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m&nbsp;not going to pretend that you&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;need to worry about those first impressions. In fact,&nbsp;since&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;already made&nbsp;you feel nervous, let me also add that&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;not just&nbsp;about&nbsp;that&nbsp;first&nbsp;sentence. The&nbsp;subsequent&nbsp;few sentences, paragraphs and pages are also vital to your success.&nbsp;There\u2019s&nbsp;no getting around it.&nbsp;Your opening&nbsp;<em>does&nbsp;<\/em>really&nbsp;matter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;also going to insist that&nbsp;you&nbsp;shouldn\u2019t&nbsp;allow intrusive thoughts about the importance of first impressions to hold up the rest of your writing.&nbsp;Over-thinking&nbsp;that&nbsp;opening and worrying about its consequences can be paralysing. It can stop you getting to the rest of your book&nbsp;\u2013 and&nbsp;stop you being the writer you want to be.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So let me remind you&nbsp;again&nbsp;of&nbsp;the useful&nbsp;fact&nbsp;that&nbsp;the first sentence of your book&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;have to be the first one you write. In fact,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;often&nbsp;pretty sensible&nbsp;to make it one of the last.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And before you get to the stage where\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0finishing off your manuscript,\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0counsel you to be\u00a0pretty relaxed\u00a0about how you begin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Of course, you still\u00a0have to\u00a0get\u00a0<em>something\u00a0<\/em>down, and this can still be tricky. I understand the fear\u00a0of the blank page.\u00a0But again,\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0let that stop you. There are practical ways of thinking your way around this problem too \u2013 and plenty of strategies you can employ to overcome it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Conquer the fear of that empty space and blinking cursor by just getting something down. A tried and tested way to get through inhibition is to try automatic writing.\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0think, just write.\u00a0Tell the blank page about your morning, your dreams, what you had for breakfast. Do that for a few minutes every day and see where it takes you. Get used to the idea that you can\u00a0delete\u00a0big chunks of writing. And\u00a0also\u00a0that you can surprise yourself.\u00a0\u00a0Hold your bigger project\u00a0somewhere at the back of your mind \u2013 but see what\u00a0emerges\u00a0if you just start\u00a0putting down words.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Try starting\u00a0with a scene from\u00a0later\u00a0on\u00a0in\u00a0your\u00a0book. If\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0got a scene that\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0confident will work from later in the\u00a0plot, have a go at that. Learn from that about the tone and voice\u00a0\u2013 and keep going from there.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Write yourself notes about what you want the opening to be and use those as placeholders.\u00a0If sentences start forming as\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0getting those notes down, so much the better.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Write\u00a0what you\u00a0<em>think\u00a0<\/em>might be the beginning \u2013 but\u00a0keep remembering that it might\u00a0be\u00a0temporary.\u00a0Be aware that you can always revise, revisit, and even\u00a0delete\u00a0those initial attempts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This last technique is the one that works best for me. For many years I wrote a weekly&nbsp;1,000-word&nbsp;column for The Guardian.&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;do most of my research during the week and&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;sit down on a Friday morning to produce the article. Which is when the agony also began&#8230;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019d&nbsp;write and rewrite and&nbsp;delete&nbsp;and rewrite and chisel out, eventually, my first few thoughts. Hours would pass. But once&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;got that opening down, the rest would flow much more quickly.&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;write 50 words in about five hours&nbsp;and 950&nbsp;words in less than two.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then,&nbsp;something else would&nbsp;generally happen.&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;go back and&nbsp;delete&nbsp;the first paragraph&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;written because&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;realise I&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;need it after all. Or&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;go back and change it&nbsp;\u2013 because&nbsp;writing the rest of the article had revealed to me a much better way of putting things.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<br>Those&nbsp;initial&nbsp;agonies&nbsp;were never&nbsp;wasted.&nbsp;They&nbsp;would help&nbsp;me line things up,&nbsp;think about what followed, jump off into the meat of the article and&nbsp;say the things I really wanted to say.&nbsp;And&nbsp;so&nbsp;they&nbsp;also allowed me to come back and write an opening that&nbsp;actually worked.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of&nbsp;thisis&nbsp;a long way of saying that your opening is something you can safely worry about later. The&nbsp;really important&nbsp;first thing to do is to just&nbsp;<strong>start getting words down<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If all that&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;settle your nervousness about beginning, let me also add something from my experience on the other side of the page.&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;an editor at a publisher.&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;the person reading those submissions.&nbsp;I do my best to be sympathetic. I&nbsp;do notice the first sentence \u2013 and I do also care about the first pages of a book.&nbsp;But they&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;everything. I know the difficulties that writers have in producing them \u2013 and I know that,&nbsp;as a result,&nbsp;they rarely&nbsp;represent&nbsp;their best work. I also know that one of the most frequent editing suggestions I make is to change or cut the opening. These words&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;set in stone. There is always another chance. You can always go back to them later. Or at least, you can so long as you get them down in the first place.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One last thing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you think that the sentence that started this article is the first I wrote? Is there any way of knowing? Do you even care that much?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If&nbsp;your&nbsp;answer to any of those questions is \u2018no\u2019&nbsp;\u2013 and&nbsp;it should be&nbsp;\u2013 then&nbsp;there\u2019s&nbsp;no reason for you to worry about the first thing that you write either.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sam Jordison is a tutor on the Ultimate Novel Writing Programme. To find out more about working with Sam on your own novel over 8 or 12 months, fill in\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.zohopublic.eu\/JerichoWriters\/form\/UNWPLandingPageBrochureRequest\/formperma\/VYOiLp1qEKZi4iydmkIOT1EHb5Ir_S6x9xnfsAX0u6g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>this form<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/creative-writing-courses\/meet-your-course-tutor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>visit the web page<\/strong><\/a><strong>. You can also\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/creative-writing-courses\/meet-your-course-tutor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>book an exploratory one-to-one<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0with Sam to sense check\u00a0your story idea before committing to the course. These helpful sessions cost just \u00a320 and are fully refundable if you go on to study or book mentoring with us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most important sentence you will&nbsp;write is the first one.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;the one from which everything&nbsp;else&nbsp;flows. The one that sets the story running. The one&nbsp;that helps everything else take shape.&nbsp; It\u2019s also the\u00a0first\u00a0sentence\u00a0that your readers are going to judge.\u00a0That includes\u00a0agents, publishers,\u00a0critics\u00a0and anyone else who can damn your book to oblivion or raise it to the stars.\u00a0 No<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43630,"featured_media":993229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[248],"tags":[29302,29211,347,337,29371],"class_list":["post-993223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-topic-motivation","tag-motivation","tag-novel-writing","tag-opening-chapters","tag-writers-block","tag-writing-inspiration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jericho Writers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to start your story strong (and stop fearing the blank page...)\u00a0 &#8211; Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most important sentence you will&nbsp;write is the first one.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;the one from which everything&nbsp;else&nbsp;flows. 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The one&nbsp;that helps everything else take shape.&nbsp; It\u2019s also the\u00a0first\u00a0sentence\u00a0that your readers are going to judge.\u00a0That includes\u00a0agents, publishers,\u00a0critics\u00a0and anyone else who can damn your book to oblivion or raise it to the stars.\u00a0 No\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T11:08:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T11:08:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Sam-Jordison-Blog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sam Jordison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sam Jordison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sam Jordison\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1f81202bc3766fa72235e99d988e75db\"},\"headline\":\"How to start your story strong (and stop fearing the blank page&#8230;)\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T11:08:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-28T11:08:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1299,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Sam-Jordison-Blog.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Motivation\",\"Novel writing\",\"Opening Chapters\",\"Writer's Block\",\"Writing Inspiration\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Motivation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/how-to-start-your-story-strong-and-stop-fearing-the-blank-page\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to start your story strong (and stop fearing the blank page...)\u00a0 &#8211; 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The current operating company is Jericho Writers Ltd, incorporated in 2023 under company number 14920889.\",\"slogan\":\"With you for every word.\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004\",\"hasMemberProgram\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/join-us\\\/#member-program\"},\"identifier\":[{\"@type\":\"PropertyValue\",\"propertyID\":\"UK Companies House company number\",\"value\":\"14920889\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk\\\/company\\\/14920889\"}],\"vatID\":\"GB460394785\",\"address\":{\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"name\":\"Jericho Writers office\",\"streetAddress\":\"167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor\",\"addressLocality\":\"London\",\"postalCode\":\"W1W 5PF\",\"addressCountry\":\"GB\"},\"legalAddress\":{\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"streetAddress\":\"Rectory Cottage, Church End, Swerford\",\"addressLocality\":\"Chipping Norton\",\"addressRegion\":\"Oxfordshire\",\"postalCode\":\"OX7 4AX\",\"addressCountry\":\"GB\"},\"areaServed\":\"Worldwide\",\"email\":\"info@jerichowriters.com\",\"contactPoint\":[{\"@type\":\"ContactPoint\",\"telephone\":\"+44-330-043-0150\",\"email\":\"info@jerichowriters.com\",\"contactType\":\"customer service\",\"areaServed\":\"GB\",\"availableLanguage\":\"English\"},{\"@type\":\"ContactPoint\",\"telephone\":\"+1-646-974-9060\",\"email\":\"info@jerichowriters.com\",\"contactType\":\"customer service\",\"areaServed\":\"US\",\"availableLanguage\":\"English\"}],\"knowsAbout\":[\"Creative writing\",\"Novel writing\",\"Creative writing courses\",\"Writing courses\",\"Writing membership programmes\",\"Writing workshops and masterclasses\",\"Writing communities\",\"Manuscript assessment\",\"Developmental editing\",\"Line editing\",\"Copy editing\",\"Writing mentoring and coaching\",\"Literary agents\",\"Literary agent research\",\"Literary agent submissions\",\"Query letter feedback\",\"AgentMatch\",\"Publishing\",\"Traditional publishing\",\"Self-publishing\",\"Writing events and festivals\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1f81202bc3766fa72235e99d988e75db\",\"name\":\"Sam Jordison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/3866d9538aac0f0be899ccf731807a5c.jpg?ver=1785847904\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/3866d9538aac0f0be899ccf731807a5c.jpg?ver=1785847904\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/3866d9538aac0f0be899ccf731807a5c.jpg?ver=1785847904\",\"caption\":\"Sam Jordison\"},\"description\":\"Sam Jordison is a publisher, author, and journalist. 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