My First Article Took Three Coffees and Zero Ideas

The cursor was blinking at me like it had somewhere better to be. I had been sat at my kitchen table for forty minutes with a cup of coffee going cold and absolutely nothing on the screen.

Not a word.

I had been thinking about signing up to a writing platform for ages. Finally, I did it. And then sat here staring at a blank screen wondering what I had got myself into.

The coffee was not helping. I made another one.

The Problem with Having Too Many Ideas

The thing is, it was not that I had nothing to say. It was the opposite. I had too much to say and no idea where to start.

I wanted to write about fashion. Then I thought no, that is too crowded. Everyone writes about fashion. Then I thought about food. Then travel. Then something about science because I watched a documentary last night that blew my mind.

And then I thought about gold because my dad was a miner and I grew up surrounded by it and I have opinions. Plenty of opinions actually. About the industry, about how people talk about it, about how much of it runs through everyday life without anyone noticing.

But all of those felt too big for a first article. Like walking into a party and immediately starting a debate with a stranger.

I just wanted to say hello first.

Coffee Number Two

By the second coffee I had typed and deleted the same sentence four times. I tried starting with a quote. Deleted it. Tried starting with a fact. Deleted it. Tried starting with a question. Deleted that too.

Every version felt like I was trying too hard. Like I was putting on a voice that was not mine. I just wanted to sound like myself but apparently that is the hardest thing in the world when you know other people might read it.

I rang my sister. She asked what I was doing. I said I was trying to write an article. She said about what. I said I did not know. She laughed and said write about that then.

I told her that was stupid.

Then I hung up and thought about it for twenty minutes. And the more I thought about it the less stupid it sounded.

The Blank Screen Is Not The Enemy

I think the problem with writing your first anything is that you put too much pressure on it. You think it has to be perfect. You think it has to be clever. You think people are going to read it and judge you.

But nobody is reading your first article. Let us be honest. Your mum might. Your best friend if you send them the link three times. But the rest of the world is not waiting for you.

And that is actually really freeing when you think about it.

Nobody is watching. So, you can just write whatever you want. You can be messy. You can ramble. You can talk about coffee and your sister and the fact that you have been staring at a wall for an hour. None of it matters because the only point of the first one is to prove you can do it.

Coffee Number Three

By the third coffee my hands were shaking slightly and I had accepted that this article was going to be about nothing. And somehow that felt right.

Because every writer I have ever admired started somewhere. They all had a first piece that was probably not very good. They all sat in front of a blank screen at some point and wondered what on earth they were doing.

I am just doing it out loud.

My dad used to say the hardest part of any job is picking up the tool. Once it is in your hand you just get on with it. He was talking about mining but it works for everything. The getting started bit is always the worst.

What I Learned From Doing Nothing For Two Hours

Here is what I figured out while I was busy not writing.

You do not need a big idea to start. You just need to start. The big ideas come later when you have loosened up a bit and stopped trying so hard.

Writing is like cooking. The first pancake is always a mess. You throw it away and the next one is better. But you cannot get to the good one without making the terrible one first.

This is my terrible pancake. And I am weirdly proud of it.

I spent two hours achieving absolutely nothing and somehow came out the other side with an actual article. It is not groundbreaking. It is not going to change anyone's life. But it exists and that is more than I had this morning.

So What Happens Next

I have got a list of things I want to write about. Properly interesting things. Things about the world that fascinate me and stories I have been carrying around for years. Things my dad told me. Things I have noticed. Things that made me stop and think.

But today was not about any of that. Today was about proving to myself that I could sit down, write something, and hit publish without the world ending.

If you are reading this and you have been thinking about writing something, stop thinking and just do it. Make it messy. Make it about nothing. Make it about coffee if you have to.

Just get the first one done. That is genuinely all that matters. Everything after this gets easier. Or so I have been told.

I am going to put the kettle on now. Probably should switch to tea.