The Blank Page

Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead (Gene Fowler)

    This quote is usually in the back of my mind when I begin a project. I found this quote in my early days of working on calligraphy projects. I'd have all the materials in front of me, including a beautiful sheet of whatever special paper was chosen for the project. I'd load my pen nib with ink, practice some strokes on scrap paper until the ink was gone.

   And then........
I'd stare at that beautiful paper, clean the pen nib a little more, straighten the work area, grab a nail file and work on my nails a bit, get up and straighten a shelf of supplies, discover a book I'd forgotten I had.............and..........

   I waited for the blood to form on my forehead, but the procrastination had to end. Finally!  I made the first stroke of the first letter and once again fell in love with the beauty of the ink blending with the paper and I was on my way to a finished project.

   Somehow that procrastination of mine carries over into many things, making cards, putting a scrapbook layout together, cleaning a closet or a drawer.....

   Thank goodness, no blood ever formed on my forehead or I would have required several transfusions by now!! whew!!
                                Do you procrastinate in your creative process too?