Writers take heart – even John Steinbeck was intimidated by the blank page

“After many years, to start a story still scares me to death.”

—John Steinbeck

If it can happen to John Steinbeck, it can happen to anyone.

Who can believe that the famed American author (1902 – 1968) of such classics as The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and The Pearl was terrified of the blank page?

And yet, according to his own words, the start of a new project could strike fear in the heart of even such a prolific writer.

So if this Nobel laureate for literature whose work has been read by generations of high school students as examples of The Classic Great American Novel was intimidated by the blank page, it’s only fair that sometimes the rest of us are, too.

If that’s not writing inspiration, I don’t know what is.

Here’s to committing words to the page (even when it scares you to death …)