Keywords: Creative block, Blank page syndrome, Writer's block


The Urban Dictionary defines the "Empty Page Syndrome", or "Blank Page Syndrome" as the moment...

"when you open up a blank document and either forget what you were going to write or cannot start writing because there are no words on the page."


Is it fair to say we’ve all been there? Excited to dive into a project, we’ve been thinking and planning in our minds for weeks, or quite possibly, it’s something that’s just been dropped into our laps at the last minute. Either way, here we sit. The cursor, blinking away on a blank page just waiting for us to begin. Our initial excitement turns to panic as we realize not only do we have to find the right words and format to keep our team on task, we need good and consistent data collection. Complexity can be one of the quickest ways to stifle a project and keep you and your team from really digging in and getting the work started.

Authors of the caliber of David Mamet, Malcolm Gladwell, and James Patterson, were tapped by the powerhouses at MasterClass to contribute to the article, 9 Writing Tips for Overcoming the Blank Page. Some of the popular methods offered;

  1. Commit to a routine
  2. Work with writing prompts
  3. Embrace freewriting
  4. Start in the middle
  5. Focus on another aspect of your work
  6. Work on something else entirely
  7. Accept imperfection
  8. Limit distractions
  9. Take a break

Sometimes we need help, and this is where templates can come in.

Getting Things Rolling

There are many advantages to making use of templates, among them consistency. "Well", you say, "this is all well and good, but how does this help me overcome Empty Page Syndrome on my next Confluence project...and the one after that...and AFTER THAT?!"  A wonderful article penned by Tom Lipscomb, Executive VP at Scion Analytics, entitled "The Benefits of Using Templates", appeared as a February 12, 2018, LinkedIn article. He identified 5 key benefits to making use of templates in the creation of proposals, among development teams, and in the collection of information in general;

  1. Ease of Use
  2. Templates Save Money and Time
  3. Increase Flexibility
  4. Provides Consistency and Uniformity
  5. Reduction in Errors

To be certain, there are a variety of template tools available to us within the Confluence Marketplace, from Business Strategy, Design, to Human Resources and Software Development. 

Blueprint Creator is one such example. Allowing for the creation of Confluence blueprints without needing a background in coding, it's possible to create highly customizable templates for your specific needs. Now, am I certain the creators of the following demonstration experience Empty Page Syndrome in the development of this video? I honestly do not know. But I do know, if you are interested in learning more and seeing it in action, all you need to do is watch.

youtu.be


Resourceful Links


See Also

Team Collaboration, Powered by Confluence Templates | Atlassian Summit 2018 | Kesha Thill

Is your team spending too much time formatting Confluence pages? For any team, Confluence templates serve a number of benefits aside from just saving time with content creation. Templates help maintain consistency across teams by organizing work in a uniform and streamlined way, ensuring that the information you need is easy to find.


Short link to this page: https://seibert.biz/emptypagesyndrome 

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This content was last updated on 04/01/2021.

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