The fear of making the first mark on a blank page can keep us from making any marks at all.

If you watch an artist begin a drawing, you’ll often see the tip of her pencil hovering over the surface of the paper. Perhaps tracing a line in the air. Or moving in sweeping circles.

There’s a fluid precision about these preliminary motions.

And then it happens: the first mark is made. After that, the work continues.

The artist doesn’t hover and then walk away from the easel. And she doesn’t hover indefinitely. She hovers momentarily and then makes her first mark.

If you’ve been hovering long enough in your own pursuits, perhaps it’s time for you to make your own first mark — whatever that might be.

After that, the work can continue.