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Cyn, that's exactly the same issue I had (thinking I have nothing to write about). And the not starting thing apparently is an issue with many participants. Several have been known to not really start until the second half, after which they write like demons to make the deadline.
The deadline is the thing. Publicly announcing your intentions helps too.
In my own experience, I've found that writing begets writing. The thing is to write. I've read about this before and it's difficult to conceive, but once you've experienced it, you have that "a-ha" moment. At least I did.
The thing is to just write.
What I've found that works is to have a double espresso; plug my headphones into my laptop; play either soundtrack music, jazz, or classical; turn off the Internet; and just write. At first it seems to come out like crap, but then sometimes you get surges of interesting bits. The more you try, the more you get the interesting bits.
You're going to write crap. We all do. But if you write enough, you just might like some of the things that come out.
The more I've written, the more I want to do it. The more I've written the better time I seem to have of it.
I say just go ahead and do it. Worry about what comes out later.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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