Blank page : the location of creativity

Whether one writes in the field of literary studies or that of creative writing, one begins with the \u27blank page\u27. The field of interest I am calling the \u27blank page\u27 has implications for the discipline of creative writing, and can be useful to theorising creativity, writing practice, and pedagogy. One creates out of, or into, the \u27blank page \u27; one\u27s practice is partly determined by how one theorises, however subconsciously, this blank page (how does one start? how blank is the page? how have others figured the blank page); and one teaches students who have to face literal blank pages. ln this paper I will consider how the theorisation of the blank page in literary studies addresses such creative-writing issues. I will then engage D.W. Winnicott\u27s psychoanalytic theory on \u27the location of play\u27 to consider the implications of conceptualising the blank page as \u27the location of writing\u27. A Winnicottian approach to the blank page, as a space akin to the potential space of play, allows various insights into the process of writing, especially as a proccss involving paradox