Writing About Nothing (and Why It’s Not Really Nothing)

Every writer from someone new to experienced faces the strange feeling of writing about “nothing.” It might be a day where no plot twist arrives, or maybe a day where the character just sits with their thoughts, it might also be a scene where nothing big happens. And yet these quiet moments are where some of the most meaningful writing lives. Readers often love these quiet moments the most.

Life isn’t all battles, heartbreaks, or dramatic confessions. It’s also long walks, half-finished cups of coffee, a pause before answering, or a glance across the room. Writing “nothing” often becomes the space where characters breathe and readers connect.

When I’ve leaned into writing about nothing, I’ve discovered a few things:

• Nothing gives weight to something. Without stillness action loses its punch. Use the moments to progress your story.

• Nothing is where characters reveal themselves. In silence small gestures and thoughts take center stage.

• Nothing creates rhythm. Like rests in music pauses shape the flow of a story.

For writers the idea of “nothing” can also feel freeing. Sometimes we pressure ourselves to always be moving the plot forward with some important events. But allowing yourself to write “nothing” keeps the story alive. It’s not wasted space. It’s texture.

So if you find yourself writing a scene that feels like nothing is happening don’t be too quick to delete it. You may have just captured something important like a glimpse of humanity that makes your story actually feel real.

After all nothing in writing is ever truly nothing.