[kawzeg]

What helped me overcome the dreadful empty mail window was using a brainstorming / editing approach:

1. Using a different editor to write the draft, to prevent the immediate negative reaction to the mail client.

2. Brainstorming my draft. That is, I wrote down the first thing that came to mind, no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical. It doesn't even have to be related to the message at hand. It only needs to remove the daunting empty page and get my brain into "write something" mode.

3. Edit and repeat. Read what you've written and select anything that actually makes sense. Use that as a starting point and start again.

I think an important aspect of this is to freely allow my brain to write silly things. It's not a fun task to write serious emails, but writing a silly outline and filling it in with more serious wording makes it possible, for me at least.