I keep getting “blank page” (those words on the page in big grey letters), even though I put in a manual left or right page break, it pushes the “blank page” down. I don’t know how to get rid of them.
If you really intend to get help, edit your question to provide more factual information. OS name and LO version are basics.
Have you images or frames you anchored To page?
How do you format your document? With styles or manually?
If possible, attach a sample file for further analysis.
Note that in Writer, it’s hardcoded that the first page has an odd number, and odd and even pages are strictly alternating. You can’t have two odd or two even pages in a row. You may only suppress automatically inserted pages printed/exported, but not their addition in the edit process.
You will see this way while on book view (next to the Zoom slider in the status bar) or on book preview modes.
If the page break was manually set, you can put the cursor in the last position of the previous page and Delete or put the cursor in the fisrt position of the following page and Backspace.
If page format was set with styles, check in the status bar which one is set.
Does it make a difference when you turn OFF File>Printer Settings… [Options…] “Print automatically inserted blank pages” ?
There is also a global setting under Tools>Options>Writer>Print