The End. It’s the single greatest phrase to type when finishing a book. The elation that courses through your veins having just completed this massive tome of literature is like a drug. The hours, weeks, months of sleepless nights as you toiled away in your basement have all paid off and now you have this cohesive behemoth of a project finished. Completed. Done. Okay, now…start a new project.

Wait, what?

Are you insane? I have to do it AGAIN?

Starting a new project

I had this absolute blinding moment of terror a few weeks back. I was finishing the edits on DSA Season Two, something I had been toiling with for months. Saving the last document, formatting the final draft, put an end to my time on the project. I was riding a high like no other after months of self-abuse at the hands of the editing machine. Thinking I could do no wrong I decided to take that momentum of living in this world exclusively for so long to map out the next six chapters of the story.

And I couldn’t remember how to start.

I was brain-locked. For the life of me, there was not a single idea I could write down that meant anything to me. I had no idea how to carry a narrative let alone start one. It was terrifying. I’ve never had a problem outlining. It just seemed to be one of those things that came naturally for me, but here I was stymied by own inability to figure out where to start. Or how to start. Or anything involving the world and characters I had come to know so well over the last few years.

Identifying the problem

Sometimes it can be a simple thing. With DSA, the issue became scope. The world exceeded my grasp and until I found a way to lock down the situation I had no control over my thoughts and could not make any headway into solving my issues.

I’ve run into this blockage in a different way before. At times we tend to know our story too well. From main plot to sub plot, everything is so firmly established in our brain that when it comes time to write them out there is too much input. Everything becomes muddled and nothing connects seamlessly.

Finding solutions

DSA was a tricky beast. It usually is. When it came time to get thoughts on the page, I found myself starting with the simple premise. What is this book about?

Not what is this series about or who are these characters, but what was I thinking about first when it came to this installment, this book itself on its own. No connections with other plots or long-running themes.

Bare bones. Simple.

Starting from that fresh perspective gave me time to realize where I was in the narrative.

Here are some other tips to start a new project:

Write what you know.

Silly, but it works. If you have a single scene locked in your brain start there and build out from that moment.

Work on a subplot first.

It might be counterintuitive depending on the series you’re building, but if there is a clear piece of the puzzle already set in your mind, start there and let your brain continue to work through the issues you’re having on the main plot.

Build what you can, while you can.

Determine the act breaks.

I find this works best in a lot of ways. Figure out the turns of the story, where the action beats are and the big reveals are positioned, and suddenly the connections start to come into focus. Having these key events at fixed points in the narrative also makes for a stronger book, in my opinion.

Take a damn break.

The obvious one, right? I probably should have done this for DSA to let my mind wander on the problems I was having. Give your brain a chance to figure things out in its own time. You’ll be surprised how quick you’ll be back at the keyboard.

Reaching the end is the dream, but to start a new project can be just as exciting. Don’t let a few false starts keep you from finding your way into your next outline.