February 2020
Hello from Orlando!
Every time I start working on a new story, the same thing happens. I plan. I daydream. I think about where my characters left off in the last book. I wonder where they could go in the next book. What unfinished business do they have? What open loops from stories earlier in the series haven’t been addressed yet? Where do we go from here?
So I plan. I brainstorm. I go for walks. I pace. I use my whiteboard. I map it all out. Then I erase the whole thing and I start over. I repeat this process a hundred times.
Then I throw it all away and I sit down at my MacBook and stare at the screen.
Starting a new project is the hardest part. When it comes to writing, authors try to find the next logical step in their hero’s journey. We look for the perfect idea to write about.
There are a million directions the next story could go in. And any of them would probably work, because there is no perfect idea. I know this. But I stare at the screen a little longer because one must be better than the others and I need to find True North.
So I plan, I daydream, and I think some more…
This period of time is called a lot of things. Research. Brainstorming. Writer’s block. Waiting for the muse to show up. Waiting on lightning to strike. Waiting for inspiration.
There’s a quote about planning from Dwight D. Eisenhower that I’ve always liked: “Before a battle, planning is everything. Once the fighting has begun, it’s useless.”
I know this to be true. My finished stories never look exactly like the plans I had made. But without planning, I never would’ve started. The stories wouldn’t have been written.
My goal for the next 30 days is to figure out my destination, where my hero is headed, knowing full well that once I start writing, that plan will be useless. Because things change. I’ll make different decisions. I’ll have better ideas. And that’s okay. Because without a plan, I never would’ve had any better ideas. That’s what’s fun about writing.
This is how I start working on a new story. I’m starting to realize that writing ‘into the dark,’ taking a step into the unknown, is just part of my process. But it works every time.