It’s a new year! A fresh start. A turn of the page.
What better time is there to start a new writing project, whether that’s a new novel manuscript, book proposal, article query, blog post, or poem? So, what are you waiting for? After all, consider the joys of starting something new:
The world is your oyster. Possibilities abound.
Whatever and wherever you begin, the first steps of a fresh, new writing project are some of the most fun you’ll have as a writer. So, get crackin’!
Excitement produces energy.
The excitement of a new story line or nonfiction pursuit produces energy; it fuels creativity. Jump on that speedboat, baby!
Dreaming is often more fun and less work than actual writing.
At the beginning of a new writing project, it’s a dream, a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Sure, it may be elusive. But following that dream is often a lot more fun than actual writing, let alone rewriting and editing. It’s magically delicious!
There’s little to critique. Yet.
Sure, there will come a time when you print or email some pages to your critique circle, and they perform some nip and tuck—or hack and destroy. But that time is not now. You’re free and footloose.
You’re not behind schedule. Yet.
In the first hours or days of a new project, you haven’t had the time to fall behind schedule. There may not even be a schedule yet. So, enjoy!
“The Muddled Middle” is still in the distant future.
Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, that middle part of the manuscript is where things tend to bog down and go south, right? But that’s still a ways off. And, hey, maybe it won’t even happen this time. Keep on believing.
See what I mean? Starting something new is like falling in love. You’re walking on air! You’re over the moon! You’re on cloud nine! And you don’t even care about all the clichés. So, what fresh, new, promising project are you starting?
I Am a Writer
The cursor blinks on empty screen
in grand hauteur of mockery;
in your reflection naught is seen
to tell of what may come to be
through each tip-tap keystroke,
so hesitant, baby-step start,
but soon you know it will be woke,
that tiger coiled within your heart,
and words will pour and tumble on,
and you’ll not deign to sleep,
as the freshet runs unto the dawn
to join hands with the mighty deep
whose white-horse wave will show the whole
of writing-dream placed in your soul.
Exactly, Bob! I’ve always preferred the excitement of a new project over the final finish of an old one. It’s a fault that haunted me on the job for years. The cure: self-discipline. Even when the project’s reached the end of its line, it deserves to be properly filed under “lessons learned.” Do the hard work of analyzing what went wrong and why.
Thank you for your invitation to tell my new, promising project!
I’m developing a free short, short course for authors on writing skills. I will have 5-minutes at the Southern Christian Writers Guild monthly meetings to present, ask for feedback, and give optional homework. I taught writing at various colleges, retired, and have been writing my own novels. This new project—on top of completing Book 3—gives me great pleasure. I pray that it will benefit others!
Perfect!
I did start a new novel yesterday because the MC pestered me without mercy . . . for two days. I recognized the signs, so I put fingers to keyboard and developed the title (The Wood Shop . . . for now), the premise, setting, and began a cast of characters list. Then I wrote the rough draft of the first scene. She’s quiet now, but she’ll be back. 🙂
Bob, it’s also a great time to begin “ferociously” self-editing (as Jerry Jenkins says) a recently completed manuscript!
Ha ha! Thank you, Bob! I do love starting a new project. The dreaming and scheming is one of my favorite portions of story creation. You have captured that excitement so well!
It’s the rewriting! I have a “started” manuscript. Now, the Lord wants me to rewrite the thing! Is that considered “New?” But Lord, You don’t understand. Rewriting is re-write-ing! It just doesn’t feel good! It feels bad. It seems out of place. It gives me the creeps!
Maybe, since it’s You telling me to “re-write, …well, okay. I’ll give it a try, and pretend it “New!”
Ah, a typo…I caught it too late. What will an agent think? I blew it again, Lord. I didn’t check-check-check my post before I sent it.
Sorry, agent, writer, newbie. The above post has a typo. I should have corrected, used Grammarly. Oh, well, it is what it is…Please add an “s” to the last “it” in the last sentence. Thanks.
I’m writing a memoir showing how God startled my soul. I’m involved in Jerry Jenkins Writing Guild & Non-fiction Blueprint Course. I hope to attend “Write to Publish” conference, June 2023, for in- person training & networking.
Having just had my first scholarly article published, I am excited to start a new year of writing. Thanks for the encouragement, Bob!
Thanks, Bob. This blog was such good timing. After five long years I’m on a new project and you gave me all the reasons to embrace it and experience the joy. Happy New Year and I hope to see you at another conference this year.