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So, I have actually begun placing words in a line starting my next, still untitled, horror novel. Once again, I do not have a full outline in place, have only the sketch of a 5-act structure and only some of the key characters but delaying was not an option.

One thing I have learned about myself as a writer is that there seems to be a bank of enthusiasm when a project first explodes in my little noggin. The idea generates a lot of ‘wow’ and energy as I really really like the prospect. This fuels the research and planning stages but as time passes that burst of energy drains away. The idea and scenes are thought on less and less until if the writing doesn’t actually start, is empties and I find I no longer have any passion for the project.

It dies.

This novel, dealing with cursed nitrate movie footage and set in the summer of 1984 in San Diego, needed to start or I was going to no have the drive to write it at all. So, this week, despite still not have a great opening, I wrote an opening. Maybe a better one will come along. That has happened before, where after the entire book is written I finally figure out how it should have started. The important thing is to get this moving, after about 10,000 words a project usually has enough momentum to find its way to the finish line.