New year, new beginnings, right? From the ashes of the past, a phoenix will rise to bring in the new year with a flash of fire (works) and a glorious golden sunrise.

Isn't that the way it's going to go? Well, probably not. Many people seem to think 2016 has been a year which should be reduced to ash and trampled underfoot. I disagree. Not matter how bad a year or a period of your life is (and I, as have so many others, have had such times), I believe they make you who you are. Use them as stepping stones to cross the rapids of Life which threaten to pull you under and wash you away.

But, that's not the reason I'm writing this. You know how I can get tied to a topic and how it can lead me astray. New beginnings, that's what I was on about. Wasn't I? Erm... Yep.

So. As a writer, new beginnings usually mean a new story. Or chapter. Or both. You've finished the last one (and potentially believed it to be as bad as 2016!) and are ready to start the next. Since the beginning of October, I've done this about seven times, just on stories alone. Not the believing them to be bad bit, I must say, but beginning a new story. At the start of October I wrote Tender Walks the Demon for the movie Incarnate on the  profile (which became an awesome graphic novel). Then there were the Dark Dreams, Sharing Nightmares, Dark December, Decameron 2.0, Snow, Winter's Spell and Cryptic anthologies!

Phew.

Sin had his diary entries, Aren and Rick had their continuing story and Alice was having tea with Professor Posthumous Postlethwaite. On the same day, I've been in an asylum with a lunatic (though he'd say he's not crazy), an attic with Jack the Ripper's descendant and flown with Cupid... or not. Considering I once went through a whole year without writing a single word - bad period - this amount of productivity is something of a shock to me. The ideas are spinning around in my head like a whirlwind, spilling out onto the page. I've yet to see cows (let me know if you get the reference), though.

So how about you? How do you start a new book? Do you struggle with the first word or sentence? Or does it flow easily like the water over the falls the rapids are sweeping you off to?

I thought I'd struggle, personally. But, when I think about it, I struggle to think why I thought I'd struggle - which made more sense in my head than on the page... With Sin's diary entries, I often have friends give me the first line, just a starter sentence, and I'd see where it went. Sin could contemplate life or meet a new resident and I wouldn't know until the piece was written. Sometimes - often - I'd have no real clue as to what story I was even writing. I once sat down to work on the sequel to Sin and ended up writing a children's story about how Rudolph saved Christmas! So, though the story might not go as planned, I don't think I've often been stuck when finding out where it might go.

If you happen to think of a 'starter' for me, or for Sin, let me know in the comments and I'll write a diary entry dedicated to you.

The only real time, recently at least, I've struggled to start the story was with Mr. Composure, which I wrote for Wattpad and Universal for the release of the movie The Purge: Anarchy. I was so blown away by the opportunity that my mind turned to mush. It took my wife, who was having trouble dropping off to sleep, to ask me to tell her a story to prompt something. I told her I couldn't think of one. I'd never said that to her before but, like I said, my mind was mush from shock and delight. She said to me "Once upon a time. All the best stories start that way." I sat up and immediately wrote that down. This became the first line of Mr. Composure. Immediately after writing that, I wrote the final line - since called the best plot twist ever. I had the beginning and the end, I just needed to join them up.

So, what is 2017 going to bring? As the ashes of the previous year are blown away by the winds of change, what are my writing plans? I have three main projects that I'm desperate to finish (a sentiment mirrored by the characters shouting at me in my head). Red Queen, And the Meek Shall Swim and, finally, Mortal Sin. Whether or not I get there is another matter. Alice will have her say, that's for sure. Aren too. Sin is always around and sometimes get's pushed to the back. He's ok with that, though he makes the appropriate noises to tell me he's not.

What are your writing plans for 2017? Are you starting a new book? Bringing one to a close? Are you beginning a new chapter of your life? Either way, I hope it brings you everything you hope for. Wattpad and you, the amazing community, certainly do that for me.