I love the moon. I live out in the woods, and we get great views of the night sky—big, dramatic full moons and deep, dark nights scattered with stars when the moon is new.

In the summer months, I like to go outside and watch the full moon rise, tracing her path up over the trees and watching the blue-white light cast velvety black shadows across the yard. (In the winter, when it’s cold, I wave at her from inside my nice warm house.)

The brightness of the full moon and the shadow of the new moon are the source of countless metaphors and interpretations, from poetry to magic to observations about the way people behave throughout the month.

We can also use the moon to help guide us when we’re stuck in our writing.

During a recent book coaching session, a writer told me she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. We’re at the start of an ambitious project, and she’s got loads of material, big ideas, and a strong desire to get this book out into the world.

So, she asked me, Where should I even start?

I imagine you’ve felt this way, too.

Sometimes it strikes at the beginning of a project. How do you find your way in? You’re trying to write a whole entire book, and here you are staring at a blank page. It’s like standing at the foot of a mountain you’re about to climb and looking at the summit instead of the path in front of you.

Sometimes that feeling pops up further down the line. You’ve got a bunch of research, maybe some outlines, a partial draft. How are you supposed to shape all this material into a book that makes sense?

Sometimes it arrives when life is doing its life thing—the world’s on fire, your life is chaos, and you want to write, but really? How is it supposed to happen in the midst of all this?

I talked to my client about three options for choosing where to start working on her book, and now I’m going to give them to you.

🗨️ Words from the Wise

Here are some of the best writing-related resources I've encountered recently!

• Is updating your author website on your to-do list this year? Check out these website copy writing workshops with Kelley Gardiner!
• I really enjoyed this piece from Amy Stewart on revising a book—lots of great tidbits to think about!
• Another great piece on the revision process, this one with an emphasis on how to handle feedback.
• Are you a newer writer looking to dip your toes into the publishing process? Here are some new writer-friendly magazines to consider.
• My latest article is up at the Writer’s Fun Zone—this one is all about responsibility (dun dun dunnnn).
• If you're trying to find a warm, supportive writing community, look no further than a Quill & Cup membership! And as an added bonus, I'll be running a workshop for the community next month! (affiliate link*)

Each of the options has what I’m calling a full moon phase and a new moon phase. The full moon phase is the bright, obvious version of the choice. The new moon phase is the shadowy option, the one we sometimes overlook but that has a power all its own.

The options are:

• Urgent/Trivial
• Interesting/Boring
• Easy/Hard

I encourage you to experiment with each of these options, varying them based on what you’re trying to write and why you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed.

🌕 Urgent / 🌑 Trivial

The full moon phase of this option is whatever feels urgent.

Choosing to begin writing about something urgent—an essential idea, a scene that’s been nagging at your mind for ages, a piece that has a looming deadline—can create instant momentum.

Focusing on what’s urgent gives you a clear starting point. Everything else can wait, because this is the thing you’ve got to knock out right now.

The new moon phase of this option is whatever feels trivial.

Starting with something that feels like it has incredibly low stakes—a scene you’re not even sure you’re going to keep but want to try out, an idea that’s almost fully developed and just needs a bit of fleshing out—takes all the pressure off.

Writing something trivial allows you to build momentum slowly by picking away at things you’ll need to check off the list anyway and reminding yourself that you can get words on the page.

🌕 Interesting / 🌑 Boring

The full moon phase of this option is whatever feels interesting.

Maybe there’s an idea you’ve been itching to develop, or a chapter you just know is going to be pivotal for the rest of the book. Let yourself start there!

Following your interest helps sustain your motivation—and over the course of a book-length project, your motivation is likely to wax and wane (much like the moon!). There’s no law that says you have to write your book sequentially. Go where the fun is! Play!

The new moon phase of this option is whatever feels boring.

Now, note that I said whatever feels boring—of course, none of your writing is actually boring! But certain pieces of your writing might be less exciting to work on than others (at least, until you get going). The trouble is, you still have to write them!

Writing through a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it’s going to be a slog will have two likely outcomes.

First, it probably won’t be as much of a slog as you imagine. And second, even if it’s not the most exciting, it’ll clear out a whole lot of room to focus on the fun stuff. Win-win!

🌕 Easy / 🌑 Hard

The full moon phase of this option is whatever feels easy.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, overloaded, stressed out, and panicky about your writing, reach for the low-hanging fruit. Let yourself start by writing the easiest possible thing you can work on.

Getting unstuck is often more about writing at all than whatever it is you write. Choosing what’s easy is a signal to your nervous system that writing is possible, even with everything else that’s going on.

During particularly tough times, choosing what’s easy and writing in small increments keeps you connected to your book without adding extra pressure.

The new moon phase of this option is whatever feels hard.

At times, we need to grab the bull by the horns, face down our demons, row upstream, fire on all cylinders, roll a boulder uphill, and show that book who’s boss. Can you feel the power pose here? Choosing to start with the part of your book that feels most challenging is a huge flex.

The thing that seems most difficult can also be the source of your block—starting there helps you chisel away at it (or dynamite it entirely). Once you prove to yourself that you can tackle the hard stuff, the rest of the book will seem much easier to write.

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And there you have it! Three (or six!) options for helping you find your way back to your writing.

I’d love to hear from you—what do you usually do to get unstuck or feel less overwhelmed by your writing?

🔮 Creativity Card Pull

It's a new week, so you know what that means! Let's pull an oracle card and see what creative energy we're working with.

Oyster mushrooms are common, easy to cultivate, and quite tasty! They grow on dead or dying trees and research is also being done into whether these mushrooms can help clean up environmental toxins.

As our oracle card for the week, the oyster mushroom points us to the idea of regeneration—a period of rapid growth, perhaps, or a period in which you identify something that is no longer serving you and let it return to the earth.

Creativity, like nature, often works in cycles. We need periods of dormancy, death, and decay to make room for fresh new ideas and a rush of energy.

Here are some things to reflect on or journal about this week:

• Where in your writing practice do you sense an opportunity to grow?
• What dead wood needs to be cleared away to make space for something new?
• How can you honor your unique creative cycle this week?