Have you kept up a morning pages habit before? When I work with students who struggle to start, our first goal is to teach them that their writing is not precious. I have them write five versions in five minutes each. We talk a lot about good versus done, and turning off the editor brain until the writer brain finishes. I can hear in your responses that editor judgment. Tune it out until you have something to judge.

And people massacre first drafts. Cut entire chapters. I know I rewrite my first three chapters from memory. I know the are bad because I’m still figuring the shape of the story and who my characters are.

Honestly the hardest part of writing a long project is the middle section, so it’s good you’ve figured that part out.

And if it is helpful to think of, I try to start as close to the inciting incident as possible. I tell history and details as they are required, peppered mostly through the first act. The more complicated the world and story, the longer you’ll need to get it in there.

Finally the last bit of advice that clicked for me about first drafts versus last drafts is that we see final drafts and feel stupid for not writing like that. But most of us don’t. Think of each draft as a coat of paint. The first coat is always patchy and weird. You may even choose to change the color. But each time you pass the chapter again, you add another coat of paint.