What happens after I file my answer in a California civil lawsuit?

Following your answer, the case typically moves to what's called a case management conference within roughly 120 days, a scheduling hearing where the court sets a timeline for the case going forward. After that comes the discovery phase, which includes written interrogatories, requests for documents, and depositions, formal sworn interviews conducted outside of court.

This discovery phase is specifically where defendants representing themselves without an attorney tend to run into the most serious difficulty, since missing discovery deadlines can result in sanctions, court-ordered penalties, that in the worst cases can end your case just as badly as a default judgment would have. The months your filed answer buys you before this phase intensifies are genuinely valuable time to locate and arrange for legal counsel if the case is going to be seriously contested.