Worst part about being a writer is you’re not really in control of your brain. Sure, some people are all…. I can just sit and write without any fuss. Only the weak and bad writers can’t churn brilliant stuff out.

That’s a lie.

Everyone writes differently. Trust me on that.

I write point A to point Z. I don’t skip scenes and I write straight through. I edit sometimes on the fly if something didn’t sound right the first time or skim before I lock down a chapter but most of my editing is done at the end. I know people who write the “key scenes” then knit stuff together. Something I can’t do.

I keep one master document and write the book outside of that document… as individual chapters which I paste into the master once I’m done with each chapter. Others can’t write unless it’s all in one place.

Some people like to do boards and gather up inspirational material.

That would drive me fucking stark raving nuts.

But one thing I have noticed that if you’re fighting a book… fighting to write it, then it’s not the book you should be writing. Or at least, that’s it for me. If it takes me three weeks to write four chapters then it’s not working. Something’s wrong. Sometimes it’s the wrong direction… as in the case of Hellion which pivoted when I did the rewrite (this happened in Sinners too) and sometimes it’s just that my brain’s not in that space to write what I wanted.

So, I have to put aside my paranormal suspense and tackle a heavier book, Kai 4.

I’m not mad about that. I’ve got the plot outlined… something else people do differently. For me it’s at least 10 chapter breakdowns of a sentence or two, directing me to what needs to happen in that chapter. Other people wing it. That also would drive me stark raving mad because if I don’t at least put down some ley lines, god knows where I’m going to end up.

So… Kai 4. I’ve got a title, a bit of plot and one pissy elfin stalker with a hell of a chip on his shoulder to write.