Listen

It's been a while since I've written about the book. Although to be fair, it's been a while since I've actually written the book. Period. So that may have something to do with it.

My problem was the infamous chapter 11. It took me 6 weeks from start to finish to write that one chapter (to give you a frame of reference, most chapters have taken me 3-4 days to write once I get started on them). But damn chapter 11 almost bankrupted my entire literary career (my my, aren't I witty this evening).

Why? Because this is the big moment in the book when the two main characters finally meet (yes, we're 100 pages in, I know). They haven't seen each other in 6 years. And saying there's some nasty "history" there is putting it mildly. So there they are, in public, face to face, and ... and what? Precisely. How does one write a scene like that without it being too much, or too little, or, or, or? That's what took me six weeks to figure out. And also I was enjoying the sunshine.

Well, I did finally finish chapter 11 two days ago (we'll see if the "big meet" ends up fulfilling your expectations, if not my own). But now I have another problem. I have no idea what happens next.

This problem crops up every time I finish a chapter. I'm all excited for about 5 minutes for having nicely rounded off an episode of my story and then - panic hits. Now what? Yes, I know how the story ends. I know lots of pieces of the story. But I never know what the immediate next step is.

So I wait.

And, ok, here's the weird bit, don't judge me, please.

The characters tell me.

I'm not kidding. I don't hear dead people, I hear imaginary ones.

Is that normal, or have I truly lost the plot? (fortunately, my knack for bad puns will never leave me)