People ask me how I write books, and I never know how to answer that without sounding like I have some kind of system that works every time. I don’t. I do the same things most days, though. I get up, work out first because if I don’t, it’s not happening later. Then I walk the dogs, which turns into them stopping every few feet to inspect something I can’t see. I come back in, clean up a little so I’m not staring at things that need to be done, make breakfast, pour my coffee, and then I sit down to write.

That’s where the routine ends.

I outline every book. I sit down at the beginning and map it out like I’m going to follow it. I know who the killer is supposed to be. I know how it’s supposed to unfold. And then I start writing and it all falls apart.

The killer is never the person I planned. Not once. I’ll get a few chapters in and something will shift, and suddenly the person I had in mind doesn’t make sense anymore. Someone else steps into it, and it works better. I’ve learned not to fight that. The minute I try to force the original plan, the story gets stiff.

The twists happen the same way. I don’t plan them. I don’t sit there thinking I need something big right here. It’s more like I’m in the middle of a scene and something clicks, and I realize what’s really going on isn’t what I thought it was. So I go back, adjust what needs adjusting, and keep moving.

I usually have a cozy and a thriller going at the same time. It sounds like a lot, but it actually helps. If I get stuck in one, I switch to the other. Different tone, different pace. It keeps my brain from getting locked up.

It also means I mix up names sometimes, which is always fun to catch.

My favorite part of the whole thing is where I sit to do it. My husband built me this little office cubby, and it’s exactly what I needed. It’s not big, but it feels like my space. When I sit down there, it’s like my brain knows it’s time. I do write on the porch, the couch, and the back deck too, but things there often distract me, or dive-bomb me. (see previous post)

I don’t just type everything out as I go. A lot of times I’ll talk through a scene first. I’ll say the dialogue out loud, hear how it sounds, change it, say it again. If it sounds off, it is off. Once it feels right, then I write it. It’s not a clean process. It’s not organized the way it probably looks from the outside. It’s starting with a plan and then letting the story do what it’s going to do anyway. Some days it flows. Some days it doesn’t. Some days I get a lot done, and some days I feel like I fought for every paragraph. But there’s always a point where it comes together. Where the story finally feels right.

That’s the part that keeps me coming back to it.