We all play games to write mysteries.

Some of them we play with the reader, some of them are the characters playing with each other through us, and some of us we play with ourselves.

Having completed my template process, discussed in Episode 4 of the Oh! Murder podcast, I was nervous to draft again. Many people get second draft performance anxiety, where we feel we know enough in order to write a flawless draft but can’t, and this was definitely creeping up on me.

Fortunately, this past Sunday, I burst off the sofa, where I was reading Elena Ferrante’s book on writing, In the Margins, as the solution to my stuckness appeared out of nowhere.

And now, I’m writing with gusto and loving the process. Here’s the switch I made.