@Ken Bennett Oh... so very sorry to read these words, Ken. I do hope you find some form of daily comfort despite this enormous challenge 🤍

About your writing... do you connect emotionally with it on a personal level? Is your protagonist too different than you? Perhaps getting a more personal approach to them you help you connect more consistently? Just food for thought 😊

The hat department's mirror confirmed what Nigel had feared—the fedora screamed "trying too hard." But with court in ninety minutes, desperation trumped dignity. He dropped his platinum card on the counter before the clerk could launch into their rehearsed spiel about fall fashions. Outside Macy's, the morning crowd parted around him like water around a stone. He adjusted the hat, feeling utterly conspicuous. A lawyer in a fedora. He might as well have shown up to court in a Halloween costume. That's when he saw him. Across the street, between a hot dog cart and a newsstand, stood a man in a charcoal trenchcoat. He wasn't moving with the crowd. He was just... watching. Even at this distance, Nigel could see the man's forehead shimmer, like heat waves rising from summer pavement. Another tattooed forehead. The man slowly raised his hand to his own fedora—charcoal, matching his coat—and tipped it forward, concealing whatever lay beneath. Without breaking eye contact, the stranger turned and climbed aboard a bus that had just pulled up. Through the window, Nigel watched him choose a seat, then pivot to face forward. Just as the doors began to hiss closed, the man turned back. Their eyes met. The stranger raised two fingers to his brow in a deliberate salute. The bus pulled away from the curb. "Wait!" The word escaped Nigel's throat before he could stop it. His feet were moving, leather oxfords slapping against the pavement as he broke into a run. The bus was hitting the morning traffic in stops and starts. He could catch it. He had to catch it. His hat flew off. He didn't stop to retrieve it. The bus's taillights flared red at the next intersection. Nigel's lungs burned as he closed the distance. He hadn't run like this since law school squash matches. The light turned green. The bus began to move. "Please," he gasped, though no one could hear him. "Please wait."

@Kellie Mc Carthy Happy to help!!

@Ralph Hueske great idea!

@Heidi Vigness That's an interesting way to see it and I definitely agree about the genre expectation. I can't, for the life of me write HEA so I know I'm not a romance writer. I do like the romantic aspects, but I'm more of let them wonder ending kind of gal. My ideas are more atmospheric and characters are in the gray zone, often not turning good at all, often even ending mad. Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, or Psychological Horror writer. I avoid saying psychological thriller because I like building up, and thrillers are nowadays fast-paced.

@Heidi Vigness I did try my hand at a Buffy-like story 😊. I categorized it more as urban fantasy, though. Witty, light-hearted, but still dark thematic.

@Judy Kelly I'm INTP... and at looking at what type of writer they are, I realized why I have difficulties to finish a draft: "INTPs are natural problem-solvers and creative thinkers, which should make them good storytellers. They get into trouble after they've ironed out the plot and developed their characters. That's when they realize they've 'solved the problem'…even if they haven't written a word."

@Judy Kelly I do have a hard time finishing a project as a P. But it's not because I lack discipline. I sit many hours everyday to write. What I lack is keeping the interest because... there are so much more ideas in thinking about 😆😆 Or perhaps it's my ADD acting up. I'm undiagnosed, but pretty sure I am.