Yeah, I feel like I want to start a chapter by describing whatever present we've gotten up to and then fill in what's happened since for that character in expositiony flashback.

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It'd make a nice release cadence for ANDOR-style arcs as well.

That way I could get a bit of a binge, but still feel like I'm keeping up with the conversation. Or I could spread em out across the week and not have to wait too long for the next batch of episodes .

I’m guessing most of us do both, but which way do you lean?

What I mean by the latter is: the writer wouldn’t introduce the killer this late in the story, so it’s not Z, and it’s not X because they’re too much like the killer from the last season/book, so it must be Y.

What I mean by the former is: there was a handkerchief left at the scene and X is missing their handkerchief, so it must be X.

I like that. I think I need to make b) stronger in my story and probably hint at a) early on

Does it make it more okay to withhold until the last minute if it’s a short story? Novella?

And I can use that experience to write genre pieces that feel intimate and character-focused. I’ve learned a lot about compassion and drama and humor since my 20s. Maybe my writing isn’t particularly more serious than those first screenplays, but it’s certainly richer.

And yeah, almost 30 years later, all that experience does help. I’ve had so many different jobs (I’ve worked in retail, warehouses, video production, TTRPGs, political campaigns, non-profits, and tech) and hobbies. There are a lot of parts of me / versions of me that I can put into characters.

Now that I have more experience, one of the things I realized is that I really only want to write genre stuff: scifi, fantasy, superheroes, crime, espionage, mystery.

So I gave up. I decided that I needed more life experience first.

It helps that I don’t have “professional” deadline pressure. I have a critique partner which provides some level of accountability, but I’ve had no issue meeting those goals. In fact, I often feel like I’ve written more than I feel comfortable asking them to read before a meeting.

(It may also have something to do with being properly medicated for ADHD finally.)