It starts with an idea, a very basic idea that – if put on paper – might be one sentence. Then I write roughly a twenty page outline that defines every chapter. But here’s the interesting part – I write in longhand, on paper, using a fountain pen. Typically a novel takes about twenty pages of handwritten notes, but right now I am fifty pages into the Riverborn sequel, then this becomes an outline, chapter-by-chapter. Being ADHD I am my most functional for this in a noisy environment, like a local bar.