Today was the second full day of writing the new project and another 5000 words are on the page. That’s 10000 in two days, and although that number isn’t that unusual for me, the nature of it is. Normally, when I begin a new story, I noodle it around for a few days. A thousand words here, 500 words there and bit by bit, I get my bearings. This time, it’s coming in floods, and I’m not sure what’s behind it, but you’re not going to hear me complaining.

I’ve adopted a similar methodology to what I used for Madhouse and The Devil’s Face. I’m writing in a room with subdued light and playing a mix of uncomfortable/disturbing music. The 2013 Evil Dead soundtrack has always been one of my favourites and today I forked out for the Sinister OST as well. They’re helping to create the perfect ambience for the tone of the story.

As with everything else I’ve ever written, I have no idea where this is going. I’m not someone who can work to plans. But with 10k words down, I don’t currently have an end in sight and so I’ll carry on writing until the characters have nothing left to say.

One thing is for sure. I’m having a lot of fun and that is the sole reason I write, so mission accomplished.

So, something happened last night, or more accurately, this morning (about 3 am) that hadn’t happened in the longest time. A story idea came into my head. I should point out that I generally have very disturbed sleep patterns and this was during a few moments of wakefulness before trying to turn over and drift off once more.

I usually make a point of trying not to think about writing in my downtime and when it happens, I push all such thoughts out of my mind. “If the idea is worth its weight in salt, it will come back to me when I’m in front of the laptop”, is my general ethos.

This was different, though. This wasn’t just a concept but the words to bring it to life. I was inside the head of this character, who is still anonymous for the moment, but I was seeing everything he was and it was pretty terrifying. The words came, one after the other and I repeated them over and over, desperate not to lose them. But one sentence ran into another and another and another and then I knew I had to get up and write it all down, because I couldn’t afford to lose something like this.

All I know for the moment is that it’s a horror story. More than that, I cannot say, but it was a hell of a way to wake up.