The hardest chapter to write…

…is totally chapter four. Always. At least for me. In the first three chapters, the heroine, hero and major obstacle/premise/gist of the book has been introduced. Those first three chapters are all introductions. Easy.

Chapter One: Hello, dear reader. Meet the Sinfully Seductive Rakish Rogue who is also, shockingly, a Duke.

Chapter Two: Watch as he encounters the Mysterious Midnight Mistress of Pleasure.

Chapter Three: Sit down, have a drink, watch the sparks fly…Oh, but that massive, seemingly insurmountable obstacle keeping them apart? I know. She despise rakish rogues and he already has a mysterious midnight mistress of pleasure! (He is a rake and a rogue, after all).

And then what happens!?!

Where do they meet? Because they have to meet again. And what happens then? Something dramatic ought to happen. And how, oh how, to keep that momentum going? Argh, chapter four!!!

Here’s the thing I tell myself: It’s fiction. Just make it up.

In fact, I recall that I have already concocted an appropriately dramatic (with a touch of the comedic) event for chapter four. All I need to do is refer to my Grand and Glorious Outline!