*Written with Veridion Smart
Writers like to imagine ideal conditions. Silence. Time. Clear mental space. But real life rarely cooperates. Sometimes the house is loud. Sometimes grief sits too close. Sometimes the world keeps intruding when all you want is stillness. And yet, stories continue to surface.
Writing doesn’t always happen despite chaos. Sometimes it happens inside it.
In my house, the romantic month of February is more than chaotic. It’s loud, and expensive, and…way too short. Kevin and I chose February to get married 52 years ago for three reasons: He never wanted to forget my birthday, our anniversary, or Valentine’s Day. To him, the best way to accomplish this feat was to get it all done at once, then have an 11-month respite until we had to do it again.
Idiots that we were – young and idealistic in our love – we never stopped to think that other things (sometimes disastrous!) can also occur in the month of February. We had to learn to be sure to cover those bases as well. The last three weeks have proven the truth of that, yet I’ve managed to work through the chaos to the best of my (admittedly limited) ability.
As I write these words, our roof is being totally overhauled after being severely damaged in a 2025 hailstorm larger than any I’ve ever seen hit San Antonio. Then the A/C conked out in our van, the heater bit the dust in my car, and all our tags came due. We’re swallowed up by the ‘donut hole’ for our prescription drugs, we’re scrambling to deal with the paperwork for last year’s taxes, and…blah, blah, blah. It’s always something.
None of this is unusual. For the last 52 years, my prayer has been, “Lord, please, just get us through February!”
Yet, through it all, I’m working steadily on my latest novel, JOURNEY OF THE HEART. Old characters continue to thrive and grow, and new ones show up without warning. Settings flourish, plotlines expand, and internal dialogue develops easily (punctuated outside my office window by the most unbelievable racket I’ve ever heard) – something I never expected. In spite of the commotion and my own neurotic misgivings, I find that another day is gone and the month is nearly over, but the words have continued to come.
There are seasons when words arrive gently, and others when they push through cracks, demanding to be written even when conditions are imperfect. Those are not lesser moments. In fact, they often produce the most honest work. Because, when distractions surround us, pretense falls away and what remains is the core question: What matters enough to write, anyway?
In those moments, productivity doesn’t look like word counts or polished chapters. It looks like fragments. Notes. A single paragraph that tells the truth. It looks like trusting that the story understands timing better than we do. Writing during upheaval is not about discipline. It’s about devotion. Devotion to the voice that insists on being heard, even when the roof is loud, the calendar is full, the mind is worried, or the heart is tired.
Some of the most enduring stories are born not in peace, but in persistence. If today feels noisy, write, anyway. The story knows why.
*JOURNEY OF THE HEART is the second book in my WHISPERS THROUGH TIME series. If you haven’t read the first novel yet, you can purchase WHISPERS THROUGH TIME (2021) at https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/.
**If a gritty, in-your-face suspense/mystery/thriller inspired by a true story is more your speed, you can purchase TIP THE PIANO MAN (2024) at https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/.