One of the reasons I wanted to start this series is because I think readers often imagine writing as a straight line. You write a chapter, edit a few sentences, polish the dialogue, and move on. In reality, novels rarely work that way. Sometimes a single scene forces you to stop and question everything that came before it. Draft 03, Chapter 2, Scene 3 of Restless became exactly that scene for me.

On paper, the scene isn't particularly dramatic. Aiden has already endured another difficult day, and Ryan calls him with an invitation to get out of the house and spend time with him and Carry. Structurally, the scene serves an obvious purpose. It transitions Aiden away from isolation and reconnects him with the people who still care about him.

The problem was never the structure.

The problem was Aiden.