Daynote - Fri 17 Jan

I try not to do this too often, because if I miss my morning walk too many days in a row I get grumpy. But it was a bit dreich outside today, and I was so close to finishing the end of a scene, so I kept on going when I'd normally head out for a walk. And it was great.

ON DECK: The extra hour or so went very well this morning, so I cracked both 2,132 for the day and 8,230 for the week, which is a very solid number that I'm very, very happy with. That also puts me 4,500 words ahead of my planned schedule, which is a great place to be two weeks into my planned 15 week drafting period.

Of course, loads of those words will be cut in future edits. When I stack up words in the drafting process, the main reason I track them is to give me a rough idea of progress and pacing in the novel (has enough happened given I'm a third of the way through my planned word count? Am I going to run out of room for the plot beats I have planned), because the book is very much not finished just because I hit 'The End' on a first draft of 100-110k. For starters, I need to trim that down a bit for the market I'm working in, and there will be loads of scenes that I thought were essential when I wrote them, but are actually duplicative or simply not necessary. Or, you know, just boring.

All that said, progress is progress and forward motion is forward motion. And I'm ending this week's writing work on a very nice high.

TOOLS AND PROCESS: If, like me, you had Microsoft CoPilot foisted on you this morning, do be aware you can downgrade to Microsoft 365 Classic. This option is, of course, only available if you threaten to cancel your subscription.

You can also get standalone MS Office, newly updated to Office 2024. But it's expensive and per-device. Scroll down on this page and check the comparison table.

I'm sure the executives demanding we all get funnelled into these products we don't want think they're very clever. So hit them square in the wallet if, like me, you want no part of this.

LISTENING: Absolutely loved this interview with crime writer Rob Parker on CrimeTime FM. The team that produces this podcast are absolutely hitting it out of the park with guests at the moment.

WATCHING: We started on the new Star War the other day, SKELETON CREW. Aside from the dazzling lack of imagination in transplanting Californian suburbia directly into space, it's really fun and fresh. We're only one episode in, but it's great. It's no ANDOR, but it's leagues better than some of the recent Disney Star Wars stuff.

READING: More MK Hardy Boat Book. More damp and spooky goings on.

LINK: I thought this Nature article about the evidence for matrilineal societal organisation in Iron Age Britain was absolutely fascinating. We don't know half as much as we think we do about the past.

UP NEXT: A chill weekend, with a wee coffee meeting about some writing stuff on Saturday, a little bit of tabletop gaming with some friends in the evening, then a nice Sunday at home. And then next week, back into the draft, which is picking up steam with pleasing speed. The first job on Monday will be micro-outlining the next dozen chapters or so, because I'm about to run out of road in that department. But then, hopefully, I'll crack the 40k mark early in the week and maybe even reach the 45k mark if I push a bit.

Onward!