Daynote - Thu 20 Feb

The sky didn't look quite like this, in my part of Scotland. More low, grey cloud for a start. But, this morning, the thermometer rose quite markedly, over 11°C for the first time in a while, so I got a little warm on my walk. It's nice to feel these little bursts of warmth as winter, very gradually, starts to make its way out.

It's not quite spring, but it does feel for the first time like spring is in the post.

ON DECK: Very pleased to get an invite to a crime and thriller festival this morning, which is always a lovely way to start the day. I won't pre-empt their own announcements, but I'm already looking forward to it!

The micro-outlining I did over the weekend is paying very large dividends, as I had another excellent morning that got me 2,278 words and most of a new scene. It was a dialogue-heavy one (so requiring little research and checking) but it's good when it flows. Also I got to write some lines that made me snort. Yes, I laugh at my own jokes when I'm writing. If I want readers to laugh, cry or feel tension, I have to feel it too.

LISTENING: I enjoyed this episode of the Cortex Podcast looking at screen times on their various devices - it's a followup to an episode they did ages ago and a fascinating discussion. And the first bit about the project management tool Asana at the start of the podcast had me very intrigued. I think I tried it out once ages ago, but haven't for quite a while, and it does sound like it might solve some particular problems I have with organising my writing life. But also, I really don't need to switch task management tools again.

WATCHING: We watched the first couple of episodes of season two of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix and enjoyed it. I'd forgotten quite how breathless the pacing of that show is. A lot of stuff happens very fast, in every episode. But the dialogue is razor sharp - great stuff.

READING: A bit of critique reading over lunch and a chapter of THE TYRANNY OF FAITH in the evening, which is getting quite bleak in the middle portion. Never less than incredibly evocative though. Loving it.

LINK: I really enjoyed this podcast on the BBC called 'The Strange Death of Cultural Originality', which I listened to because my film agent Emily Hayward-Whitlock was on it. But it's a really interesting, broad-spectrum look at the franchising, conglomeration and risk reduction trends in a whole range of mediums. Very much worth your time.

UP NEXT: Tomorrow I'll be at Napier again, this time speaking about writing community, critique groups and the myths that keep writers apart. Can't wait. I'll also be doing my 'thousand words here, thousand words there' dance on trains and in cafes around that teaching, so hopefully I will crack 10,000 words for the week.

I don't think I'll beat the monster 12k I managed last week, but we'll see. It's February 20th and I've already hit approximately 70% of my word count for the entire year of 2024, so I'm doing pretty well I reckon.

Onward!