Daynote - Tue 12 Aug

A slight tweak to my timeline based on Factors, so I pulled a double writing shift this morning and skipped my walk. But that's okay, because it is very humid this morning. Not particularly hot (certainly compared to the heatwave that's just arriving down south) but a muggy stickiness that makes walking quite unpleasant.

Yesterday I got some very good news that promises to make the next little while quite exciting, but it's not something I can talk about (yet, or probably for some time). Suffice to say August is now giving July a run for its money in the 'Most Exciting Month' competition that I wasn't aware I was running until now.

ON DECK: A really solid 2,826 words this morning over about 2.5 hours. I'm adding new scenes to a finished draft, which I always really enjoy doing. Unlike in the first draft, these scenes are being inserted in order to meet a specific narrative goal that I already understand very clearly, so my drafting tends to be much less tentative than when I'm feeling my way through a high-level outline and don't have the whole shape of the novel yet.

Today's writing was composed of one long, dialogue-heavy scene, followed by one of several short chapters right at the end of the book which I planned but didn't write in the first draft, mainly because I wanted to chat them over with my editor and decide if they were actually needed. Turns out they were, but I'm hoping I'll finish them tomorrow or Thursday, before I dive into the line edits.

LISTENING: I enjoyed this 'summer special' interview with M.W. Craven on the Quick Book Reviews podcast. Very fun to see interviews asking different questions (these summer special episodes are all themed around holidays and holiday reading), especially with veteran writers like Mike who have answered the usual author interview questions a million times.

WATCHING: We're still watching THE ASSASSIN which has an absolutely cracking script. I do wish it had a slightly more interesting title though, given how much new and exciting stuff it's doing in the script. The name feels a bit phoned-in and marketing-led when compared to the show itself.

READING: More of BERLIN WOLVES yesterday and it is going from strength to strength. As you may be able to tell from my work, I love a spy novel that's not afraid to crack a smile from time to time and Conway's novel definitely does that, though it is also deeply serious when it needs to be (as novels featuring terrifying mercenaries and global realpolitik tend to be).

KIT: I recently picked up (from an Instagram ad, oh no, it worked on me) a new pen called The Wren, made by a company called Tom's Studio. I thought the capillary-action refill mechanism was cool and I liked the sound of the Japanese fibre nib. I'm a daily journaller, but I have used Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.4mm pens for ages because of how precise and quick-drying they are. I was curious whether the Wren might be a replacement daily driver for me, since unfortunately the Zebras are disposable pens and I get through them fairly quickly.

It is a very nice pen for the price (about £35) and the refilling mechanism is cool, but I don't think it will work for me specifically as a journalling pen, because the ink bleeds a fair bit on the Leuchtturm1917 journals I've used for years. I might try with different ink to see if that makes a difference, but for now it will probably be my 'bag pen' since it is really tiny and compact when it's capped.

But if you use a different kind of journal paper (or write bigger than I do) then it may well be a good choice.

LINK: It's WorldCon week over in Seattle and my FOMO is pretty extreme (most of my critique partners are going and meeting up there, as well as many other friends), but I did contribute to this Reddit thread about tips for attending WorldCon as an aspiring author. There were lots of great answers.

UP NEXT: We're going to catch the edge of the heatwave here in Scotland, but hopefully it's not going to get too hot. In any case I've got a lot of writing to get done over the next few days, so I suspect my walking routine may suffer. But I am powered by copious amounts of hype and Yorkshire Tea and I feel fully fortified and ready to get it done.

Onward!