Daynote - Wed 26 Nov

An absolutely beautiful morning today, though I didn't get out for a walk as I was wrestling with my outline again. And I'm off into town today for work, followed by the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize panel at Waterstones this evening!

It's the last event of the year for the store, so grab your ticket and I'll see you there!

ON DECK: A good morning today - I figured out an element of backstory that made everything slot together very nicely and prompted an audible hiss of satisfaction. Project VAULT is starting to come together and coalesce in my brain in interesting ways.

TOOLS AND PROCESS: One of the reasons I tend to work in outlines is that I find it's a very time-efficient way to get over the 'oh god this book sucks' feelings that always come up when you're working on something new. Outlining is, for me, a condensed, rapid version of the same feelings I get when drafting a book, and you can use that emotional up-and-down to guide you through the process. Also, it doesn't take fifteen or twenty thousand words to go 'argh, no, this is crap' - instead I can figure out I'm going down a dead end in three or four bullets.

This doesn't work for everyone, of course, but I've learned to trust it and not worry too much about the intensity of those feelings in the moment - just keep typing/scribbling and it'll work itself out.

LISTENING: An absolutely fascinating episode of Scriptnotes with the writing duo behind K-POP DEMON HUNTERS, talking about their (frankly remarkable) journey into screenwriting.

WATCHING: We started watching CIVILISATIONS: RISE AND FALL on the BBC last night. It's a bit snazzy and History Channel-ish and I'm not entirely sure I like it so far, but the narration is excellent and once it gets past the hyperactive intro it settles down a bit.

READING: More of Marco Rinaldi's DARK WATERS last night and it's got big 'one more chapter' energy. The cross-cutting between POVs is very, very well done.

LINK: Excited to see that Lisa Jewell is the guest programmer for Harrogate next year! It's always really interesting to see how guest programmers bring different perspectives and focus to events and it keeps them really fresh and interesting. Ian Rankin's programming for Bloody Scotland this year was excellent, and Mick Herron's for Harrogate last year was also terrific.

UP NEXT: Off into town for work and eventing (realised it's also my last event for the year, not counting podcast recordings), then back to the outline tomorrow.

Onward!