The skies continue to be grey, but in a pleasantly bracing way. And there's something quite atmospheric about the seashore on mornings like this, with ships looming in the haze.
Plus Poppy the Labrador said a very tail-waggy hello, which is always a nice start to the day.
ON DECK: A reasonable 1,003 words morning. I'm working on fiddly timeline stuff trying to make multiple things all line up with each other, but once I'd figured all that out, I got a good amount of words. I'm closing in on 40,000 words for the draft, which means, mentally, the book is acquiring its own momentum and starting to roll downhill (in gravity terms, rather than quality, hopefully).
LISTENING: I greatly enjoyed this episode of Scriptnotes about 'comps' (comparative titles) and the very common practice of saying something is 'Blank meets Blank'. It's a really interesting conversation about avoiding the comp becoming the guiding light during the production process, rather than just a shortcut to understanding.
WATCHING: Had a rewatch of THE BIG SHORT with a visiting friend last night who had never seen it (but had worked in the world of financial PR). Still just a really excellent (and infuriating) film, especially as we drift into another irrational bubble of hot money.
READING: Read more of 59 MINUTES by Holly Seddon (Bookshop, Amazon) and it remains both terrifying and clockwork-like in its momentum. It's a big swing for the fences in structure terms.
LINK: Absolutely loved this piece on making a living as a writer by Madeleine Brettingham - it's a pretty detailed look at the underlying collapse in the value of creative work driven by all-you-can-eat subscription models across multiple industries. I may just start emailing this piece to anyone who asks why I haven't bought a yacht yet.
UP NEXT: Just quietly pushing forward on the draft this week. I'm off into town on Friday afternoon for some book signing and strategising with an author friend, then off to the Luna Press Publishing annual party on Saturday, which is always a joy. And a quiet one on Sunday.
Onward!