Daynote - Wed 7 Jan

A representative pic this morning, since I forgot to take one, even though I did get out for a walk. Very blustery and grey with whitecaps rolling in from the Firth of Forth. But a very much needed return to the usual morning routine (and walking route).

ON DECK: A decent 1,074 words and another scene in the bag for Project VAULT and things are ticking along nicely. It's so much fun to write a book in which there is a fair amount of chaos unleashed, because you get to think up all the different forms that chaos could take.

TOOLS AND PROCESS: I am, however, running out of road again with micro-outlined chapters. In the past, I cope with this by doing one of a few different things. Either I split my writing sessions, doing a bit of outlining at the start and then drafting (though that puts a dampener on my overall pace). Or I do the outlining in the evenings or at weekends. Or, worst case, I stumble blindly forwards, paint myself into corners and otherwise slow to a crawl.

I'm very excited that I'll now have a weekly opportunity (as I've gone part-time and will now have Fridays for writing stuff) to do ancillary writing stuff like this, that's not drafting, but upon which the drafting depends. I feel like it will be a real catalyst and help prevent those annoying forced pauses I've had to do in the past. We'll see how it goes!

LISTENING: I loved this episode of Always Take Notes with the playwright, screenwriter and novelist Moira Buffini - these kinds of multi-hyphenate careers are absolutely fascinating and it's so interesting to hear how she applied things learned in one discipline to another.

WATCHING: The penultimate episode of MOONHAVEN last night and it, uh, escalated significantly. What a great show.

READING: More of A SPY IN THE BLOOD last night, which has hit its definitive 'here we go' point. Some fantastic character work too.

KIT: I got one of these Olight Mini 2 keychain lights for Christmas and on these dark winter mornings it is proving absolutely invaluable. Being able to just pull it off my keys and have a nice, bright torch right there (that's a lot better than my phone light) is so handy. And it has a magnetic base so I can stick it to stuff. AND it charges off USB-C. Great little thing.

LINK: I was explaining the whole Scottish New Year's Day steak pie tradition to some English colleagues yesterday and I was reminded of this fascinating post by Threadinburgh that my wife sent me after we'd enjoyed our own pie.

UP NEXT: Just cracking on, more words and my first ever dedicated weekday of writing. I am afizz with excitement.

Onward!