The Stoic Writer

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“When forced, as it seems, by circumstances into utter confusion, get a hold of yourself quickly. Don’t be locked out of the rhythm any longer than necessary. You’ll be able to keep the beat if you are constantly returning to it.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.11

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Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending February 16, 2020.

This week was a mixed bag in terms of productivity. My voice has been a bit dodgy, so dictating my first draft of The Devilwill have to wait.

Instead, I’ve been working on my second draft of Blind Reset, which is the follow-up to my gamelit novel/meditation on disability, Blind Gambit.

I’m halfway through and am happy with the scenes so far (or, at least, what I’ve turned them into). There were a few bits in the first draft where the pacing was all wrong and I needed to up the stakes in terms of conflict and tension.

That’s why I love the re-drafting process. It almost feels like cheating because I get to tell the story I wish I’d told in the first place. Life doesn’t get many do-overs, so that’s very cool to me.

Inconceivable!

I introduced my seven-year-old son to a couple of movies this week that I loved as a kid—The Princess Bride and Willow.

These moves were huge for me. I must have watched them hundreds of times, wearing out the VHS tapes and no doubt annoying my mum. I kept expecting to have to adjust the tracking at any moment.

It was interesting to see how they held up compared to some of the movies he loves, like How to Train Your Dragon and Detective Pikachu, etc.

It took him a while to warm to Willow. The first half was much slower paced than a lot of modern movies, but he stuck it out and enjoyed it by the end.

He absolutely loved The Princess Bride and laughed out loud at many of the classic lines. I was so proud.

He’s been getting me to pick movies and cartoons I liked as a kid for us to watch together. I’m weighing up whether to show him The Neverending Story or Labyrinth next (though I’m not sure how appropriate David Bowie’s leggings are for young eyes).

“Don’t let your reflection on the whole sweep of life crush you. Don’t fill your mind with all the bad things that might still happen. Stay focused on the present situation and ask yourself why it’s so unbearable and can’t be survived.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.36

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Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending February 9, 2020.

I write this in a lot of pain because on Thursday I went to hospital and had my shoulder scanned and pumped full of steroids. It’s as if someone has come down on it with a brick.

I have a heat pack and some ibuprofen gel, so hopefully it should settle down over the next few days and I can start work on the physio exercises.

Temperance is out!

Temperance, episode 14 of The Ravenglass Chronicles has just gone live and I’ve already started work on book 15, The Devil. Click HERE to order your copy.

I’m really enjoying using the tarot cards as inspiration with this series—it's given me some great story ideas that I never would have considered on my own.

I was revisiting the tower card to start brainstorming ideas for book 16, and it couldn’t be more perfect. I’m over 70 percent through the story and each card brings new excitement, energy, and surprises.

I just need to work out what I should do after The Ravenglass Chronicles is complete…assassin series, anyone?

Twitter update

I finished reading the book Digital Minimalismby Cal Newport. It gave me a lot to think about in terms of my relationship with social media.

I decided I was long overdue to close my Twitter account. I started using Twitter in 2009, so it's something I've used for over a decade. It was a great platform when I worked as a reporter, but for the last couple of years it’s become a toxic cesspool of tribalism, anger, and people looking to ruin the lives of others to score political points. I don’t need that crap in my life.

I had to weigh up what I was actually getting from the platform and realised I was only staying on Twitter because I occasionally get messages from readers. I figured that if readers want to get in touch, they would find a way.

Closing it feels like a small weight has been lifted.

Groundhog Day

Last weekend, I appeared on the latest episode of the Now You’ve Seen It podcast to talk about Groundhog Day, the Bill Murray movie from the 90s. I’d never seen it before and I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

The podcast was a lot of fun to record and many laughs were had by all.

You can find Now You’ve Seen It wherever you get your podcasts.

The Good Place

I watched the finale of The Good Place this week. If you’ve not seen it, it’s a Netflix comedy series set in the afterlife. It’s produced by the same people who did things like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation.

The writing is tremendous and manages to create the perfect balance between comedy and an exploration of what it means to be a good person. The final episode fully encapsulated that, and I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t bring a tear to my eye.

I can't remember the last time I watched a show with such a perfect ending (maybe Breaking Bad did). I think back to shows I loved like Battlestar Galactica and Lost, which didn’t have satisfying finales, and am thankful the writers of The Good Place delivered an amazing finale.

And Janet might be one of my favourite characters in anything…except Sam Vimes.

“We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good. Otherwise, courage will vanish, which should continually test itself. Greatness of soul will be lost, which can’t stand out unless it disdains as petty what the mob regards as most desirable.”

— Seneca, Moral Letters, 74.12b–13

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Welcome to Jon's author diary for the week ending February 2, 2020—that 02 02 2020!

I finished my third draft of Temperance this week, which is book 14 of The Ravenglass Chronicles. That’s now with a couple of early readers to get some feedback before it goes to the editor. This one was particularly challenging to write as it’s the most mystical/psychedelic thing I’ve ever written. It answers many questions about seers’ dreams…but raises some more about what Kat needs to do next.

I’ve started bringing together my plans for book 15, The Devil. I don’t want to give too much away, because it will spoil Temperance, but let’s just say the stakes get raised another notch…

Next week, I have a hospital appointment about an ongoing shoulder issue. The doctor wants to do some scans and inject me with steroids. I think my posture is causing the issues, probably because of spending most of my adult life working at computers.

I recently invested in a standing desk, so I'm sure that will help in the long-term, but in the meantime I’ve been doing physio exercises.

I hope that they don't need to do surgery, but that has been suggested. My rotator cuff and right shoulder blade are in a bit of a mess. My bad shoulder seems to stick out a weird angle as compared to the left.

I read Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson this week, which I thoroughly enjoyed. What I love about astronomy and taking a cosmic perspective is that kicks you out of your ego and makes you remember how insignificant we all are in the grand scheme of the universe. The petty events of day-to-day life don't really matter in the scale of history and the universe.

That's a liberating thought.

Anything that gets away from worrying about the ins and outs on the latest events in the news cycle can only be a good thing.

Take care,

Jon

“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

— Epictetus, Discourses, 2.17.1

Get The Stoic Writer book HERE.

Get The Stoic Writer book HERE.

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.”

— Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5

Get The Stoic Writer book HERE.