Second draft misery - I need to get over it
Plus, British novelists cry 'theft' over AI plans, Digital Media Awards are open, the lost Harry Potter book worth £40,000 Roaming Wild Rosie & Wicked writing comp for kids
My dear wordsmiths,
Hello - all surviving January? TikTok is having a field day with all the longest January jokes. I’ve seen some very funny takes from ‘Why is it six months into the year and it’s only January?’, to ‘Walking into work on the 96th of January’, to ‘being paid on Christmas Eve and trying survive the three months that is January’. You get the general idea and we are all feeling it. But this is just my annual reminder (and I was once - many years ago -commissioned by the i newspaper to write about this so obviously this makes me an expert:-) that Blue Monday (January 20) was a marketing construct to make you buy expensive holidays/vacations. It is NOT, I repeat NOT, a compulsory day of misery or in any way a real thing. Just saying.
On that note, please subscribe if not already, I hugely appreciate all your support! And I’d love a like too!
Anyway, how are you all progressing? Inspire me please. I’m now deep into re-drafting my (bloody) novel. The extraction of all references to Covid and lockdown dated the story so I’ve been advised to take it all out and it turns out I’d used the eccentricities of lockdown as a useful plot and structure device more than I realised. Characters were sneaking in empty buildings and wearing masks; handy little story details. I’m now scared it’s stripping the storyline of colour so I have a much heavier redrafting than I first thought.
My prevarication is intense right now and it’s taking much more self control than I thought to make myself work on it after the day job and the radio show recording and well - this newsletter - plus actual life. I’ve realised as (I’m doing Dry January, yawn) that I used a glass of wine as a distraction - in the absence of that I’ve moved to watching Roaming Wild Rosie’s channel on You Tube. If you need a strangely calming and addictive channel to watch try it out. She’s a Norwegian/British single woman who has bought a wooden summer house in the forest of Sweden and is doing it up solo using her remarkably resourceful wood working skills.
Her editing and production values are insane for someone whose toilet is in a hut in the snow, doesn’t own a car and has barely any possessions. I’m not particularly interested in woodwork but take it from me - it’s worth a watch particularly if you are feeling fraught. It’s so satisfying and wholesome and the scenery is incredible. Or don’t - if you are writing - get on with that instead. And if you’d rather watch ( and get advice from) a writer in the Swedish forest check out British author Will Dean.
Feel free to chase on book progress, I need the accountability. As a result of the above it’s a brief one from me this week, so straight into..
News, opportunities, reads & events
Journalism:
Society of Editors 'Future of News' Conference 2025: A date has been confirmed for the Society of Editors’ Future of News Conference 2025. Taking place on Tuesday 25 March at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London, the conference will see more than 200 leading editors and news executives from all sectors of the UK news industry come together for the Society’s annual debate on the key opportunities and challenges facing the industry. Centred around the ‘Future of News’, key discussions will include the sustainability of the local and regional media, progress on restoring police and media relations, and relationships with tech platforms and AI companies.
Digital Media Awards Europe: Submissions for the 18th edition of the Digital Media Awards Europe are now open For over a decade, WAN-IFRA Digital Media Europe has honoured the most ground-breaking and innovative digital initiatives across Europe and beyond. This year, there are 12 categories that spotlight the core areas driving newsroom initiatives from newsletters to use of AI. Submissions close on February 28, 2025.
Books and writing:
British novelists criticise Government over AI ‘theft’: Via The Guardian; Kate Mosse and Richard Osman have hit back at plans to give artificial intelligence companies freedoms to mine artistic works for data, saying it amounts to theft. Full story linked in headline.
Lucky guy find Harry Potter book worth £40,000: Via BBC Devon. A rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, set to be thrown away, is expected to sell for up to £40,000. Daniel Pearce, who runs NLB Auctions in Paignton, Devon, found it among the possessions of a deceased man from Brixham. Read full story via link
Wicked inspired writing competition for kids: Via National Literary Trust. Wicked Writers is a persuasive writing competition inspired by the themes of Wicked the musical, which gives pupils a chance to have their voice heard and to win some exciting prizes in the process. Pupils aged 9 to 14 to write persuasively about a positive change they would like to see in their local community.
That’s for this week. Chin up, it’s nearly February! N x