The Sunday Circle: What Are You Working On This Week?

The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).

After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.

Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).

MY CHECK-IN

What am I working on this week?

I finished my work week halfway through the penultimate scene of a new novella, Warhol Sleeping, which I’ve flagged for the next Brian Jar Press release next. That means this week will be spent drafting the climax and the denouement,  writing some of the interstitial material that slots in around the major sections, and doing some redrafts of earlier chapters that will need to be reshaped. 

What’s inspiring me this week?

There’s a host of things that I could talk about this week on the reading front, but the thing that’s got me thinking the most has actually been watching the second season of Lucifer on Netflix. It does a whole bunch of things that shows usually do in season two to their detriment–adding new characters, changing backdrops, mixing up the default dynamics–but it does a great job of using those things to strengthen the show (outside of some early scenes where two of the main characters are routinely disciplining their child in a police station, because the set that used to be their home is obviously on the way out).

It’s interesting to read this show against the poetics of complex TV, because it genuflects towards dramatic arcs in its long-term plots, but understands that it’s main purpose is to explore questions about how theses changes affect the dynamics show to show. A fascinating–and underrated–bit of narrative that gets me excited about the depth episodic storytelling can achieve. 

What action do I need to take?

I’m struggling to find something that drastically needs doing at the moment–usually an indicator that I’m tracking pretty well on the all the projects that are at the forefront of my attention. It also means that I’m probably due to do a thorough review of all the listings in my omnifocus list, making sure that everything is up to date and there’s nothing slipping my mind.