Story-wise, at least. It’s so gratifying to have that moment where I randomly backread the previous session’s output to reorient myself because I was stuck at one point in the current session only to find out I had already thought about the answer that time except I didn’t remember anything from the previous session!

I think this current project has to be in English because I’m going to throw around a lot of affective neuroscience (emotions) words, but maybe the narrative frame is an interrogation so I can still have my character interject in Tagalog when the situation called for it. The way the world is built, there was just no way the character would not be from our islands. But the POV is another thing. Not sure how to tackle that. It’s a heist though, so something other than omniscient third is probably best.

For the reading break I read a bit of my book club assigned reading, Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste–I really hope I get to finish it by the time the next meeting comes around. I also messaged friends about political dynasties in the Philippines and whether there was any chance we can see their downfall in our lifetimes. Ah well, a girl can dream.

Other news: my weird work shift is ending in time for fall/winter months, so hopefully I can make it so I’m still writing in the morning, which turns out to about 2PM or so in the Philippines. I’ll try and keep streaming each and every writing session to observe my process (process?!?) but for future reference I do need to get my morning dump out of the way, have my water ready, my materials ready, and my phone on silent. I’m not sure if I like the Pomodoro timer that much, I’d really rather a much more minimal handwritten scrawl than anything fancy. This is an aesthetic I keep coming back to since the first time I made a website in college.

It feels like we are in fertile times, because I did some groceries and got my meds, did the stream, and still made Nasi Goreng from a pack (with some chicken velveting for fun). These simple things are somehow insurmountable during pre-period weeks. I slept very well until this morning, though, so it could be that. I like when I wake up to a bonkers dream, because it means, against all odds, I reached REM state.