I’ve spent the afternoon dreaming up my world — understand a little better now why every other time I’ve started writing I’ve collapsed into a self-conscious vortex and given up. Setting the context in a structured way is giving me so much more scope to visualise characters, peoples, cultures, political drivers, and – crucially – is getting me really excited about getting started. I’m going to keep a reign on writing until I’ve decided on a broad plot structure, which is yet to take form, but its reassuring that there are a few ideas beginning to crystallise.

Also decided on a few protagonists, the principal of which is going to be a girl, I think. Not sure I’ll be able to successfully write for a heroine, but we’ll see how we go. Her name is Elieonor. I’m not sure about the spelling, but I like the name.

I will, at some point soon, start asking my friends slightly peculiar questions on how they think certain personalities might interact, on what kinds of life forms would evolve successfully on a slightly dry world with two suns, on what kind of weather an Earth-type planet could have if in orbit around a binary star system (if such a thing could be, I think it its theoretically possible) – on cataclysmic events, on the nature of faith, and how to weave humour into a fantasy novel and not make it seem like I’m (purely) paying homage to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. But I’ve a bit more thinking to do myself first.