Well hello there,

In October, I saw…

…some very old* rocks. And ate some delicious Pandebonos.

*When I say ‘old’ I’m talking 350-390 million years old. Say whaaaat? They were just sat there, minding their own business, by the coast—as you do when you are unfathomably ancient and have seen it all.

As for the Pandebono, they were fluffy as heck. A bake inspired by reading about them in a novel; a character showed up, a bag of Pandebono in hand. I immediately Googled them, said ‘must have’ and can heartedly recommend making them!

Have you been tipped off to any culinary awesomeness, via a novel or film?

Comedy Craft / Story Fiending

I’ve been limping my way through season 8 of Rick and Morty—as in watching one every 2 or 3 weeks. They’ve fallen a little flat for my tastes, which has led to much geekery as my brain chomps on why this is the case when there are so many things that I do love about the characters and world.

One thing that I’ve been missing is the grounding in something very human and domestically gnarly, before the story spins out. That’s at the core of all of my favourite episodes: for example, Pickle Rick (episode 3, season 3, written by Jessica Gao). The lengths Rick will go to to avoid going to family therapy! Not-so-spoiler-alert, given the title…he turns himself into a pickle.

I love this episode so much that this Pickle Rick decoration will be going up in my office again this Christmas.

The Pickle Rick episode is also such a good example of Rick being ‘the master of his own disaster’ (a Steve Kaplan term). If you don’t know this concept, Steve explains it in his book The Hidden Tools of Comedy:

‘Your characters have to be the master of their own disaster, the cause of every bad thing that happens to them, just like they’re the cause of everything good that happens to them.’

They’re not victims. They’re not passive. They’re actively turning themself into a pickle, which I totally get. 😂 It’s so fun to watch the self-created fallout.

I interviewed Steve in episode 18 of Comedy Masterclass if you want more tips and tools.

The Flip

I heard another discussion recently about whether audio books count as reading. As someone who simply loves story, I don’t get this ‘counts’ discussion. What are we counting here?

I love that we get to experience stories in so many forms. Take Martha Wells’ book series, Murderbot.

I bought the first book on Kindle and read it out loud to my husband.

With books I love, I often buy a hardcopy and re-read them to myself, with an eye on craft. I did that next.

Right now I’m listening to the audiobook of the ninth in the series, brilliantly narrated by Kevin R,Free.

And I’ve just signed up for a free month of Apple TV, so I’ll take a peek to see how it’s been adapted into a TV series.

Different experiences. All great for me, as a story fiend.

Story is story is story. Oh how I love it.

Stash: things I love

For some reason unknown to me, I totally missed Derry Girls when it came out in 2018. Watching it this month, I was so impressed by the way that the first episode worked comedically, straight out of the gate. I loved it. So funny. Props to writer Lisa McGee.

I was also really impressed by the novel, Bad Words. Another one I read out loud to my husband. (I get a lot of reading done this way, when we’re in the car.) It sparked some interesting conversations about the role of the critic, and how art gets reviewed.

How about you…What have you been loving?

Process

I’m generally quite unattached to notebooks, but the one pictured below is currently at save-it-from-a-fire levels of love.

Though it’s sometimes easier said than done, it matters to me that I retain the joy of writing. That I find it fascinating and fun, even when I’m stretched in many directions, and pressed for time. Flicking through this particular notebook, there are lots of quick scribbles of orientation before I dive off into scenes in Scrivener (the writing software I use). I can see myself bouncing on the diving board—what’s fun about this?—then leaping in, with energy. Fun.

Additionally, these are interspersed with mini letters to myself—of encouragement and inspiration. I started this as an experiment and it’s one I’m going to continue. Great to take in inspiration from around us, but also lovely to see how we might cheer ourselves on.

What might you jot down to inspire and encourage yourself?

Until next time, I hope you get to eat lots of delicious stories, and make even more.

And before I go, here are some fireworks from the 5th of November, Bonfire Night in the UK.

PS: Thanks for reading my Seriously Ridiculous letter. All feedback is welcome. You can hit reply and it will wing its way to me.

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