• 3rd November 2025 *

It’s November, which is winter. November is not autumn. I will fight about this.

To everyone who enjoys winter: congratulations, I’m very happy for you. I hope you have a fine old time. I’ll just be over here wearing thermal long johns and going full Gollum until spring.

A big part of my ability to handle winter is how I handled the other seasons. If I feel good about how the summer went that really helps. And I do. If I got well prepared in autumn that makes winter easier. I’d say I did reasonably on that score but we’re not in the dead of winter yet, there’s still time to get a few things ticked off the list.

So what do we do in winter?

Go dormant. We can’t hibernate (and I absolutely would) but a lot of animals don’t. They go into various levels of dormancy. Torpor.

I can go on autopilot. I’ve made enough frozen pumpkin soup, I swear, that’s one meal a week sorted until March. But not having to make decisions: good. Having most of the work already done for me: good.

So I’ve been trying to set up as much stuff as possible not to have to do it over the winter. When motivation is low, energy is low, light is low.

November has traditionally been a creative time. I’ve done twelve Nanowrimos and though the last was a few years ago the instinct is still there. So...

Crime and creativity. To keep a bit of vim and vigour. My wife and I used to do a thing where we (she) watched an hour of a crime show then we had a creative hour. I always liked the ring of it, in a “be gay, do crime” sort of way. So we’re bringing that back.

Be outside. It gets less palatable when it’s dark and raining all the time. But dark and raining can be its own kind of fun. It’s just good for me.

Grow stuff. The onion sets are planted, the broad beans are in, the greenhouse is still green. It’s amazing how much growth is still happening and will still happen.

Batch cooking. I get very into batch cooking in the winter. I really enjoy cooking but in the winter a minimal amount of time in the kitchen is my aim. The meal plan shrinks: same meal three days in a row, no problem. Or freeze it back, next three Mondays sorted, great.

Reading. And generally leaning in to the cosy, romanticised parts. Though I’d much rather be reading outside in the sun. Perhaps I’m not capable of romanticising this.

Look after myself. There’s a temptation to just vegetate on the settee and eat takeaways. That’s definitely going to occur, don’t get me wrong. But I also need to make an effort to eat vegetables and take some vitamins.

Nice things. One of the reasons I don’t just hightail it with the swallows is there’s some nice things. There’s a flurry of family birthdays in January. Get togethers around Christmas and New Year. Which can be nice. Also stressful, but let’s be positive and say nice.

Don’t get overwhelmed. I look at this barren stretch of greyness and it feels endless. Four months! But also, four months will be over before I know it. I’ll be looking back like, Wow, where did that time go. I don’t want to waste a third of the year. And I want to be ready and raring to go when spring comes back around.

Break it down. New year provides a hump day of sorts. And there is the winter solstice when we tip back in the right direction towards the light. That’s two months, really, until we’re coming out the other side.

So, there’s the winter survival plan. I’m going to write some more about the creative stuff, I think that will be fun. And continue trying to get better at writing about books. I might post a little bit less, see how the energy goes.