Writer's retreat

I'm in Alnmouth, on the Northumberland coast. It's a lovely village, set at the mouth of the river Aln (I know - lucky coincidence with the name!).

It's been lovely weather since I got here yesterday too, considering it's still March and therefore technically winter, as you can see from this photo I took this morning:

I've been enjoying walks on the beach, I've popped into the local village store for some kippers for my breakfast, and I'm staying in an adorable little cottage (it really is tiny - just two rooms plus an en suite, but they've done such a good job of planning it that it doesn't feel cramped at all, and I've got a nice outside area to sit in the sun in.

But don't I have a PhD thesis to write? Why yes, I do - and that's the beauty of it. I've come here to write. I'm getting away from it all. I've brought my laptop and a few papers and things that I need, and the idea is to write as much as I can without the distractions of work. I've set a goal to write at least 2000 words a day, and I've done that yesterday (when I arrived) and today. I feel good about that. I'm actually really enjoying it and not finding the writing too hard - I don't, once I actually get going; it's the getting going that's hard. I don't want to get too complacent in case I find it gets suddenly much harder later in the week, but I'm hoping that I can write a decent chapter's worth while I'm here (14,000+ words, if I stick to the 2000 words a day goal), and that'll make a nice dent in what I've got left to do.