I've hit a wall with my novel and it's driving me mad. I know exactly where I need to go, I've even jumped in and written others bits to see if I can slowly tie it all together, but I keep going back to the end of the 20k I've written in sequence and thinking 'what now?'.

There are a few obvious problems. A lot of the story takes place in flashback form, or as descriptions from the main character. Two of the 'leads', or at least the most influential characters, spend most of the story away from the action and we only hear about them through the narrator. This was probably a mistake, because it's causing me all kinds of problems, least of all the fact those who've read the first 15k didn't like either of the characters, probably because they don't speak, and they're only ever described through the eyes of someone with a real chip on her shoulder. Of course they're meant to be likeable. Well, one of them is.

Any tips on how to get over writers block?

I grew up here...



Not in the pub, obviously, but in the village. According to Wikipedia, there are 2,549 people in our village, which also boasts a shop, a hairdressers, a village hall, a village green, two schools (one private, one primary) and a castle. Still no street lights, though.

Then, at 18, I moved here...



Bit different, isn't it.

This weekend, I had a real 'I love London' moment. I went to look around Crystal Palace, where I'm hoping to move next month, and I just loved it. It was one of those perfect days - the Sun was out, the place was blissfully quiet, the nutters were well hidden and I even discovered a shop that sold vintage glassware (babycham coupes for £4.50 each...amazing considering they're a tenner online). Then on Sunday I went for drinks near London Bridge and being sat on the banks of the Thames with a glass of bubbly I just thought 'you're bloody lucky to live here'.

Then on the way home I almost got run over and remembered why I sometimes hate this place. Oops.

It's like they looked into my brain and made my dream film. If only JJ Feild had Lee Pace's part. I don't think you'd be able to get me out of my seat at the end.

Another year has passed, and I'm 25. No more of this 'early twenties' malarkey for me. I'm proper old now, kids.

Not that I act it. I had my party on Saturday, with 30-odd of my nearest and dearest and a few of their friends piling into Geek Central dressed like pin-up girls and hawaiian partygoers for my retro tiki themed party. As you can see, I went for the subtle approach. This is me with Colin the hula boy, who adorned my wall for the party. He's not the only one, he was joined by Polly from Polynesia and a set of wall decorations that turned ceiling to floor of the disco room (yes, we have a disco room) into a tropical paradise.

I have now set something of a party precedent, so I reckon that'll be the last one I have for a few years. Me and Susi (who shares a birthday with me) have decided it may be a good plan to alternate the responsibility each year.

Anyway, now I am 25, I've decided there are a few things I'd like to do in the next twelve months. They are...

1) Move into a flat on my own. I already plan to do this in September. I'll still be renting, but I won't be responsible for anyone but me, which will be wonderful.

2) Finish writing my novel. Decide I hate it. Get drunk one night and delete the whole thing from my computer. Wake up the next morning realising my terrible mistake. Thank the lord for the windows recycle bin.

3) Take up sewing again. Vintage patterns only.

4) Get my weight back to what it was circa November 2006. I doubt this one will happen.

5) Have a relationship. A proper one. Not an inappropriate fling. Not a string of dates that lasts months but never goes anywhere. Not an unrequited crush. Definitely not an obsession with a gay man who sings showtunes. Or someone else's boyfriend.

6) See Kim again. Be it her coming here, me going to Oz or us both meeting in Vegas. I'm pulling for the latter. New York New York is calling to me. As is the Fashion Show Mall.

7) Be on telly as a professional in my industry. Properly this time, not as a 'frenzied fashionista'.

8) Join (or start) a band, a choir, a choral society or similar. Or start going to dancing lessons.

9) Actually *go* to the gym. This ties in with 4) really.

10) Drink less. Yeahright.

It's my birthday on Monday. Right now I'm having to really stop myself from doing a Zara.

She actually got the perfume, you know. They sent it to her by courier on the day.

*awe*

'The Daily Emma' is what I jokingly call the pop culture emails (film links, reviews, Doctor Who gossip etc) I get from my friend Emma, who up until last month lived in Geek Central with me.

This was too good not to post, she really should be working for Empire magazine.

"Let's get the Harry Knowles hyperbole out of the way right now, shall we? The Dark Knight is fucking awesome.

There, that is the succinct version of my opinion. I, however, thought I'd give you a little more detail on my views as it's Friday lunch-time, no-one else is in my office today and I can't do it over a takeaway because well, I don't live there anymore.

So, The Dark Knight. It's had the biggest ever opening day for a film in the US and it has gone straight to no1 in the IMDB chart of Greatest Movies Ever deposing The Godfather. It's had five star reviews in all the genre publications and tabloids plus four star reviews from most of the broadsheets. Nice going for a sequel to a movie that was only considered a moderate financial & critical success on release three years ago. There has been a significant amount of drama surrounding this film that has undoubtedly contributed to the box-office and press coverage but I'm not going to go into that as it's irrelevant to the quality of the film and frankly, it annoys me. For once, the financial success and hype of a blockbuster is justified (this is not Pirates 2 or, god forbid, Spiderman 3) and I will now tell you why!

Firstly, the script. The Dark Knight is penned by Chris and Jonathan Nolan rather than a comic book hack like David Goyer. These boys wrote Memento so an understanding of structure and character is naturally expected. What they deliver is an expertly structured movie that balances character moments and set pieces but never at the expense of telling an overall story. And it is a sprawling story typical of a comic book sequel but for once, it is one that is worth telling. It's not just a series of plot points that are there to get characters from one action sequence to the next. It's also a story that ties nicely into the previous film but isn't alienating to anyone who hasn't seen Batman Begins.

There is also a large cast of key players for the writers to contend with; characters played by A-list names. Luckily, everyone has a role to play and very much like Begins, none of the characters feel superfluous to the plot (a la Pirates 2). Conversely and, despite several recent reviews to contrary, no one character dominates the film; it neither belongs to Batman or The Joker and both characters are given equal focus. Consequently, the movie feels balanced and is in no way self indulgent unlike Burton's Batman. It is the same with the set pieces. They are perfectly paced and placed within the film and do not skimp on spectacle (a vehicle chase between Batman, the Joker and many others is one that is particularly jaw dropping) but more on that later.

Finally, the dialogue is cracking. People have proper conversations and while there are the typical comic book sound bites delivered with an utterly straight face (mostly by Batman it has to be said); it is all very cleverly written and doesn't feel silly or cheesy. The Joker does, of course, get some very choice lines but he by no means gets them all. 'The funny' is distributed evenly between the characters and there is no 'omic relief' as it were.

Onto direction. Firstly, this film may be dark in theme but it is certainly not on screen. There are night scenes but they are not the majority and most take place in broad daylight or the harsh halogens of a police cell. The most obvious comparison to make with the Dark Knight (and one that has been made numerous times already) is that it is very Michael Mann. It is a fair comparison with Gotham being a neon soaked cityscape of glass skyscrapers very reminiscent of the setting in Collateral. The opening sequence is also very Heat in its execution but that is no bad thing.

This is not to detract from Nolan's own distinct style or very obvious talent. Nolan is very controlled with the camera and unlike many comic book directors, isn't over-reliant on zooms or jump cuts to build tension or convey a race against time. In character scenes there are a lot of tracking and steady cam shots to capture the actors performances and make the audience feel part of the scene (characters are often followed or tracked by the camera as they walk for example). As for the set-pieces, they are magnificent. Again, there is no epilepsy inducing editing and the action is captured beautifully with gorgeous wide shots. It is fast paced but not confusingly so and the audience can always follow what is happening. The stunts are also very muscular and visceral and metal crunches and bones crack with as much realism as a comic book adaptation will allow. Lastly, the score is brilliant. While using the main themes from Begins to give continuity it builds in scale and grandeur to match the scope of the film. It is never bombastic, however, and never drowns out the audio track.

And finally, onto the performances. First up is Christian Bale as the titular Knight (or is he...?) He is, of course, brilliant as usual. Physical, intense but not completely po-faced, he expands on the Wayne (and Batman) he showed us in Begins. He may be just as conflicted as Bruce Wayne (and in his relationship with Rachel) but he is more settled as Batman and the role he has to play in Gotham. It is only the introduction of The Joker that brings him doubt about what Batman has to do to save his city and Bale portrays this destabilisation with subtlety and presence. He is also surprisingly humorous playing the Himbo Playboy to perfection whenever Wayne needs to distance himself from Batman. Heath Ledger is equally brilliant as The Joker. Full of ticks and quirks he is the embodiment of insanity but he never mugs or 'performs'. He is charismatic and terrifying in equal measure and in a brilliant move by the writers, he remains completely unknowable. He is also very witty rather than being funny and is all the better for it. Then there is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent who is the beating heart of the movie. I can't say too much about him without spoiling the plot but his story arc is the most complete out of all the characters and he is heartbreaking to watch. The supporting players (Caine, Freeman and Gyllenhall) are all uniformly excellent as usual and it's great to see Maggie showing us how it should be done. There is also a lovely little cameo that almost made me 'woo-hoo' out loud in the cinema so look out for that.

So, overall The Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the best comic book film ever made. It's probably one of the best blockbusters ever made and definitely the best film of the summer. Will it rank as high on IMDB once the hype had died down? I doubt it. There are minor plot holes and couple of visuals are over the top and it is, in the end, a comic book movie. It really doesn't rival The Godfather or The Shawshank Redemption. It is, however, an undoubted creative success."

So there you go. Apparently it's not bad.

Vero wrote a really good piece today about the relationship between bloggers and PRs. It was mainly in regards to technology journalism, but the points are valid across everything and the comments bring up really interesting points from both sides.

I don't think it comes as a surprise that the PR / blogger relationship can be strained, and the fault lies on both sides.

I have friends in PR, I have friends who blog and I have friends who work in print media. All of us are battling it out for our little piece of the pie, and we all have to remember one thing about each other. It's my motto for life, which I repeat to myself whenever things don't work out how I planned.

They're Just Doing Their Job.

For every PR that sends me info on a security tether after contacting me about a shoe website (this actually happened and she got very hostile when I said it wasn't relevant) there's one who couriers over a lipstick last minute so I can fill a gap in my video. For every PR who won't return my phonecall when I ask for information on a product, there's another who takes me to Nobu for dinner to talk about their new clients.

Similarly, for every PR who calls me to check what I'm working on so (s)he can send me relevant press releases or samples, there's one who tells my colleague they won't send anything to Catwalk Queen (even images) because they're 'not doing online'.

[name and shame removed because, ironically, they have now invited me to something. No idea if it was after seeing this - I doubt it - but if it was, thanks for listening!]

By nature, bloggers write opinions, they're honest and they don't hold back. The freedom of blogging vs print media is what appealed to me in the first place. I know we're a bit scary because we won't pander to people quite so easily. We're also a bit contradictory. We want to be treated with the same respect as press, but at the same time, we don't want to be treated like press. We want to be recognised for what we are. A new breed of writers who bring together old skills and new ideas in order to deliver content in a new way.

But those 'weaknesses' are also our strengths. If a product is good, blogger buzz can really sell it. Plenty of people have now realised the power of 'underground' buzz from new influentials (argh, jargon-speak) and witnessing the PR about turn has been really fantastic for me. All I've ever asked is that PRs show some kind of interest in understanding bloggers, and that definitely seems to be the case (as a whole) now. So for those who're out there flying the flag for good PR practice, thanks. Those who aren't...go to your clients, tell them about blogs and get them to invest some money in targeting them.

Contrary to popular belief, we're not just in it for the freebies.