Adrian Faulkner's Blog, page 16
June 25, 2021
Fightcamp – The Climb #853
When the pandemic first hit, I cancelled all plans. I knew from reading about the Spanish Flu that we could expect second and third waves. As far back as May 2020, my extended family cancelled plans for xmas with a view to maybe having a gathering in summer 2021.
I had wanted to start my own swordfighting school in early 2020 and had pretty much got ready to recruit when the pandemic hit. I told myself that I wouldn’t look at doing it now until Septemeber 2021.
As the ...
June 24, 2021
The Backlog – The Climb #852
I’d originally anticipated that today would be a day of side effects of my jab yesterday. After my first jab, I felt pretty shattered the day after, and so I had steeled myself to expect more of the same.
Except the side-effects never seemed to come. I did feel very lethargic yesterday. Maybe that was the jab, maybe that was just me feeling exhausted after the walk yesterday, but I did find myself pottering around a lot.
It was Warcraft Wednesday today so the plan ha...
June 18, 2021
Momentum – The Climb #846
Today was a bad writing day. I still managed to get some 2000+ words done but I’m trying to work out if my productivity is because I didn’t have a plan for my work or whether there’s some momentum that days like Warcraft Wednesday ruin.
I’m now up to around 70,000 words. I suppose that’s pretty good, but I know that last week the mid-week dip caused me to have a lot less over the week than I thought.
On one hand, progress is progress. But there’s a part of this that ne...
June 17, 2021
A Hot, Muggy Day – The Climb #845
It’s been a hot and muggy day today. And a busy one too.
I started with a writing session which I’m starting to find a good time to get an extra session in, and I’m glad, as the rest of the day it was just too hot for me. It felt like just breathing was enough to break me into a sweat.
The big event of the day was my call with the company responsible for getting my twitter account suspended. As much as they might like to play the “it was probably a compromised passwor...
June 16, 2021
A Boring Day – The Climb #844
Today was another strangely boring day.
I had the other half of the garden to strim but despite common sense saying to do it early, I left it until the hottest part of the day. I still need to go at it again tomorrow, because despite strimming down most of the height, there’s still a good couple of inches that needs doing once the cut grass has dried out and sunk down a bit.
I’ve got a lot on tomorrow so if I don’t get to it, it won’t be the end of the world. It is due ...
June 15, 2021
Gardeners And Architects – The Climb #843
As part of my weekly review, at the start of each week I decide upon a focus for the week. Nine times out of ten, it’s whatever writing project I’ve currently got on the go, but sometimes it includes other things.
The reasoning behind it is pretty simple. It’s very easy for some projects to get left by the wayside, the tasks not being completed and getting carried forward each week. By giving each week a focus, it’s an opportunity to put some effort into some of those go...
June 14, 2021
Part Vampire – The Climb #842
Most people get days like today and spend it all outside. But I wilt in the heat and burn in the sun. I swear I must have at least part vampire in my heritage as the hot sunny day is my worst nightmare.
I like it warm enough to wear a T-Shirt, and enough of a breeze to keep you cool, together with just enough cloud to stay sunny without the sun beating down on you.
So what do I do on days like today? I write.
I managed over 3000 words today and I’m quite pleased with tha...
June 13, 2021
The Messy First Draft – The Climb #841
Today has been a glorious sunny day, the likes of which will soon be gone as summer gets limited to those two key weeks a year. So what am I doing? I’m sitting inside and writing.
I got 3000 words done today using the plan I drew up yesterday. Even so the first writing session of the day was pretty ropey and I only got 600 words done.
I feel the entire scene needs to be rewritten. It’s missing something, but I’m not sure what. I found myself having the drag the plot ...
June 12, 2021
Soft Deadline Slippage – The Climb #840
I managed to write about 2000 words today – which technically isn’t bad – but it still felt like a day where there was a long of things done but very little to show for it.
I’ve spent all evening trying to tell myself that 2000 words is good and that when I do run out of steam, I’ve written for the length of my pre-pandemic concentration span.
Yet, I’m starting to think that my internal deadline for completing the first draft of this novel is going to move from 1st July to ...
June 11, 2021
House Sitting – The Climb #839
I slept badly last night. Part of it could have been me thinking about the latest revelations with my Twitter account, but I suspect it was a combination of the muggy air and my hayfever.
As a result, I’ve felt tired all day, and irritable to boot.
C was due to have their covid jab today, but when it was booked they forgot they also had workmen coming to fix the kitchen ceiling. So the plan was that I’d come and house-sit while C went and got jabbed.
I’d moved Warcraft...
