Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.2, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Adrian Faulkner Writer - Fighter - Adventurer ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://adrianfaulkner.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [2025 - The Year Of Foundations](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2025/12/31/2025-the-year-of-foundations/) - I realise I’ve been very quiet in 2025. I’ve not been blogging, or doing a lot of social media. But in more ways than one 2025 was a huge year for me. At the end of 2024, work sponsored me to do a law course. The content was brilliant; it was just that there was - [2024 - The Year of Business](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2025/01/05/2024-the-year-of-business/) - 2024 was a funny old year in many ways. I'd labelled it my Year of Business. There were a lot of positives, and indeed I end the year in an exciting position going into 2025… but the entire year has been plagued with underlying health issues. I very much want to get back into competition. - [The Creation Of A Multiverse*](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2024/10/12/the-creation-of-a-multiverse/) - As part of my journey with self-publishing, I'm going to be creating a multiverse, with a number of series all linking together to tell a much bigger story. In this article I talk about my desire to tell huge, epic stories and how I'm finally able to do so... As you know, back at the - [2023 - The Year of Making](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2023/12/31/2023-the-year-of-making/) - 2023 was my Year of Making. Although I’d not revealed it at the time, the reason behind this theme for the year was because I wanted it to be a year where I gathered the data needed to make a big decision. There was a big question at the heart of my 2023. Would I - [What I've Done For The Last 2 Years](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2023/12/17/what-ive-done-the-last-2-years/) - After my announcement that I was going self-published, a few people thought that I’d just taken Black as Knight’s submission process badly, and that I should have just gone and written another book and moved on. What they don’t know is that I did. Not that the Black as Knight submission process didn’t hurt. It - [Moving On](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2023/12/12/moving-on/) - If you’ve not heard the news, I’ve parted ways with my agent. Many people have messaged me asking questions, so I thought I’d write a blog post to explain. Now, when things like this happen, people often wonder if there is some drama behind it. Publishing is full of scandal and people acting inappropriately, so - [2021 - The Year Of Productivity](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2022/12/31/2021-the-year-of-productivity/) - You’ll notice that I’m writing this a year late. . There are many reasons for that, and whilst I regret not writing one at the time so not to have the benefit of hindsight, it is helpful to me from the perspective of someone now looking at the progress made in 2022. Going into 2021,2021, - [2022 - The Year Of Consistency](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2022/12/31/2022-the-year-of-consistency/) - You’ll notice, if you’ve been following along, that I didn’t do an end-of-year review last year. There was a reason for that – and whilst I’ve now put in an update a year later, it’s worth taking the time to explain a bit of an overview of 2021 to understand my approach to 2022. In - [Writing, Editing, Reading - The Climb #976](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/26/writing-editing-reading-the-climb-976/) - Monday 25th October 2021 Today was another busy day. I’ve got a lot to write, a lot to edit and a lot to read. I managed to do the first two. My problem is that reading takes time, and I think I really need to do these outlines as I read the books I'm learning craft - [Crafting Process And Plots - The Climb #975](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/25/crafting-process-and-plots-the-climb-975/) - Sunday 24th October 2021 I’m feeling pretty good with myself today. I started late today and thought I wouldn’t get many words done, but I ended up getting over 5.5k done. And this was despite the focus of the day being on outlining the novella. Surrounding myself with focused, business-minded, and fast writers has really pushed - [Planning The Planning - The Climb #974](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/24/planning-the-planning-the-climb-974/) - Saturday 23rd October 2021 I have a lot to do in the next couple of weeks. So much so, I’m going to have to work smart. I spent a lot of time doing research for a novella today. This is going to be different because it uses a four act structure and I need to put - [Strategy Session - The Climb #973](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/23/strategy-session-the-climb-973/) - Friday 22nd October 2021 It’s been an odd sort of day today. I’ve been running a secret little project the past couple of weeks. The reason it’s secret is because it’s been a challenge to myself – to step into an area of writing I know nothing about and prove myself. I won’t go into details, - [An Important Lesson - The Climb #972](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/22/an-important-lesson-the-climb-972/) - Thursday 21st October 2021 Today I learnt a really important lesson. It’s a lesson I already know but I obviously need reminding. Always read the submission guidelines. Today I put a couple of hours into a script. I was super pleased with how it turned out and was pleased with myself that I’d written something that, - [The Perception Of Time - The Climb #971](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/21/the-perception-of-time-the-climb-971/) - Wednesday 20th October 2021 If there’s one thing I can never seem to get right, it’s the time I take to do various writing related tasks. I’m always over optimistic. My plan was to finish one scene on a secret project and then edit the 10 or so thousand words by lunchtime. But it took me - [Re-Squirt-ch Day - The Climb #970](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/20/re-squirt-ch-day-the-climb-970/) - Tuesday 19th October 2021 Today was a research day for The Worthy. A large reason for this is that today in World of Warcraft it was Super Squirt day. Super Squirt day is the clash of two separate events that massively boosts the XP gained from Pet Battles in World of Warcraft. It’s one of the best ways to - [Validations - The Climb #969](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/20/validations-the-climb-969/) - Monday 18th October 2021 I’ve spent a lot of time over the pandemic widening my skills. I think it’s very easy to be good at one thing, but then be unable to have much breadth as a writer, because you just stay in your lane. Not every project needs every skill, but I think being versatile as a - [Better Outlines - The Climb #958](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/18/better-outlines-the-climb-958/) - Sunday 17th October 2021 One thing I’m very conscious about having completed the First Draft of The Accursed is the outline. The entire story came about quicker than they would normally, and whilst I think I did a good job of outlining it, I ended up chopping off the last third. That was good for the - [Building Boats Instead of Cars - The Climb #967](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/17/building-boats-instead-of-cars-the-climb-967/) - Saturday 16th October 2021 A novel is a big complex thing. It’s a bit like a car. You put your foot on the accelerator; the car moves forward. But underneath that, to make that happen, there’s complex engineering. I’ve always been seeking efficiencies in my writing. From building systems for tracking and accountability, to processes to - [I Thought I'd F**ked Up! - The Climb #966](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/16/i-thought-id-fked-up-the-climb-966/) - Friday 15th October 2021 I thought I’d fucked up today. Since the pandemic started I’ve really been trying to diversify my writing. I’ve tried a number of different mediums, and as is to be expected, more often than not things go wrong. For me, especially as someone who likes to plan to the point of procrastination, - [Working Fast - The Climb #965](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/15/working-fast-the-climb-965/) - Thursday 14th October 2021 This has actually been quite a busy week. I’m deep in the trenches on a deadline, and I suspect that if I get this push done by Sunday, I’m going to have another push next week on some spec scripts for open submissions. What this recent piece of work has really been teaching me - [Typing Speed - The Climb #964](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/14/typing-speed-the-climb-964/) - Wednesday 13th October 2021 I spent time working on a secret project yesterday. Despite starting late and having a bunch of other distractions, I still managed close to 7000 words. As a result of this and other drama not directly involving me, I didn’t get a lot else done. Not that 7000 words isn't a lot. I’ve - [Bestselling Author? - The Climb #963](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/13/bestselling-author-the-climb-963/) - Tuesday 12th October 2021 Nearly 7 years ago, I published a couple of short non-fiction books. The idea was to dip my toe into the world of indie publishing, without pissing off my agent. They were proper books and I did them under a pseudonym. Then, like now, I wanted to get some experience of different - [The Post First Draft Break Up - The Climb #962](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/12/the-post-first-draft-break-up-the-climb-962/) - Monday 11th October 2021 And once again I have too much to do. Today was a bit all over the place. I’m not sure I accomplished anything major, but I certainly made progress towards accomplishments. I did a bit of training / research for most of my available time, before editing half a novella. I continued - [Restless - The Climb #961](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/11/restless-the-climb-961/) - Sunday 10th October 2021 Whilst I feel I started this week with a bang, I also felt like I ended it with a whimper. A large part of that is because I finished a few projects. The Accursed has a couple more scenes but it’s pretty much done. And a novella I was working on, got its first - [Plotting - The Climb #960](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/10/plotting-the-climb-960/) - Saturday 9th October 2021 One of the things that bothers me about Pokemon Go community day is how much time it wastes. C always asks me to come over, sometimes to help them get ready due to medical issues. If I do, it means I need to be at the support bubble sofa before the 11am - [Taking Note - The Climb #959](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/09/taking-note-the-climb-959/) - Friday 8th October 2021 Given that I’ve come to a natural pause in my writing with several first drafts being completed, I’ve spent a lot of today both learning and making notes. Notetaking is something I’m still trying to master, if I’m honest. I used to be the type of person who would see something useful - [Slowing Down - The Climb #958](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/08/slowing-down-the-climb-958/) - Thursday 7th October 2021 Things have slowed down today considerably. I don’t think it’s a product of being burnt out but rather of having run out of things ready to write. The process of writing is a complicated one and there’s more to it than simply putting words on the page. There’s all the admin that - [The End Is Nigh - The Climb #957](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/06/the-end-is-nigh-the-climb-957/) - Wednesday 6th October 2021 I’m already at 18,000 words written this week, which seems ridiculous, especially since I don’t feel I’ve been particularly focused. With The Accursed now close to ending the pace has sped up but that’s not the only thing I’ve been writing. However, I think I have just two more scenes to write for - [But The Baby’s Not Due For Another 4 Months! - The Climb #956](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/06/but-the-babys-not-due-for-another-4-months-the-climb-956/) - Tuesday 5th October 2021 I had a major revelation today. As any of you who write might be aware, stories are strange. You can sit down and do the most detailed of outlines. You can do character bios for all your primary and secondary characters. And yet, there comes a moment in your story where your - [Exiting the Pandemic Slump - The Climb 955](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/05/exiting-the-pandemic-slump-the-climb-955/) - Monday 4th October 2021 So my plan today was to lean heavily on ToDoist and then use my tasks for the day to block out time to get them completed. Except I forgot that when I’m super busy, I tend to ease off using ToDoist. So there were a ton of overdue recurring tasks that when I cleared them off, - [Admin Day - The Climb #954](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/04/admin-day-the-climb-954/) - Sunday 3rd October 2021 Today was largely an admin day. It just so happens that the end of this week coincides with the end of the month and the quarter. I’ve been pretty good about having a weekly review. This idea of this is to reflect on how well the past week has gone – the - [Hard Deadlines - The Climb #953](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/03/hard-deadlines-the-climb-953/) - Saturday 2nd October 2021 As expected, today was a bit of a lazy day. I got some words done but it was about the same as I did yesterday where most of the day was taken up with editing. I’ve somehow given myself a bit of eye strain. I say ‘somehow’ but I think we all - [A Day Of Editing - The Climb #952](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/02/a-day-of-editing-the-climb-952/) - Friday 1st October 2021 Today was a poor writing day. In fact I got very little writing done at all. But far from being burnt out, the reason for the low writing word count was because I was editing. As if I didn’t have enough projects on the go currently, I found out about an open script submission - [Against All Odds - The Climb #951](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/10/01/against-all-odds-the-climb-951/) - Thursday 30th September 2021 I was almost certain that I was going to have a crap word count today. Yesterday I managed over 5000 words as part of a big writing push this week. And whenever I have a good day, it’s always followed by a terribly unproductive day. Well, almost always. I managed well over - [A 5000 Word Day - The Climb #950](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/30/a-5000-word-day-the-climb-950/) - Wednesday 29th September 2021 You know what makes a good day? When you sit down to write your neverending Epic Fantasy novel, get into a real flow, despite having written quite a bit already today, and then look up to find you’ve written over 2500 words in a single session. My total for the day was around 5000 - [Word Count Week - The Climb #949](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/29/word-count-week-the-climb-949/) - Tuesday 28th September 2021 Word count week is going pretty well considering that today should have been a trainwreck of a day. I got a lot of work done early, which meant that when I lost a couple of hours to playing New World later in the day, I didn’t eat into my writing time. The - [Back To The Words - The Climb #948](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/28/back-to-the-words-the-climb-948/) - Monday 27th September 2021 This week I’m back on the words, and today’s focus has been on word count. Now, let me stress that word count isn’t everything when it comes to writing. It’s perfectly legitimate to sit around thinking. Indeed, working on new stories back in the Spring, a lot of the time my word - [A Failed Experiment - The Climb #947](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/27/a-failed-experiment-the-climb-947/) - Sunday 27th September 2021 Sometimes it’s OK to have an experiment fail. This past week has been one such experiment. Feeling slightly overwhelmed by writing projects, I wondered if I could ‘trick’ my brain to ignore the stress but continue to write by making the focus on secondary tasks. I should have known that, given that - [Priest of Gallows - The Climb #946](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/26/priest-of-gallows-the-climb-946/) - Saturday 25th September 2021 For some people, their idea of chilling out is a bottle of wine and a Netflix series. For others it’s a cup of tea and a cigarette. For me, it seems to be a videogame and an audiobook. I started Priest of Gallows a few months ago but for some reason, although - [Creation Is Visibility - The Climb #945](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/25/creation-is-visibility-the-climb-945/) - Friday 24th September 2021 At the beginning of this week, I decided to conduct an experiment. I was finding that by focusing on my writing, secondary tasks (like some household stuff) was just not getting done. And whilst I’ve felt my writing can be a bit of a struggle during the pandemic, the stats show - [Post Pandemic Productivity - The Climb #944](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/24/post-pandemic-productivity-the-climb-944/) - Thursday 23rd September 2021 This is proving too much of a lazy week. The idea behind this week was to focus on some non-writing projects and see if I continued to naturally turn out the words. I don’t know why – possibly the pandemic or other things – but I’m not very good at automated habits anymore. If - [Adding To The Toolbox - The Climb #943](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/23/adding-to-the-toolbox-the-climb-943/) - Wednesday 22nd September 2021 I think this week is going to be very light on writing. I’ve been busy sorting out my kitchen today and haven’t found the time to write. That’s OK. The plan for this week was always to prioritise other things. I worked out how to get my smart speakers to multicast - [Cinema Trip - The Climb #942](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/22/cinema-trip-the-climb-942/) - Tuesday 21st September 2021 I went to the cinema for the first time in what felt like years. I’ve had a think back and I honestly can’t think what the last movie I saw in the cinema was. Probably Avengers Endgame in 2019. I always said that when I moved I would go to the - [A Different Week - The Climb #941](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/21/a-different-week-the-climb-941/) - Monday 20th September 2021 So this week is going to be a little different. I’ve got a bunch of things to do around the house that I’ve been putting off and can’t do so any longer. Usually my focus is on the writing and everything else comes second. But I’m not sure what happens if I swap things around. - [Caffeine Withdrawal - The Climb #940](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/20/caffeine-withdrawal-the-climb-940/) - Sunday 19th September 2021 One of the things I want to do as part of my return to health journey is to give up caffeine. I am a complete caffeine addict and I know why. When you suffer varying energy levels, it’s a useful crutch to get you through the day. It smooths over those energy lulls. - [Chill Day - The Climb #939](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/19/chill-day-the-climb-939/) - Saturday 18th September 2021 Today was a pretty chill day. After completing my two weeks of video / livestream, I’m looking forward to having a more relaxed schedule. My writing suffered a little due to the focus on video but I was prepared to take the short term hit in order to get the ball rolling - [The First Draft - Chapter 8](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/17/the-first-draft-chapter-8/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 8 Marli watched as her huge mutant arm crumbled to dust. Around her, she saw the same happening to the others. She looked over to where the remains of the soldiers had laid before being covered by the carcasses of the creatures. Those soldiers - [The First Draft - Chapter 9](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/18/the-first-draft-chapter-9/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 9 Drummond had never had so many people intently watching him eat. He tried to ignore them and savour the taste of the blue fruit they’d pulled from the first tear. After months of living on rabbit, hare and occasional deer, he relished having - [Birthday Money - The Climb #938](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/18/birthday-money-the-climb-938/) - Friday 17th September 2021 As many of you know, in a previous life I used to be very active in the collectibles world. I ran a site called Action-Figure which focused on bringing all the latest collectible news from around the globe. I got to travel. I met some amazing people. And I got to see a lot - [The First Draft - Chapter 7](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/16/the-first-draft-chapter-7/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 7 From out of the dark corners of the cave scuttled a host of the ant-like creatures. The soldiers guarding Gynea and her friends stepped forwards, spears raised, to meet the colony as they flooded out the tear and into the audience - [Low Energy Days - The Climb #937](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/17/low-energy-days-the-climb-937/) - Thursday 16th September 2021 As a rule, I try not to be negative. It can be hard sometimes. Suffering with chronic illness means that some days I just feel drained and as a result, am out of positivity spoons. I’ve not been feeling myself this week. The closest I can describe it is how you feel that day - [The First Draft - Chapter 6](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/15/the-first-draft-chapter-6/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 6 Gynea wasn’t feeling very well. She felt like her belly was rolling down a hill. Her head spun and she thought she might be sick at any moment. And to top it all off, she could feel a lump on her shoulder. She - [Internal Deadlines - The Climb #936](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/16/internal-deadlines-the-climb-936/) - Wednesday 15th September 2021 One of my favourite thing to do is look at other writers’ processes. I love that the craft of writing is so diverse and individual, and I love hearing how someone’s process is completely different to mine. I’ve been feeling better today after yesterday’s mysterious illness (no, it wasn’t Covid. I checked). Someone said - [Pressing The Advantage - The Climb #935](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/15/pressing-the-advantage-the-climb-935/) - Tuesday 14th September 2021 I woke up feeling very under the weather. It felt similar to how I do just before I come down with flu or a cold. It was enough for me to do a covid test, just in case. Thankfully, that was negative. But if I have picked something up, then I don’t know - [The First Draft - Chapter 5](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/14/the-first-draft-chapter-5/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 5 “Hey Red,” said Andrews. “Andrews,” Redajinn replied with a nod from inside the confines of the cell he shared with the others. The cell at the Quentin estate was rudimentary. It was little more than a iron cage in one corner of the storage barn. - [The First Draft - Chapter 4](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/13/the-first-draft-chapter-4/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 4 Laird Quentin sighed. “Is this all really necessary?” he asked McArthur. The actuary bowed low still offering the book. “I merely wish my laird to know the risks and hardships we face in the months ahead.” Quentin sat on the uncomfortable seat at the top - [The Third Act - The Climb #934](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/14/the-third-act-the-climb-934/) - Monday 13th September 2021 As the season changes from summer to autumn / fall so I’m starting to look at some of my projects I’ve started this year and towards getting them complete. I’ve done a lot, and over the summer I’ve been juggling a number of projects, grinding through the middle. I’ve not always felt productive, but - [The First Draft - Chapter One](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/07/the-first-draft-chapter-one/) - There were worse jobs than digging around in the bog, but at the moment, Redajinn couldn’t think of any. He was up to his knees in water and the sludge he was pulling up stank to high heaven. “What is this stuff?” Jaxx asked. He was shorter than Redajinn and as such was water reached - [The First Draft - Chapter 3](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/10/the-first-draft-chapter-3/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 | 2 | Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 3 This was amazing! Jaxx wandered around the tear, staring at the world beyond. “That is so cool,” he said. Drummond huffed. “It’s like looking into a painting, except it’s real,” said Red. “It looks like trouble,” Marli muttered. Jaxx rolled his eyes. Everything was always - [The First Draft - Chapter Two](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/09/the-first-draft-chapter-two/) - Catch Up Chapters: 1 Pre-Season: Plot | Worldbuilding | Characters Chapter 2 Marli was vaguely aware that she was laying in water. Someone was talking to her. She blinked her eyes open trying to focus. “Marli, Marli,” Gynea said, coming into view. She was standing over her with a concerned look on her face. It was dark, the night sky - [WRITE PRODUCTIVELY - What Is Toxic Productivity?](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/13/write-productively-what-is-toxic-productivity/) - As anyone knows, I'm big on productivity. I've always wanted to be able to get more done in less time, and have constantly tried to build systems a find lifehacks to help me in my neverending quest to get more words written. I'm lucky because as a writer, volume of words is always tempered by - [City Founder - The Climb #933](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/13/city-founder-the-climb-933/) - Sunday 12th September 2021 If yesterday was all about Fortnite, then today has been about Minecraft. That’s not strictly true as there was the end of season event tonight in Fortnite which I managed to get into and really enjoyed. But for the most part, after yesterday’s Fortnite grind, today, I chilled in Minecraft and watched - [Weekend Off - The Climb #932](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/12/weekend-off-the-climb-932/) - Saturday 11th September 2021 I made the decision to take this weekend off. I had a really busy week this week and whilst next week won’t be AS busy, it’s still going to be pretty hectic. So, not to burn myself out, I decided that having a proper weekend for a change was in order. Today - [Virtual Safe Space - The Climb #931](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/11/virtual-safe-space-the-climb-931/) - Friday 10th September 2021 I get a bit pissy with people when they start talking shit about safe spaces. We’ve all had those places of peace, whether it be sat alone on a beach, or in the garden with a beer, or online. I don’t think it’s a bad thing having more places where people feel at peace - [Slowing Down The Pace - The Climb #930](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/10/slowing-down-the-pace-the-climb-930/) - Thursday 9th September 2021 Today was a bit of a burnout day. I knew today would probably be the most difficult of all these few weeks of promoting video content, the reasoning being that I don’t need to produce a new video tomorrow for Saturday. I got a lot done but I let several things slide. - [WRITE PRODUCTIVELY - Building A Writing Projects Database In Notion](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/10/write-productively-building-a-writing-projects-database-in-notion/) - It's very easy to just see Notion as just a digital notebook, but it can be so much more for writers. Over the coming weeks, we're going to build some really complex and useful tools for writers. We start with something really simple: a database of all our writing projects. We'll eventually be linking this - [Sluggish Heat - The Climb #929](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/09/sluggish-heat-the-climb-929/) - Wednesday 8th September 2021 It was hot today. And with the heat came hayfever and a general sluggishness that together with being in the middle of this grind, had me wanting to forget it all and just go and do nothing. The net result was a 3000 word day vs the previous’ 5000 words. But that’s OK. Something I’ve - [WRITE PRODUCTIVELY - Setting Up ToDoist For Success](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/09/write-productively-setting-up-todoist-for-success/) - Let me first say that there are a LOT of task management apps out there. Which one is best depends on your personal taste and how you like to work. Let me also add, that there are equally as many ways by which to organise your tasks. Again, they are all equally valid and you - [Is The End Near? - The Climb #928](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/08/is-the-end-near-the-climb-928/) - Tuesday 7th September 2021 Today I published two videos, livestreamed for two and a half hours and still managed to write 5000 words across four projects. And yes, I realise I can’t keep this up forever. But I only plan to do dailies of Write Productively until the end of this week and The Final Draft the week - [WRITE PRODUCTIVELY - What Is Notion? (And Why Writers Should Use It)](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/07/write-productively-what-is-notion-and-why-writers-should-use-it/) - Swapping over to a digital notebook can be a scary transition for a writer. But just as the typewriter was replaced by the word processor, so the humble notebook is replaced with apps we can access from our phones and computers. After years of never really getting the point of Evernote, the move to Notion - [Two Scenes Ahead - The Climb #927](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/07/two-scenes-ahead-the-climb-927/) - Monday 6th September 2021 I have to be honest and say that despite it being the start of another incredibly busy week, I had fun today. I managed to get a 40 minute video out, conduct a 2 hour livestream on character and still get 4000 words written. Prompted by The First Draft, I’ve introduced a little productivity hack for myself. I hate - [THE FIRST DRAFT - Pre-Season Episode 3 - Characters](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/07/the-first-draft-pre-season-episode-3-characters/) - I had just two hours to create all the characters for The First Draft! Whilst I normally take weeks and months thinking about interesting protagonists, I had to use a few hacks to get everything done. First I used a character template to start gathering some insight into their personality, and then cast actors in - [WRITE PRODUCTIVELY - What Is ToDoist? (And Why Writers Should Use It)](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/07/write-productively-what-is-todoist-and-why-writers-should-use-it/) - For some of you writers out there, the idea of having a task management system more complicated than writing a list on a scrap of paper is something quite new. There are a lot of Task Management Apps out there but ToDoist is my favourite and in this video, I explain why. I'll take you - [Adrian, The Grumpy Pokemon - The Climb #926](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/06/adrian-the-grumpy-pokemon-the-climb-926/) - Sunday 5th September 2021 I was in such a bad mood today. For what feels like months, I’ve wanted to get traction on a few new projects. I’ve discovered that whilst I’m not really a procrastinator, I do like the comfort of planning to ensure everything is in place and ready. Work gets done, work gets - [THE FIRST DRAFT - Pre-Season Episode 2 - Worldbuilding](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/06/the-first-draft-pre-season-episode-2-worldbuilding/) - THE FIRST DRAFT is a web serial where its entire creation is livestreamed, allowing you to get to see how stories are created, ask questions and join in. After every session, the results are posted here on the website, together with a replay of the Livestream. We are currently running three pre-season episodes where we - [Curveballs - The Climb #925](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/05/curveballs-the-climb-925/) - Saturday 4th September 2021 How do I know I’m busy? I realised today that I’ve not played Minecraft in several days, despite really wanting to. I said I’d do my weeklies in Warcraft this week as well, and it’s Saturday and somehow I’ve not found time. I even didn’t get to watch Marvel’s What If...? until - [Juggling 5 Writing Projects - The Climb #924](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/04/juggling-5-writing-projects-the-climb-924/) - Friday 3rd September 2021 I worked on 5 different writing projects today, some of them commercial, some of them for fun. Because I really want to get the ball rolling with the video series, I’ve really given them a lot of time this week, trying to get a new video out every day. That’s taken a lot - [WRITE PRODUCTIVELY - A Look At My System](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/04/write-productively-a-look-at-my-system/) - We writers tend to be quite protective of our work, whether it's our current manuscript in progress, or our pipeline of work, so I'll admit that this is the video I've been most nervous about sharing. Why? Because it's my actual workflow. It's how I balance out all my work. It shows that I have - [Output Overload - The Climb #923](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/03/output-overload-the-climb-923/) - Thursday 2nd September 2021 Today was a ridiculously busy day. For the first couple of weeks I’m trying to really push out content on my two web series. I want there to be a bedrock of content from which I can build. But trying to do daily uploads on not one, but two different series... is challenging. I’m just glad I - [THE FIRST DRAFT - Pre-Season Episode 1 - Planning](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/03/the-first-draft-pre-season-episode-1-planning/) - The first livestream for The First Draft happened yesterday, where we started planning out a rough idea of the story. Lots of audience participation and going back and forth on ideas. I've included both a tidied-up version of the notes I took during the livestream as well as a copy of the original notes. There's - [Write Productively - Life Pillars](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/03/write-productively-life-pillars/) - One of the key things I use to help me organise both my notes and my ToDo list is something called life pillars. It might sound all new-agey but there's some real fundamentals here that are not only going to help you as a writer but as anything you wish to accomplish. Check out the - [Lessons From The Superbowl - The Climb #922](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/02/lesson-from-the-superbowl-the-climb-922/) - Wednesday 1st September 2021 There are a number of reasons I’m doing so much at the moment. Back over (gulp!) 20 years ago when I started Action-Figure, I did not know what I was doing. Back then, I just went for it; sucked up how silly I felt trying to run one of these new-fangled websites and just went for - [What Is Write Productively?](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/02/what-is-write-productively/) - To kick off one of my two new video series that I'm starting, I thought I'd go into the idea and vision behind the series. My plan is to try and get videos out each weekday for the next two weeks to build up a bit of content before settling back into a more natural - [Consistently Imperfect - The Climb #921](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/09/01/consistently-imperfect-the-climb-921/) - Tuesday 31st August 2021 One of the pieces of self-development I’ve been working on recently is my tendency to plan excessively. For a lot of the things I do this is a really good trait to have. I write quicker and to a higher quality when I have things planned out, either in my own mind - [Announcing New Writing-Related Projects](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/31/announcing-new-writing-related-projects/) - As you may have seen across my social media channels over the past 24 hours, I’m launching two new projects; both writing related, both on Youtube. The first is called Writing Productively and is dedicated to being more efficient as a writer. As just about all writers know, we have good days and bad days when - [You Fall To The Level Of Your Systems - The Climb #920](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/31/you-fall-to-the-level-of-your-systems-the-climb-920/) - Monday 30th August 2021 For someone who goes on about productivity so much you’d think I have it all sorted. In truth, I go on about productivity so much because I personally need those tools. It’s not that I’m particularly lazy without them, I’m just a bit disorganised and sporadic when I try and juggle a - [Summer Vacation 2021 - The Climb #913](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/24/summer-vacation-2021-the-climb-913/) - Monday 23rd August 2021 I’m not sure when hiring cars became so bloomin’ expensive, but it meant that keeping the car much beyond Fightcamp wasn’t viable. But, I did want to get out of Swindon for the day and have a very compacted holiday, and so today was vacation day. The idea behind today was to go to an area - [I Should Be Prepping For Next Week, But Instead I Spent It in Minecraft - The Climb #919](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/30/i-should-be-prepping-for-next-week-but-instead-i-spent-it-in-minecraft-the-climb-919/) - Sunday 29th August 2021 I give up. So I had most things in place for our ultimate Minecraft sorting system, and it was working and looking great. But one of my friends decided overnight that it was too big, and decided to rebuild it somewhere else. I don’t have the spoons to argue. Maybe they can - [The Ultimate Minecraft Sorting System - The Climb #918](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/29/the-ultimate-minecraft-sorting-system-the-climb-918/) - Saturday 28th August 2021 Taking a bit of a break from Warcraft lately I’ve been playing Minecraft. Whilst I played it back in the day, it was never something I really stuck with. But with anything Blizzard leaving a bad taste in my mouth, it’s made for a welcome little break. I fully intend to become - [I Have Thumbnails Until August Next Year - The Climb #917](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/28/i-have-thumbnails-until-august-next-year-the-climb-917/) - Friday 27th August 2021 One of the activities that goes into the creation of The Climb each day is the construction of a thumbnail image to go with the post. Visually these are pretty simple. It’s just a picture of me with the logo. It gives the post a bit of visual uniqueness as well as - [Full Steam Ahead - The Climb #916](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/27/full-steam-ahead-the-climb-916/) - Thursday 26th August 2021 I have my PC back. Several components and hundred pounds later the desktop is back, installed on my desk and running. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve missed it. I thought I might have spent all day playing around with the ray tracing feature on the new graphics card but to - [Getting Back In Action - The Climb #915](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/26/getting-back-in-action-the-climb-915/) - Wednesday 25th August 2021 I should be getting the desktop back tomorrow, and with it, I can kick some plans into high gear. I had been planning to launch a couple of YouTube series. I’d done a lot of the prep work, producing intros and the like. That should have allowed me to have a pipeline - [Strategy Meeting - The Climb #914](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/25/strategy-meeting-the-climb-914/) - Tuesday 24th August 2021 After several days of social and physical interactions, today I’m exhausted. My legs ache from all the walking and driving, and my eyes feel heavy with fatigue. This isn’t a surprise and I expect a few slow days as my body recovers. Of course, I had to take the hire car back - [The Road To Normalcy - The Climb #912](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/23/the-road-to-normalcy-the-climb-912/) - Sunday 22nd August 2021 Today was the final day of Fightcamp. It’s been a strange event. The organisation has been great, yet my involvement has been minimal. I never did any fencing nor did I do any classes other than the one I taught. As my first event since the pandemic this has really been about connecting with people - [Socialising In A Post Pandemic World - The Climb #911](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/22/socialising-in-a-post-pandemic-world-the-climb-911/) - Saturday 21st August 2021 Some of my friends have been to restaurants since the pandemic started. Some have been to pubs, even though they were quiet. But I have not been anywhere with crowds other than the local supermarket. So to say that social interacting with people has been weird is an understatement. Pre-pandemic I’d display - [Fightcamp 2021 - The Climb #910](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/21/fightcamp-2021-the-climb-910/) - Friday 20th August 2021 Today has been weird. Today there has been people in my general vicinity and it’s been emotionally draining. I’m glad that the first people I ran into were the two other instructors from School of the Sword. “Hugging?” asked my friend Fran. “What’s hugging?” I asked, thinking she was talking something HEMA - [The Mad Dash - The Climb #909](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/20/the-mad-dash-the-climb-909/) - Thursday 19th August 2021 I worked out the other day that I’ve not left Swindon in over a year. My last trip out of the town was to Uffington Horse back in early August 2020. Since then the only journeys I’ve taken are a couple of geocaching walks to the outskirts of the town, two jabs, and - [Post Pandemic Social Anxiety - The Climb #908](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/19/post-pandemic-social-anxiety-the-climb-908/) - Wednesday 18th August 2021 On Friday I’m giving a workshop at this year’s Fightcamp. It’s a privilege to be asked and I hope it opens the doors for future training options. After the pandemic postponed the event for a year, I thought I’d lost my chance but I was asked again this year. I like teaching. I think I’m - [Experiments In Productivity - The Climb #907](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/18/experiments-in-productivity-the-climb-907/) - Tuesday 17th August 2021 So the plan today was to work on the ONE THING I needed to get done today and see how fulfilled I felt at the end of it. Normally I have a bunch of tasks, as well as daily activities like writing. I’ll roughly schedule them throughout the day and try and get - [The One Big Thing - The Climb #906](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/17/the-one-big-thing-the-climb-906/) - Monday 16th August 2021 Today was my first day back after a mini break. I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that after all the hassle getting my Twitter back only to then have issues fixing the PC - and hence stopping me launching the new projects I want to do - I just burnt up - [Fightcamp Announcement](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/16/fightcamp-announcement/) - As you may have seen over on Instagram, I'm pleased to announce I will be teaching at this year's Fightcamp where I will be running a workshop on active use of the buckler, looking at various Italian systems. I've run a version of this workshop at School of the Sword over the years and students - [Disability Rights - The Climb #905](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/16/disability-rights-the-climb-905/) - Sunday 15th August 2021 Most of my day was taken up by form filling. A friend of mine’s PiP (disability payments) has come up for renewal. They told me that they had months to do it, which was just as well, as having done their PiP appeal a few years back... it was a harrowing process - [Healthy Productivity - The Climb #904](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/15/healthy-productivity-the-climb-904/) - Saturday 14th August 2021 It seems almost typical that the week I start focusing on consistency, I feel a little burnt out and end up taking a break. However, it made me realise how good my system is. In the creative space, there’s a lot of talk about the muse. Some talk about it as if it was - [Computer Meltdown - The Climb #903](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/14/computer-meltdown-the-climb-903/) - Friday 13th August 2021 I’m stressed out about the desktop to the point I’m having a mini-meltdown. I’d hoped that getting a new graphics card would resolve the problem. It did not. That means I wasted £400 and still do not have a working computer. The people I bought it from are bastards. They only offer a - [Meh! Day - The Climb #902](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/13/meh-day-the-climb-902/) - Thursday 12th August 2021 Today, I’ve just been feeling pretty flat. I’m not in a bad mood, nor do I feel ill in any way, I just have had a day that can be best described as meh! Typically, this is a sign I’m a bit rundown, but usually that’s accompanied by a ton of preceding work. I’ve - [The Last Warcraft Wednesday? - The Climb #901](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/12/the-last-warcraft-wednesday-the-climb-901/) - Wednesday 11th August 2021 Today was Warcraft Wednesday and it felt a bit of an odd one. Warcraft has been a strange place of late. For many people, including myself, Warcraft is a bit of a safe haven. It’s a place where I go when I’ve had a stressful day and just want to forget the - [Minecraft And Chill - The Climb #900](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/11/minecraft-and-chill-the-climb-900/) - Tuesday 10th August 2021 My PC recently broke. It just won’t boot up. Luckily, the way I work meant this was not the disaster it could have been, and with the exception of The Climb thumbnails and all my video stuff, I’ve been able to continue to work on my gaming laptop uninterrupted. What makes this particularly annoying - [Super Mondays - The Climb #899](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/10/super-mondays-the-climb-899/) - Monday 9th August 2021 A lot of the stuff I’m working on right now is quite monotonous stuff. It’s the same task day in and day out as I work towards a distant goal, such as writing a novel. Despite this being quite ‘boring’, it has allowed me to really get an understanding of my productivity. - [A Productive Start To The Week - The Climb #892](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/03/a-productive-start-to-the-week-the-climb-892/) - Monday 2nd August 2021 Mondays always seem to be my most productive day of the week. Having moved all my end of week admin to Sundays, it now means I can hit the week running, trying to cross off as many tasks as possible. I tend to slow down as the week progresses. There’s something about all - [Consistency - The Climb #898](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/09/consistency-the-climb-898/) - Sunday 9th August 2021 My big buzzword at the moment is consistency. With so many things I want to do, they are not tasks that can be done in a single day. Therefore they need to be chipped away at, one day at a time. The Accursed sits close to 115k – 120k (it’s a bit fuzzy - [The Perfect Time - The Climb #897](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/08/the-perfect-time-the-climb-897/) - Saturday 7th August 2021 Today was a day where I made a little progress on a lot of things. And as such, especially being a weekend, I felt quite accomplished. Most importantly, I think I have my Twitter back. This had taken a ridiculous amount of effort, including involvement by my local MP. But it looks - [Inclusivity - The Climb #896](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/07/inclusivity-the-climb-896/) - Friday 6th August 2021 Today has been a good, if not an entirely productive day. Unlike earlier in the week when I wasn’t sure what had caused my drop in productivity, I can today attribute it to sword-fighting, AKA HEMA. I’ve missed HEMA during the pandemic... and I haven’t. The fact I couldn’t train or spar - [Frustrated Over Nothing - The Climb #895](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/06/frustrated-over-nothing-the-climb-895/) - Thursday 5th August 2021 I spent most of my day dealing with ongoing sexist drama. It’s taken me a lot of time today, but I think it’s worthwhile deconstructing these tall lies people build themselves, if only to deflate some egos. Sometimes I wonder if people are ignorant, or whether it’s a choice. I’m leaning more - [Not All Men - The Climb #894](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/05/not-all-men-the-climb-894/) - Wednesday 4th August 2021 I’ll admit that I’m not always the greatest on social issues. I believe in equality and diversity but as a white-passing man (I suffer with vitiligo so there’s something about being called white that riles me a little) I miss a lot of things. I’ve had something in one of my communities - [What A Difference A Day Makes - The Climb #893](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/04/what-a-difference-a-day-makes-the-climb-893/) - Tuesday 3rd August 2021 I’m on a bit of a mission. Yesterday was a productive day. I got loads done, wrote a lot and moved a load of big projects forward. Yet, as predicted, today was a totally unproductive day. I’ve tried to establish why this happens. Sometimes, if you have a long list of task, you - [Disaster Recovery - The Climb #891](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/02/disaster-recovery-the-climb-891/) - Sunday 1st August 2021 After yesterday’s disaster, today was about getting myself back up and running. Were it not for the fact that I’m already very resilient I’d be in a much worse place. I learnt to be mobile back when I ran A-F. Heading over to the US to cover events like the Toy Fair - [Disaster! - The Climb #890](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/08/01/disaster-the-climb-890/) - Saturday 31st July 2021 My PC decided to die. And by die, I mean it won’t even turn on. I’ve had a few issues these last few weeks with random reboots. I’ll be playing a game and suddenly, the game will not only crash but the entire PC will reboot. It always seemed to be as - [Slow But Steady Progress - The Climb #889](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/31/slow-but-steady-progress-the-climb-889/) - Friday 30th July 2021 I had a meeting today, that whilst nothing unusual in the big scheme of things, ended up with me spending a lot of time prepping and then following up on actions afterwards. As a result, it ate into my day and I didn’t get a lot else done. This week has been - [Warcraft Thursday - The Climb #888](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/30/warcraft-thursday-the-climb-888/) - Thursday 29th July 2021 Today was my Warcraft day. Usually I play Warcraft on Wednesdays but given that Blizzard staff were walking out that day, I decided not to log in and instead wait until today to do my weeklies. I used it as a chance to stream and get some content for videos, the - [Boycott Wednesday - The Climb #887](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/29/boycott-wednesday-the-climb-887/) - Wednesday 28th July 2021 Today should have been Warcraft Wednesday but after the terrible things that have happened at Blizzard this past week, there was an organised boycott in support of staff who were staging walkouts. Having read the allegations brought by the state of California, they are truly dreadful and as a result, I - [The Battle To Get Things Done - The Climb #886](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/28/the-battle-to-get-things-done-the-climb-886/) - Tuesday 27th July 2021 Today has been a bit of a battle to get things done. I woke up not feeling well. I’m not sure if I’d just slept funny and snored a lot but I woke with a very sore throat, and feeling fatigued. After yesterday, where I slept for 10 hours and felt - [Getting Momentum - The Climb #883](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/25/getting-momentum-the-climb-883/) - Saturday July 24th 2021 I’ve been thinking a lot about momentum lately. A lot of the things I want to do are the product of habits, doing a little every day that amounts to something larger. During the pandemic I’ve been a little all over the place, and whilst I FEEL like I’ve not been - [Building It Wrong To Build it Right - The Climb #884](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/26/building-it-wrong-to-build-it-right-the-climb-884/) - Sunday 25th July 2021 Sometimes to build it right, you first have to build it wrong. I’ve spent the day – between other tasks – looking at habit trackers and seeing if I can build one to fit in with my system. I have two options here. The first is to use a dedicated app - [Rolling Everything Forward - The Climb #885](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/27/rolling-everything-forward-the-climb-885/) - Monday 26th July 2021 It’s taken a bit of work but I feel I’m slowly getting everything moving. No matter how on top I’ve felt the last few months, there was always something that I had On Hold. But now, I feel like all my projects are moving along and I just need to make - [Giving Critiques - The Climb #882](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/24/giving-critiques-the-climb-882/) - Friday 23rd July 2021 Finally, the heat has started to drop and with it, I’ve actually felt like I’ve been able to do something. Today’s big task has been reading over an agent submission for a friend. I always find these difficult to do. I rarely offer to do them because for me to do - [I Just Want To Recharge - The Climb #881](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/23/i-just-want-to-recharge-the-climb-881/) - Thursday 22nd July 2021 I’ll be honest and say I can’t wait for this heat to be over. It’s given me bizarre sleep patterns where I can’t sleep during the night and then catch up late afternoon. It’s also impacted my ability to concentrate and whilst I’ve struggled through a few things, I don’t feel - [Backlog Complete - The Climb #880](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/22/backlog-complete-the-climb-880/) - Wednesday 21st July 2021 As the heatwave continues so I’m finding it a struggle to get things done. I’m not sleeping as much as normal, and hence I feel the urge to take a break and go for a lay down. It’s too hot to do anything that takes massive amounts of concentration, it’s too - [Heat 1, Productivity 0 - The Climb #879](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/21/heat-1-productivity-0-the-climb-879/) - Tuesday 20th July 2021 As the heatwave has continued, I’ve made a point of staying indoors. I don’t handle heat well at the best of times, and my plan for this mini heatwave is just to ride it out. It just tires me out and by the time it gets to mid-afternoon and peak heat, - [Heatwave - The Climb #878](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/20/heatwave-the-climb-878/) - Monday 19th July 2021 If yesterday was hot, today was hotter. I had a lot I wanted to get done today but I wilt in the heat and as such restricted myself to tasks that didn’t need a lot of brain power. I’m getting close to having the backlog of The Climb done. I’ll be - [Pokemon GoFest Day 2 - The Climb #877](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/19/pokemon-gofest-day-2-the-climb-877/) - Sunday 18th July 2021 It was ridiculously hot today. I wilt in the heat. Give me a nice 18 degree centigrade day with some light cloud and a fresh wind and I’m happy. As soon as we get into the 20s, I can feel myself overheat. Today was the second day of Pokemon Go Fest - [Pokemon GoFest Day 1 - The Climb #876](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/18/pokemon-gofest-day-1-the-climb-876/) - Saturday 17th July 2021 Today was the first day of Go Fest and it just so happened to be the hottest day of the year. For the first half we stayed inside but we ventured out for the latter half and I’m now hot, sweaty, knackered and sore. Like last year, they did it so - [GoFest Eve - The Climb #875](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/17/gofest-eve-the-climb-875/) - Friday 16th July 2021 It’s Pokemon Go Fest tomorrow and I’m not looking forward to it. I wish I was. I was reading this thing the other day, talking about World of Warcraft, where it said that developers used to be gamers, and would make their games primarily so players had fun. But, it added, - [Stepping Out - The Climb #874](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/16/stepping-out-the-climb-874/) - Thursday 15th July 2021 I seem to do a lot of work in the summer. There’s some seasonal nature to my productivity that somehow always sees me writing first drafts in July. Maybe the increased sunlight does something to my mood or something but then I’m never in it because A) I’d burn in 5 - [Lots Of Work - The Climb #873](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/15/lots-of-work-the-climb-873/) - Wednesday 14th July 2021 In recent months I’ve been using Warcraft Wednesday to farm renown for my alts. But with the arrival of patch 9.1, these activities take a little more time and as such I’m focusing only on my mains. That’s OK, there will be time once they reach renown 80 to go back - [Productivity Stats - The Climb #872](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/14/productivity-stats-the-climb-872/) - Tuesday 13th July 2021 The vast majority of today was spent posting backdated editions of The Climb. It’s one of those things where I need to swap between periods of basic data filling – to add stats for words written each day and assign them to the relevant categories and writing projects – and editing - [Hungover - The Climb #871](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/13/hungover-the-climb-871/) - Monday 12th July 2021 As expected, after drinking WAY too much Pimms yesterday whilst raiding and watching the football, I woke up feeling very dehydrated and spent the morning being unable to do anything remotely productive. However, I started feeling more myself by the time it came to afternoon and carried on the work of - [The Backlog - The Climb #870](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/12/the-backlog-the-climb-870/) - Sunday 11th July 2021 I’ve started the long process of posting the backlog of The Climb. There’s over 4 months worth and after today I think it’s going to take me more than just a solid afternoon. On the plus side, they are all written and thumbnails done, but there is cover 70,000 words that - [Redemption - The Climb #869](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/11/redemption-the-climb-869/) - Saturday 10th July 2021 Sunday will see my guild tackle the new raid in World of Warcraft. I’m beyond excited and have been trying to prepare myself for tomorrow night by getting the best gear I can. There’s a thing in the World of Warcraft community where when the Mythic level version of the raid - [The Need To Map Chapters - The Climb #868](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/10/the-need-to-map-chapters-the-climb-868/) - Friday 9th July 2021 An important lesson to remember from today is that I need to have future chapters mapped out. I’ve been spending a lot of time on a flashback chapter recently. After my Wowcation I returned and started finishing off the chapter. I had originally intended for another set of events after where - [The First Video - The Climb #867](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/09/the-first-video-the-climb-867/) - Thursday 8th July 2021 Today was my first day back to work on various things after a week long WoWcation for patch 9.1 in World of Warcraft, and I managed to get a load done. My task list currently has been dominated by doing intros to video projects. My idea is to have the intros - [Busy July - The Climb #866](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/08/busy-july-the-climb-866/) - Wednesday 7th July 2021 Today was my last day in the new Warcraft zone of Korthia. I mean, I’ll still be doing dailies their tomorrow but I won’t be playing all day. Over the last week, I’ve not only unlocked the area, but I’ve taken all my alts there and done the unlock quest for - [Intros - The Climb #865](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/07/intros-the-climb-865/) - Tuesday 6th July 2021 Today was always going to be an odd day. Warcraft Wednesday is tomorrow and as such, getting stuck into anything today would just result in that momentum being broken the next day. So the plan for today was to do some prep work. I want to do a bunch of videos. - [WoWcation Day 6: Equipment Failure - The Climb #864](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/06/wowcation-day-6-equipment-failure-the-climb-864/) - Monday 5th July 2021 I’m not sure I’m burnt out on Warcraft, but my computer certainly is. Today the earpad on my headphones fell off, and my mouse randomly stops working. I have just one character left to get through the Archivist’s Codex opener now. That will make all characters current and then it will - [WoWcation Day 5: Dailies - The Climb #863](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/06/wowcation-day-5-dailies-the-climb-863/) - Sunday 4th July 2021 I’m slowly coming to the end of unlocking the the Archvist Codex Rep on all my alts. I still have about 4 to go. I made a big push today and unlocked a few more. Where the challenge has been has been the dailies. What I’ve been doing is starting at - [WoWcation Day 4: Mount Hunting - The Climb #862](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/04/wowcation-day-4-mount-hunting-the-climb-862/) - Saturday 3rd July 2021 I got a new mount today. With the release of World of Warcraft patch 9.1 there’s a new event that happens every 2 hours. Basically, a random area spawns elites. If you head over there you can begin taking down the mobs that spawn to fill up a progress bar. Get - [WoWcation Day 3: Archivist’s Codex - The Climb #861](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/03/wowcation-day-3-archivists-codex-the-climb-861/) - Friday 2nd July 2021 This is day 3 of my Warcraft mini-break. Today, I worked on my alts, trying to find some rhythm to the weekly grind. I need to do dailies in order to get the weekly renown quest done, which currently requires you to do a lot more than the weeklies took in - [WoWcation Day 2: Korthia - The Climb #860](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/02/wowcation-day-2-korthia-the-climb-860/) - Thursday 1st July 2021 If yesterday was about enjoying the new Warcraft patch cinematics and story, today was about getting my alts into the new zone and ready for the patch going forwards. My intention here is two-fold. One it is to keep my alts current. That doesn’t mean having them raid ready, but it - [Summer WoWcation - The Climb #859](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/07/01/summer-wowcation-the-climb-859/) - Wednesday 30th June 2021 I always take time off for Warcraft expansions. Rather than enjoy the new content at a slow and moderate pace, I have found myself so hungry for something new that I rush through it. In the past year, I’ve started streaming some of my gameplay and as such, I’ve made myself - [Mission Accomplished - The Climb #858](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/30/mission-accomplished-the-climb-858/) - Tuesday 29th June 2021 As regular readers will know, the way I’ve kept sane during the pandemic is by playing World of Warcraft. I created myself an army of alt characters and have used them trying to make gold. When I got heavily back into the game nearly 18 months ago, we were in the - [The Loss Of A Day - The Climb #856](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/28/the-loss-of-a-day-the-climb-856/) - Sunday 27th June 2021 One thing I’ve not yet mastered is working with distractions when away from home. I’m not sure it’s possible, yet I have all my tools such that, theoretically, I can work from my mobile. However, I got a call last night that a friend was having to rush to A&E (nothing - [Ready For 9.1 - The Climb #857](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/29/ready-for-9-1-the-climb-857/) - Monday 28th June 2021 This week was supposed to be my week off. The original plan was to have The Accursed complete, be thoroughly drained from the work, and then take a couple of weeks off to recharge. Admittedly, by the time they announced the first new Warcraft patch in 7 months would be released - [My Updated Productivity System - The Climb #855](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/27/my-updated-productivity-system-the-climb-855/) - Saturday 26th June 2021 Today was another productive day. I’ve got a great little set up here now since my upgrades in Notion. I have a daily log, with my working day broken down into hours. I fill that in as I go with what I’ve been working on. The idea isn’t so much to - [A Day Of Motivation And Productivity - The Climb #854](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/26/a-day-of-motivation-and-productivity-the-climb-854/) - Friday 25th June 2021 I don’t know where it’s come from but today I was hit by a sudden burst of productivity. I have a few projects on the go right now: The first draft of the accursed, revisions to the outline for Powered (which got added to the table this week). These are enough - [Fightcamp - The Climb #853](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/25/fightcamp-the-climb-853/) - Thursday 24th June 2021 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 - [The Backlog - The Climb #852](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/24/the-backlog-the-climb-852/) - Wednesday 23rd June 20210 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 - [The Second Jab - The Climb #851](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/23/the-second-jab-the-climb-851/) - Tuesday 22nd June 2021 So the plan for today, and indeed the entire week, has been focused on my second covid jab. I’m terrible for ‘allowing’ myself time to be ill, and as a result, on the rare occasions that I am, I find myself getting frustrated that I’m not progressing with projects instead of - [The Professions Grind - The Climb #850](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/22/the-professions-grind-the-climb-850/) - Monday 21st June 2021 I woke up with a terrible headache. This was a major problem as I only had half a day to write. I’m on the second day of disruption. Yesterday I had a Pokemon Go PvP tournament that took up half the day. Tomorrow I have my second jab and today I - [A Trainwreck Day - The Climb #849](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/21/a-trainwreck-day-the-climb-849/) - Sunday 20th June 2021 I think it’s fair to say that today has been a train wreck of a day. But for once, writing hasn’t been at the heart of the problem. I even got 2000 words done, which for a busy day has been great. I’d been anticipating a lower-than-normal word count today, mainly - [Upcoming Disruptions - The Climb #848](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/20/upcoming-disruptions-the-climb-848/) - Saturday 19th June 2021 Today I managed another 4000 words. I’m not sure they were great words, but they were words nonetheless, and as a result the day has been a success. Admittedly it was a bit of a battle to get the words done, but squeezing in an extra session before heading to the - [Doubts - The Climb #847](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/19/doubts-the-climb-847/) - Friday 18th June 2021 Today started pretty well. I had a good night’s sleep. I got a tax rebate in the post. And yet, come afternoon, my mood just seemed to plummet to rock bottom. I went from enjoying what I am writing and excited about what I was due to write today, to feeling - [Momentum - The Climb #846](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/18/momentum-the-climb-846/) - Thursday 17th June 2021 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 - [A Hot, Muggy Day - The Climb #845](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/17/a-hot-muggy-day-the-climb-845/) - Wednesday 16th June 2021 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 - [A Boring Day - The Climb #844](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/16/a-boring-day-the-climb-844/) - Tuesday 15th June 2021 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 - [Gardeners And Architects - The Climb #843](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/15/gardeners-and-architects-the-climb-843/) - Monday 14th June 2021 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 - [Part Vampire - The Climb #842](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/14/part-vampire-the-climb-842/) - Sunday 13th June 2021 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 - [The Messy First Draft - The Climb #841](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/13/the-messy-first-draft-the-climb-841/) - Saturday 12th June 2021 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 - [Soft Deadline Slippage - The Climb #840](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/12/soft-deadline-slippage-the-climb-840/) - Friday 11th June 2021 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 - [House Sitting - The Climb #839](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/11/house-sitting-the-climb-839/) - Thursday 10th June 2021 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 - [Why My Twitter Is Suspended - The Climb #838](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/10/why-my-twitter-is-suspended-the-climb-838/) - Wednesday 9th June 2021 Typically, today would have been Warcraft Wednesday and most of my day would have been spent doing the weekly quests on all my alts. But C is having workmen in tomorrow and it clashed with their covid jab, so I’ll be house sitting. As a result, it will be unlikely I'll - [Caffeine Comedown - The Climb #837](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/09/caffeine-comedown-the-climb-837/) - Tuesday 8th June 2021 I have been so tired today, and I’m not sure why? I did wake early, but it was the new season of Fortnite today so it wasn’t as if I was running around in my freetime. I suspect it could be that I’ve cut down my caffeine consumption. I did this - [Ignoring The Doubts And Ploughing On - The Climb #836](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/09/ignoring-the-doubts-and-ploughing-on-the-climb-836/) - Monday 8th June 2021 After a weekend that, after one reason or another, I got no writing done, today, I managed to get a couple of thousand done. I suppose I should feel pleased to have got that much done but after a good week last week, I kinda wanted to make up the shortfall, - [Pokemon Go Gible Community Day - The Climb #835](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/07/pokemon-go-gible-community-day-the-climb-835/) - Sunday 6th June 2021 As I’ve previously reported, I’ve fallen a little out of love with Pokemon Go over the last year. A combination of lockdown and bad corporate choices means I dip into the game…. which all things considered is a bit healthier. I do the research and events but with a lot of - [Courses - The Climb #834](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/06/courses-the-climb-834/) - Saturday 5th June 2021 The way my productivity system works is that it works both up and down. The “up” way is the most obvious. I have a task management system in which I do tasks. Completed tasks go towards completing milestones which in turn completes goals. Last year I added a “down” component to - [A Good Use Of Time - The Climb #833](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/05/a-good-use-of-time-the-climb-833/) - Friday 4th June 2021 I joined an online conference talking about SFFH publishing today, and there’s part of me that wishes I hadn’t. First, let me say that I think all the speakers were excellent and presented well. I know all too well how nerve racking it can be talking to a crowd, especially on - [Post Pandemic Concentration - The Climb #832](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/04/post-pandemic-concentration-the-climb-832/) - Thursday 3rd June 2021 I love it when you have what feels like a unproductive day, and you still turn out some 3500 new words. The novel seems to be progressing well now I’m into the second act. I’m still plagued by the odd doubt but my mental reassurance that it can be fixed afterwards - [Gaming Day - The Climb #831](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/03/gaming-day-the-climb-831/) - Wednesday 2nd June 2021 Wednesdays is my gaming day, dictated by the World of Warcraft weekly resets. As with previous weeks I went through the long and laborious task of doing the weekly world boss and souls quest on all my level 60s. It took me about 5 hours. I’m pretty sure I could be - [Good Writing Days - The Climb #830](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/02/good-writing-days-the-climb-830/) - Tuesday 1st June 2021 At the moment, days can largely be categorised as either good writing days or bad writing days. As we head into June my focus for the next month is to get the first draft of The Accursed done. That currently feels like an impossible target. Despite feeling like I’ve already been - [Seasonal Writing - The Climb #829](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/06/01/seasonal-writing-the-climb-829/) - Monday 31st May 2021 I’m not sure what it is but there seems to be times of the year I’m better at writing books. There’s a May - June - July window and another one in November. The latter could possibly be attributed to NaNoWriMo. Even if I’m not taking part, there’s long been a - [The Dreaded Act Change - The Climb #828](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/31/the-dreaded-act-change-the-climb-828/) - Sunday 30th May 2021 After such an active day yesterday, I didn’t feel bad about having a lazier day. I literally crashed out last night and thought I’d wake late, but it seems when I’m really tired, I can’t sleep. Go figure. I did some writing today so I’ve continued to make progress. I made - [Geocaching Expedition - The Climb #827](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/30/geocaching-expedition-the-climb-827/) - Saturday 29th May 2021 I’d planned for this week to be my health week. The idea was to get out and moving while the weather was nice but for one reason or another, that just didn’t happen. I sit down for long periods of time and it’s easy for me to become so detracted that - [Late Start - The Climb #826](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/29/late-start-the-climb-826/) - Friday 28th May 2021 I woke up so late today and I have no idea why. I’m not sure what it is, but I always tend to feel groggy when I oversleep. As a result, it took until afternoon for me to feel even vaguely human. As a result I constantly felt behind on everything. - [Pandemic Focus - The Climb #825](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/28/pandemic-focus-the-climb-825/) - Thursday 27th May 2021 If you asked me what is my current pet peeve with myself, it’s my focus. The pandemic really shot it to pieces and as a result, I can only focus on one thing for a short period of time. I’m quite proud of how I’ve managed to be productive in the - [Level Headed - The Climb #824](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/27/level-headed-the-climb-824/) - Wednesday 26th May 2021 Wednesday is typically my Warcraft day, which means I tend not to be too productive on other things. But after getting the Maw mount yesterday from completing Twisting Corridors, I was able to collect souls quicker and get all my alts done faster than last week. It meant I had time - [A Lot Of Little Progress - The Climb #823](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/26/a-lot-of-little-progress-the-climb-823/) - Tuesday 25th May 2021 I had a day where I didn’t feel like I made a lot of progress but I got a lot done. I did some health-related stuff, progressed some social media issues I’ve been dealing with over the last couple of months and made contact with a company I could possibly do - [Strangely Productive - The Climb #822](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/25/strangely-productive-the-climb-822/) - Monday 24th May 2021 Monday marks the start of my week. If I’ve not found time to do it on Sunday then it’s the day I go through my ToDo list, move all those uncompleted tasks forward, fill out my weekly review and plan the week ahead. And normally there’s a ton of stuff I - [Warcraft Glory - The Climb #821](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/24/warcraft-glory-the-climb-821/) - Sunday 23rd May 2021 For what’s been a pretty productive week, I’ve played an awful lot of Warcraft. As we killed Sire Denathrius on heroic last week after many months of trying, this week we had a fun bit of progression. We dialed it down to normal difficulty and then went about doing all the - [Super Squirt Day - The Climb #820](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/23/super-squirt-day-the-climb-820/) - Saturday 22nd May 2021 Ordinarily in a day multiple things happen that could make a subject for the day’s edition of The Climb. It might be progress on some writing or some new piece of productivity or progress. However, today one and only one thing happened. I leveled Battle Pets in World of Warcraft. So - [Writing Non-Fiction - The Climb #819](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/22/writing-non-fiction-the-climb-819/) - Friday 21st May 2021 One of the things I’m interested in doing is diversifying my writing. It just means that if a novel is struggling or I’m waiting back for some feedback on a script, I have other stuff to keep me busy. So far this year I’ve submitted a script I’m waiting to hear - [You Can't Be Productive Every Day - The Climb #818](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/21/you-cant-be-productive-every-day-the-climb-818/) - Thursday 20th May 2021 I’ve come to the conclusion recently that you can’t be productive every day. I used to be of the mindset of being productive every minute of every day, and then being pissed at myself when I wasn’t. I’ve built fantastic systems over the years but I’ve come to realise they are - [Warcraft Wednesday: Mythic Mount - The Climb #817](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/20/warcraft-wednesday-mythic-mount-the-climb-817/) - Wednesday 19th May 2021 Today was Warcraft Wednesday and I got a lot done today. Because Warcraft various weekly systems reset on a Wednesday today is typically my big day for playing. I’ve been a bit lax on leveling the last few characters of late but that’s because I’ve been more focused on getting the - [On Top Of Things - The Climb #816](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/19/on-top-of-things-the-climb-816/) - Tuesday 18th May 2021 I’m still trying to work out how it’s happened but I seem to be in a position where I’m on top of everything. Yes, I have a novel I need to write but that’s progressing quite nicely. Part of the reason for that is because all the other things I need - [The Daily Log - The Climb #815](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/18/the-daily-log-the-climb-815/) - Monday 17th May 2021 At the start of each week, as part of my admin I declare what my focus is for the week. It’s little more than a mind trick but I find it helps me keep my focus on the bigger goals as I work through the smaller ones over the course of - [Daddy Denathrius Is Defeated - The Climb #814](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/17/daddy-denathrius-is-defeated-the-climb-814/) - Sunday 16th May 2021 Today was a good day. After 5 months, we finally downed Heroic Sire Denathrius in World of Warcraft. It’s been quite a journey and it took us around 120 attempts before we finally managed to do it. And I’ve loved it. I used to raid between Wrath of the Lich King - [Pokemon Go Swablu Community Day - The Climb #813](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/16/pokemon-go-swablu-community-day-the-climb-813/) - Saturday 15th May 2021 I’d originally planned for today’s The Climb to be about Pokemon Go Swablu Community Day but given that I have the shiny already, the move isn’t supposed to be that great and I spent very little time playing, there’s not really a lot to say. Instead I spent a lot of - [Disrupted Flow - The Climb #812](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/15/disrupted-flow-the-climb-812/) - Friday 14th May 2021 I had one of those days where I had to be somewhere early and it disrupted my flow. As a result I spent the rest of the day feeling thoroughly unproductive. After a few weeks of big projects with soft deadlines, I’m back to working on a few things at once. - [Smaller Scenes - The Climb #811](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/14/smaller-scenes-the-climb-811/) - Thursday 13th May 2021 I’ve noticed that this book seems to want smaller scenes. I’m in one of those lulls where work is out there and you’re waiting to hear back. At those times I try and keep myself busy so I’ve been using the time to really get some wordcount down on The Accursed. - [Creatively Recharging - The Climb #810](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/13/creatively-recharging-the-climb-810/) - Wednesday 12th May 2021 Creativity is a bizarre thing. I’ve often explained my creativity like a video games mana bar. If I create something I take energy away from that bar. If I work hard on a project I can drain it down to zero. Yet if I take a break or do certain things, - [Back To The Accursed - The Climb #809](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/12/back-to-the-accursed-the-climb-809/) - Tuesday 11th May 2021 After having completed the Detailed Outline, I’ve now thrown myself back into The Accursed. The word count wasn’t the best but for a first day back on it, it was decent. Best of all, it felt fun. I’m starting to get a feel for these characters. I often find the fun - [Another Project Ticked Off - The Climb #808](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/11/another-project-ticked-off-the-climb-808/) - Monday 10th May 2021 The detailed outline is done. I finished it off today and sent it across. It’s represented a major piece of work and something very different from anything I’ve done before, but it’s been a lot of fun. In terms of time, I put way more hours into it than I was - [0.8% - The Climb #807](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/10/0-8-the-climb-807/) - Sunday 9th May 2021 0.8%. That’s how close we came to defeating Sire Denathrius on heroic tonight in World of Warcraft. And of course, because progress is like waves, we then wiped on Phase 1 for a time before making it back to stage 3. But even when we did, we never got that close. - [The Challenges Of Being Creative - The Climb #806](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/10/the-challenges-of-being-creative-the-climb-806/) - Saturday 9th May 2021 I have done something to my back. This is super frustrating but not totally unexpected. I spent much of the day hunched over a computer, and then when I’m not, I’m either looking down at a phone or slouched on a sofa. As a result I’ll often feel like the back - [Victim Of The Terragrue - The Climb 805](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/09/victim-of-the-terragrue-the-climb-805/) - Friday 8th May 2021 The plan for today was a big Warcraft day. I’d planned to continue work on the Twisting Corridors in Torghast, and had rearranged my day to do it. That didn’t mean I forgot about the detailed outline. I spent a long time on the last section which, due to how it - [It All Evens Out - The Climb #804](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/07/it-all-evens-out-the-climb-804/) - Thursday 6th May 2021 It all evens out. After a few days where I’ve not been particularly productive, today I got loads done on the detailed outline. It’s not that I haven’t worked on it per say, it was more that it’s so complex that I needed to really take the time to think on - [Warcraft Wednesday: Renown Farming - The Climb #803](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/06/warcraft-wednesday-renown-farming-the-climb-803/) - Wednesday 5th May 2021 Wednesday is typically my Warcraft day. It’s the day that all the weekly quests reset and as such it’s always been a big day for me. I have now levelled most of my alts. I still have 3 (4 if you include the alliance alt) to do but progress has slowed - [Productivity Systems - The Climb #802](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/05/productivity-systems-the-climb-802/) - Tuesday 4th May 2021 I have this super annoying habit that when I start getting focused and productive that I start neglecting all my productivity tools. I don’t beat myself up about it too much as it normally happens when I need to focus on a single thing and get so consumed by it that - [The Marvel Mega Read - The Climb #801](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/04/the-marvel-mega-read-the-climb-801/) - Monday 3rd May 2021 I’ve been feeling a bit flat the last couple of days. It’s been a mix of ongoing pandemic anxiety coupled with boredom. I’m done with this pandemic now, but I’m not sure what I’d do if it was safe to mingle. So today’s plan was to curl up on the support - [Rage Quit - The Climb #800](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/03/rage-quit-the-climb-800/) - Sunday 2nd May 2021 I thought tonight would be the night! I’ve been feeling a bit meh! today. We’re in this bizarre stage of the pandemic where the end is in sight but there’s this anxiety that you’ll go and do something before your final vaccination and ruin all that time isolating yourself from other - [Gadget Frustration - The Climb #799](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/02/gadget-frustration-the-climb-799/) - Saturday 1st May 2021 Today was a bit of a disastrous day, even if I did get things done. Firstly, I’ve been working on the non-creative parts of this detailed outline. There’s a few areas that aren’t plot and as such they needed a different part of my brain. I had to write a diversity - [Burnout - The Climb #798](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/05/01/burnout-the-climb-798/) - Friday 30th April 2021 I think I’m possibly reaching a bit of a burn out stage with Warcraft. This is both a good and a bad thing. I’ve started leveling a new character. The idea is that this is potentially going to be my new raiding main come 9.1. Yes, that patch is still months - [A Day Of Grinding - The Climb #797](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/30/a-day-of-grinding-the-climb-797/) - Thursday 29th April 2021 Today has been a bit of a grind day where nothing much has happened, but work got done. In the detailed outline, I made what felt like a load of progress. The document and what it needs to cover (it has an interactive element) was a bit daunting to start with - [Warcraft Wednesday: Bloody Kul Tirans - The Climb #796](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/29/warcraft-wednesday-bloody-kul-tirans-the-climb-796/) - Wednesday 28th April 2021 Wednesday’s are technically my Warcraft days. It’s the start of the Warcraft week and as such I want to get all the weekly quests done. This was originally comprised of the souls and anima quests for renown and I went to great lengths to complete both on my horde and alliance - [Geocaching - The Climb #795](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/28/geocaching-the-climb-795/) - Tuesday 27th April 2021 One of the things all this mountain of work has stopped me doing is getting out and about and combating my lack of exercise during the pandemic. Gyms have been mostly closed for the last year and when they have been open I’ve not been in mind to visit them whilst - [An Unproductive Day - The Climb #794](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/27/an-unproductive-day-the-climb-794/) - Monday 26th April 2021 I have a lot I need to be working on this week. First and foremost, I need to work on this detailed outline and whilst I spent time over the weekend, gathering bits together into a document I intend to flesh out, it really was a high level summary with a - [A Sense of Fun - The Climb #793](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/26/a-sense-of-fun-the-climb-793/) - Sunday 25th April 2021 One of the things I like to do when I find a story I like, is to investigate the author and their process. I say story rather than book as in this case it was Shadow and Bone. I have friends saying the book isn’t as good as the series and - [Pokemon Go Sustainability Event - The Climb #792](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/25/pokemon-go-sustainability-event-the-climb-792/) - Saturday 24th April 2021 Pokemon Go events eat my day. They always seem to be on from 11 until 2pm or 5pm and as such, take up enough of the day that there’s not time to really do anything either side of the event. Today was a 3 hour sustainability event for Earth Day. There - [Onto The Next Project - The Climb #791](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/24/onto-the-next-project-the-climb-791/) - Friday 23rd April 2021 I’ve had a busy but productive day today. First and foremost, I’ve completed the pre-writing on The Accursed. That and the synopsis got sent to my agent. There’s part of me that’s a little worried that it feels a little loose. I’m still getting to know the characters and a lot - [One Eye On The Future - The Climb #790](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/23/one-eye-on-the-future-the-climb-790/) - Thursday 22nd April 2021 The pre-writing is done. Today, I converted into word and gave it another read-through. It’s weird giving an edit to something I haven’t completed. I know that, come the finished thing, there will be bits I will need to pull out, character thoughts I’ll need to adjust, secondary arcs I’ll need - [The Incredibly Boring Life Of Getting Stuff Done - The Climb #789](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/22/the-incredibly-boring-life-of-getting-stuff-done-the-climb-789/) - Wednesday 21st April 2021 Life is incredibly boring right now… but that might not be a bad thing. Focus has been on this pre-writing and today I finished the Scrivener edit, including rewriting an entire chapter to change the tense. Tomorrow I’ll export it to Word and do a line edit on it before sending - [Editing And Grinding Professions - The Climb #788](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/20/editing-and-grinding-professions-the-climb-788/) - Tuesday 20th April 2021 Today I’ve been busy editing the pre-writing. There’s quite a bit of work to do there. I’ve written this as a collection of scenes exploring theme and character, but now I need to tie it together. I’ve been going back and forth over the brojob scene. Yesterday I wanted to drop - [Synopsis Complete - The Climb #787](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/20/synopsis-complete-the-climb-787/) - Monday 19th April 2021 I got the synopsis done today. This was a bit of a struggle as I’m doubting myself. I felt I was missing some subplots. The act of writing up the synopsis from my notes highlighted a few areas that were weak. So as part of that work, I ended up doing - [Pre-Writing Complete - The Climb #786](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/19/pre-writing-complete-the-climb-786/) - Sunday 18th April 2021 So the first draft of the pre-writing is done. It feels a bit weird to stop there and go back and edit what I’ve done, especially as the story feels like it is still coming together. One of the things I’ve noticed is how bare bones the novel feels. I’ve put - [Rested XP - The Climb #785](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/18/rested-xp-the-climb-785/) - Saturday 17th April 2021 I was feeling a little bored today. I started the day still feeling a bit negative about The Accursed. There’s work that needs to be done and so far it seems to fall short of what’s in my head. I’m also conscious that I’ve not fleshed out the arcs of a - [The Messy Book - The Climb #784](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/17/the-messy-book-the-climb-784/) - Friday 16th April 2021 I’m not sure if it’s the remnants of side effects or not, but I’ve been feeling a bit negative today. I’m not sure why but I find I can be when I feel a bit run down. I finished off chapter 1 of The Accursed and made a start on writing - [Internal Deadlines - The Climb #783](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/16/internal-deadlines-the-climb-783/) - Thursday 15th April 2021 I’ve felt like I have more energy and as such I’ve been working to catch up on all the things I need to get done. There’s two big tasks in front of me: The Accursed outline and pre-writing, and the Powered detailed outline. I want to get The Accursed done and - [Side Effects - The Climb #782](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/15/side-effects-the-climb-782/) - Wednesday 14th April 2021 I’ve done nothing today. Well, I did the Warcraft weekly boss on all my level 60s but that took me all day. I had expected some symptoms from the Covid Jab yesterday. I have an overactive immune system and as such could expect a stronger reaction. In truth, it was fairly - [Jabbed - The Climb #781](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/14/jabbed-the-climb-781/) - Tuesday 13th April 2021 Today was the day of my first Covid vaccine and I can’t lie, I’m a little relieved. I generally have an overactive immune system. It means, I rarely get ill. However, because it’s going at 150 miles per hour, my immune system can sometimes crash. When that happens I have zero - [Pre-Writing - The Climb #780](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/13/pre-writing-the-climb-780/) - Monday 12th April 2021 I heard Brandon Sanderson call some exploratory writing you do before starting a novel, pre-writing. I like that term and even if it’s not exactly the same as what Sanderson does, I’m adopting it for my opening exploratory chapters I write as part of the outline. And here’s the thing. I’m - [Pokemon Go Snivy Community Day - The Climb #779](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/12/pokemon-go-snivy-community-day-the-climb-779/) - Sunday 11th April 2021 Today was a No Writing Day, but this was mostly by design. It was Snivy Community Day in Pokemon Go and these community day events always seem to swallow my day. I’m not really doing a lot of Pokemon Go lately. I’m dipping in and out of it. I’m getting the - [A Glorious Mess - The Climb #778](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/11/a-glorious-mess-the-climb-778/) - Saturday 10th April 2021 After yesterday’s bad day of no writing, I got back on track today with a number of writing sessions. Still not as much as I can do in a day but I’m still exploring the cracks and corners of this story. I’m enjoying being able to spend the time doing this. - [Unproductive - The Climb #777](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/10/unproductive-the-climb-777/) - Friday 9th April 2021 Today wasn’t a productive day. They happen. I got woken by a delivery. Normally deliveries round here are lunchtimes to late afternoon but for some reason I must have been the first delivery of the day. I woke to someone knocking at my door, and the sudden awakening coupled with trying - [Creatively Recharging - The Climb #776](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/09/creatively-recharging-the-climb-776/) - Thursday 8th April 2021 I would have considered today not to have been a productive day. Sure I got an acceptable number of words done but I was supposed to be doing some joint content in World of Warcraft today and got on early, only for the other person not to show. As a result, - [Warcraft Wednesday: A Million And One Projects... In Azeroth - The Climb #775](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/08/warcraft-wednesday-a-million-and-one-projects-in-azeroth-the-climb-775/) - Wednesday 7th April 2021 Today was a bit of a Warcraft Wednesday. Don’t worry, I still got words done on The Accursed. With ten characters at level 60, I’m over half way done on my aim to get all my alts leveled. Even better, the rest are all in various states of progression from 55 - [A Million And One Projects - The Climb #774](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/07/a-million-and-one-projects-the-climb-774/) - Tuesday 6th April 2021 Today in the glamorous world of writing, I got to write a blowjob scene. This might sound like fun but trust me, knowing how to strike the tone just right in sex scenes is difficult. It’s hard work (pun intended). Worse still, I think I need to rewrite it to better - [A Working Bank Holiday - The Climb #773](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/06/a-working-bank-holiday-the-climb-773/) - Monday 5th April 2021 Technically, this was supposed to have been a bank holiday. But I have a number of projects on the go and I find myself in one of those weird times where I seem to be productive without really trying. Perhaps it’s because I’m focused on the now rather than getting frustrated - [A Nice Little Groove - The Climb #772](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/05/a-nice-little-groove-the-climb-772/) - Sunday 4th April 2021 I seem to have settled into a nice little groove at the moment. Work is getting done and I’m also having plenty of time to play things like World of Warcraft. There are improvements that could be made, but everything seems to be moving forwards. I managed to get my priest - [Sample Chapters - The Climb #771](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/04/sample-chapters-the-climb-771/) - Saturday 3rd April 2021 I like days like today. I got more done to the sample chapters of The Accursed. I’m still finding my way with this story so I’m not exactly pumping the words out just yet. But then I’m still finding my way with the story. Whilst I have an outline, I’ve not - [A Sense Of Imaginative Scale - The Climb #770](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/03/a-sense-of-imaginative-scale-the-climb-770/) - Friday 2nd April 2021 Motivation has been very tough for me the last year. I’d like to think that I’ve done a good job of muddling through but the world has felt oppressive and depressive. But as blows - as they inevitably do - come in, it gets harder and harder to withstand them. The - [Concepts - The Climb #769](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/02/concepts-the-climb-769/) - Thursday 1st April 2021 Today was mostly spent on working on some concepts for a pitch I’m putting together. It seems weird, because most of the work is really about thinking and daydreaming. And so, I get to the end of the day thinking “have I actually done anything all day”. To be honest, I’m - [Twisting Corridors - The Climb #768](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/04/01/twisting-corridors-the-climb-768/) - Wednesday 31st March 2021 I’ve felt exhausted all day. I’m not entirely sure how late I stayed up last night doing all the last bits of editing on 4S but I think it was really, really late. As a consequence, I woke today not feeling rested. I’d made plans with the guild to do some - [Manuscript Complete - The Climb #767](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/31/manuscript-complete-the-climb-767/) - Tuesday 30th March 2021 I put in a heavy days work today and got the manuscript done. I went through all the plot points and as I thought, they were minor fixes that took a sentence or two to fix. It’s amazing just how much you can fix with just a few words in the - [The Post-Editing Checklist - The Climb #766](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/30/the-post-editing-checklist-the-climb-766/) - Monday 29th March 2021 Today I turned my eyes so square from staring at the screen I had to have a kip this afternoon, just to rest my eyes. I’m now going through my checklist for 4S. This consists of two parts. One part dealing with plot issues, such as elaborating certain parts, or ensuring - [The Edit Is Done - The Climb #765](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/29/the-edit-is-done-the-climb-765/) - Sunday 28th March 2020 So the first pass of this edit is done. I did the final 5 chapters today and whilst one of them was clearly written whilst I was very tired, I managed to untangle all the sentences and get it done. Just as well as I had a Pokemon Go PvP tournament - [The End In Sight - The Climb #764](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/28/the-end-in-sight-the-climb-764/) - Saturday 27th March 2021 I got a load of editing done yesterday. I now have just 5 chapters to go and a bunch of notes. There’s always a temptation when I get close to the end to speed up. I have to actively hold myself back to ensure I’m not rushing the work. It’s not - [Editing Observations - The Climb #763](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/27/editing-observations-the-climb-763/) - Friday 26th March 2021 I’ve been working away at editing 4S today. Nothing really exciting to report on that front because (thankfully) it’s not needed a lot. This was a book I wrote in a rush. I think it might have been a NaNoWriMo project and the work I’m currently doing, highlights the downside of - [Juggling 4 Different Stories - The Climb #762](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/26/juggling-4-different-stories-the-climb-762/) - Thursday 25th March 2021 Continuing to feel as if I’m not doing anything, I put a load of work into the synopsis today and have pretty much got it complete. Considering where it was yesterday this was a lot of work. I find plotting out a novel to get increasingly harder as you progress. There’s - [Running The Marathon - The Climb #761](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/25/running-the-marathon-the-climb-761/) - Wednesday 24th March 2021 I have a lot of balls up in the air right now, and I’m honestly don’t feel like I’m making any progress towards completion. I mean… I am. I created about 8 characters yesterday for a project. But I not only need to finish 3 outlines, I need to write sample - [Troubles in Torghast - The Climb #760](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/24/troubles-in-torghast-the-climb-760/) - Tuesday 23rd March 2021 Today was another day of editing. Didn’t make as much progress as I’d like but I still got a substantial amount done. Part of the reason for this is because I’d arranged to do Twisting Corridors this week with the guild. As I’ve mentioned I’ve largely avoided doing Torghast as I - [Knee Deep In Edits - The Climb #759](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/23/knee-deep-in-edits-the-climb-759/) - Monday 22nd March 2021 Today, I did a bunch of editing on 4S. I really want to get this done but I also want to get some outlines done as well. I made good progress with this book today. It seems really solid and the only worry I really have about it is repetition. The - [Magic Systems - The Climb #758](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/22/magic-systems-the-climb-758/) - Sunday 21st March 2021 I spent today working on magic systems. And yes, that’s right, it’s plural. One thing I think I’m weak at is magic. It’s not that the magic that’s in my books is weak but I’m very much of the old school where magic is mysterious and it’s never clearly defined. The - [The Multiverse - The Climb #757](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/21/the-multiverse-the-climb-757/) - Saturday 20th March 2021 I got the basis of a new idea yesterday. One of the things I’ve been miserable about is that I really like aspects of Black as Knight’s worldbuilding. I’d still like to write in that world but my professional head has told me that the next thing needs to be far - [From The Ashes... - The Climb #756](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/20/from-the-ashes-the-climb-756/) - Friday 19th March 2021 After a couple of weeks, I feel I’m really slowly starting to come out of my funk. I’ve been doing stuff, so it’s not that I haven’t been productive, it’s just that the massive spanner in the works derailed me for a time. I had to give myself time to be - [Plotting Two Novels - The Climb #755](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/19/plotting-two-novels-the-climb-755/) - Thursday 18th March 2021 I’ve spent a good part of my writing time today working on outlines. Bizarrely, I’ve found myself naturally switching between two. One is a fun, almost-YA fantasy, whilst the other is a more serious epic fantasy. Perhaps because they are so vastly different in tone is how I’ve been able to - [Outlining - The Climb #754](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/18/outlining-the-climb-754/) - Wednesday 17th March 2021 Here’s the thing about outlining. It doesn’t feel a lot like work. Sure, there’s the maddening part when you have most of the story but there’s a bit missing, and your brain feels like it might explode. But that’s when you leave it. I’ve found early mornings really good the past - [Back Brain Stuff - The Climb #753](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/17/back-brain-stuff-the-climb-753/) - Tuesday 16th March 2021 Today was the start of a new Fortnite season and I have to admit that I didn’t get a lot of written work done. I did, however, work out that when you are outlining, having a lay-in and thinking about some plot problems can constitute work. I woke early and spent - [The Legendary Quest - The Climb #752](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/16/the-legendary-quest-the-climb-752/) - Monday 15th March 2021 I know it seems like I do nothing but play games at the moment. It just feels like all the games I play have events or deadlines around now. The latest of these is Warcraft but it’s a deadline that’s been set by the guild rather than by me. Going for - [Grinding Games And Edits - The Climb #751](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/15/grinding-games-and-edits-the-climb-751/) - Sunday 14th March 2020 I’m slowly plodding through edits. Whilst I’m happy with my progress I think I would be faster if my back brain didn’t feel a bit lost. My head has been so in BAK for the last few years that even though I have worked on other stuff my back brain is - [Gaming Day - The Climb #750](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/14/gaming-day-the-climb-750/) - Saturday 13th March 2020 I want to preface this by saying that I have done a bunch of work today. I’ve created a template for all the various projects I want to outline in the weeks ahead. The idea is that rather than having complicated Scrivener corkboards for each, at this stage where I’m just - [New Ideas - The Climb #749](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/13/new-ideas-the-climb-749/) - Friday 12th March 2020 As a general rule, I don’t like to talk about my actual ideas. Normally, it’ll be a scene or a character or a even a phrase that I make a point of writing down. At some point I might try that idea within other ideas in my notebook. Like solving a - [New Plans - The Climb #748](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/12/new-plans-the-climb-748/) - Thursday 11th March 2020 Whilst I like to think I’ve been cautious in my plans, much of my recent frustration has been about knowing about the fate of the book. If it had got picked up, I would have started building up a Youtube channel. I had planned to do some videos on productivity tools - [New Projects - The Climb #747](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/11/new-projects-the-climb-747/) - Wednesday 10th March 2021 I’ve started to think about projects going forwards. I have a lot of ideas, and they still need a lot of refinement. The first is to finish the edit of 4S. This has to be a priority. The next is developing new projects. Ideas are not really a problem for me, - [Agent Call - The Climb #746](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/10/agent-call-the-climb-746/) - Tuesday 9th March 2021 So I had a call with my agent today. We did it over Skype and I don’t know whether it was some lag in the software or the fact that I haven't really been able to chat with people about writing since the pandemic and just word-vomited, but I felt like - [Fortnite - The Climb #745](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/09/fortnite-the-climb-745/) - Monday 8th March 2021 Of the various games I play, one of them is Fortnite. We started playing a few years ago when C was looking after their nephew and wanted us to play with them. C’s nephew has moved on, but C and I still play. It’s a game I dip in and out - [Voice - The Climb #744](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/08/voice-the-climb-744/) - Sunday 7th March 2021 I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this weekend. I’m still a mix of emotions. There’s part of me that accepts that this is a business and as such shit happens. It’s not about getting knocked down. It’s about how you get back up. But there’s a part of my that’s - [Fletchling Community Day - The Climb #743](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/07/fletchling-community-day-the-climb-743/) - Saturday 6th March 2021 A Pokemon Go community day is just the sort of distraction I need right now. Unfortunately whilst Fletchling is an interesting choice, there’s not much use for it outside of PvP and so it wasn’t one I was really motivated to collect all day. I’m naturally in a very shitty mood - [Nerfed - The Climb #742](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/06/nerfed-the-climb-742/) - Friday 5th March 2021 So a couple of weeks ago I came across this leveling trick in Warcraft. It was designed to help speed up the process of going from level 50 to 60. It involved having a second account with a level 10. I had a free starter account from a few years ago - [Implosion - The Climb 741](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/05/implosion-the-climb-741/) - Thursday 4th March 2021 Let me be honest with you here. I’m writing this entry over a week later. Ordinarily, if I’m running behind, I might not write The Climb, but I’ll at least make notes. In this case, I haven’t been able to even think about this day for an entire week. Behind the - [New Opportunities - The Climb 740](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/04/new-opportunities-the-climb-740/) - Wednesday 3rd March 2021 I know I said that I have a backlog of tasks I’m trying to clear off. But hear me out. One of my major aims of the last year or so is to diversify my writing. I think whatever happens, I’ll always primarily be a novelist at heart. There’s something about - [Future Character Developments - The Climb #739](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/03/future-character-developments-the-climb-739/) - Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Among my various writing projects I have an idea for an epic fantasy. Weirdly, this is one where I know the plot, but I don’t know the story. Or is it the other way round? Basically I know what happens but I don’t know who the characters are or what they - [Monthly Follow Ups - The Climb #738](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/02/monthly-follow-ups-the-climb-738/) - Monday 1st March 2021 The beginning of the month is my time to follow up about a bunch of things. Typically, when I have something I’m waiting on, I create a task in the future to ask the question of whether I’ve heard back. That way, I can ensure that I don’t forget about things. - [Understanding The Market - The Climb #737](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/03/01/understanding-the-market-the-climb-737/) - Sunday 28th February 2021 None of this is specific, just an amalgamation of experience and observations over the years. When you start out you want to set the industry ablaze. You’ll be blind to the flaws of your novel and as much as you try to convince yourself otherwise, like a proud parent, you’ll have - [Mass Leveling in Warcraft - The Climb #736](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/28/mass-leveling-in-warcraft-the-climb-736/) - Saturday 27th February 2021 I’m still a bit knackered from my mammoth walk yesterday. I feel a bit better for it, and I don’t intend to leave it too long before I go again, but today was very firmly a rest day. So today, I read a bunch of comics, did some idea work on - [Taking Myself For A Walk - The Climb #735](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/27/taking-myself-for-a-walk-the-climb-735/) - Friday 26th February 2021 I took myself for a long walk today. There were a number of factors that fed into this decision. Primarily, the weather finally seems to be turning. We’re moving from winter into spring. My support bubble C’s a good barometer for this as their ailments flair up with seasonal changes and - [Pandemic Frustrations - The Climb #734](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/26/pandemic-frustrations-the-climb-734/) - Thursday 25th February 2021 Spring always seems to be my productive season. I don’t know if it’s the increased daylight or the better weather leading me to spend more time outside but I always find that it takes until the end of February for my New Year’s Resolutions to really kick in. I think I’m - [Dopamine Lows - The Climb #733](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/25/dopamine-lows-the-climb-733/) - Wednesday 24th February 2021 If I ever come back and read over these editions of The Climb I don’t want to think that it’s currently easy. Yeah, I’m getting things done and moving a lot of other things towards completion but it still feels difficult. I feel I’m doing about as half as much as - [Streaming Valheim - The Climb #732](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/24/streaming-valheim-the-climb-732/) - Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Today was the first day of my latest IT Course. Unlike all the others, this one didn’t seem to hold my interest and went into areas of programming I’m not interested in pursuing. Still, it’s a free course, and if the only thing I learnt was that Microsoft Graph is NOT - [Still Working On Things - The Climb #731](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/23/still-working-on-things-the-climb-731/) - Monday 22nd February 2021 I thought I had the start of a 2 day course today, but it turned out that’s tomorrow. So instead I spent the morning catching up on The Climb. For once I can attribute the 4 day backlog to something other than laziness. Thursday was the second day of my last - [A Productive Week - The Climb #730](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/22/a-productive-week-the-climb-730/) - Sunday 21st February 2021 This year my focus is on productivity. This comes after a year where lockdown caused me to be sporadic. Things got done, but it seemed to alternate between super-productive weeks and weeks of no productivity. Going into 2021, I wanted to even that out a little. I had a backlog of - [Collecting All 151 Kanto Pokemon In A Single Day - The Climb #729](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/21/collecting-all-151-kanto-pokemon-in-a-single-day-the-climb-729/) - Saturday 20th February 2021 Today was the Pokemon Go Kanto event and it was a crazy day. I’ve been a little on the fence with Pokemon Go lately. There are things I like, such as the collections and research tasks. And then there are things that really bother me, such as when Niantic seemingly forget - [Short Story Deadline - The Climb #728](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/20/short-story-deadline-the-climb-728/) - Friday 19th February 2021 I have a short story deadline coming up and I may deliberately miss it. In recent weeks I’ve collected details of a few open submissions, the idea being that as part of my work for 2021 I should write and submit a few short stories. I had a 2 week window - [House of Learning - The Climb #727](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/19/house-of-learning-the-climb-727/) - Thursday 18th February 2021 One of the things I wanted to do more of in 2021 was learning. I’ve picked up a bunch of courses over the year and whilst I’ve dipped in and out of them, I don’t feel I’ve sat down and really studied. Primarily I’m interested in story theory – how stories - [Progress By Inches Rather Than Miles - The Climb #726](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/18/progress-by-inches-rather-than-miles-the-climb-726/) - Wednesday 17th February 2021 Ordinarily, Wednesday is my Warcraft day but I’ve got some more Microsoft training over the next couple of days so fitting it into my day has proved difficult. I made a point of doing the weekly World boss as they give 250 anima. There’s ordinarily another World Quest that does gives - [Boring Progress Is Progress - The Climb #725](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/17/boring-progress-is-progress-the-climb-725/) - Tuesday 16th February 2021 Some days are boring. The problem with doing a daily blog is that sometimes there’s no one thing that jumps out of the day: no exciting news; no new insight; no new plans. At times that’s because nothing happened, that the day was spent procrastinating. But this week is a little - [Tales From The Support Bubble Sofa - The Climb #724](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/16/tales-from-the-support-bubble-sofa-the-climb-724/) - Monday 15th February 2020 For various reasons, myself and C formed a legitimate support bubble at the beginning of the pandemic. Every night after I finish work, I head over a few streets and we hang out on the sofa watching TV. The problem is that I’m not into all of the programmes. You very - [System Changes - The Climb #723](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/15/system-changes-the-climb-723/) - Sunday 14th February 2021 As much as I moan about the lack of productivity here, I do have a number of background systems I use to at least try and keep me on target. I primarily use two tools for my day-to-day admin. The first is ToDoist. It’s a task tracker, but it has some - [Starting To Clear The Backlog - The Climb #722](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/14/starting-to-clear-the-backlog-the-climb-722/) - Saturday 13th February 2021 It’s still very early days but I think the iPad is helping my productivity. I found myself sat on the support bubble sofa today, dipping in and out of tasks. Even if I wasn’t completing them I was making progress on them. And best of all, a lot of these were - [I Want To Change My Editing Process - The Climb #721](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/13/i-want-to-change-my-editing-process-the-climb-721/) - Friday 12th February 2021 As the title suggests, I want to radically alter my approach to editing. In some ways this has been building in the background over the past few months. I’ve long had this thing where I write in Scrivener and then edit in MS Word. I also write short stories and non-fiction - [I Caved In - The Climb #720](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/12/i-caved-in-the-climb-720/) - Thursday 11th February 2021 I am a weak-willed individual. After fighting the lure of new technology and tools, I caved in. I will now plead my case with the court. I’m not happy with my productivity at the moment. I don’t believe people are robots or that sustained hyper-productivity is healthy. But, I know what - [Striving For Elegant Progress - The Climb #719](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/11/striving-for-elegant-progress-the-climb-719/) - Wednesday 10th February 2021 It’s been a busy day here in the Faulkner household. Ordinarily this would be my day for doing a bunch of weekly Warcraft tasks but I had an IT seminar this morning. I’m not sure that I’m ever going to need this information but in IT it’s very easy for your - [Holding Onto Soon - The Climb #718](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/10/holding-onto-soon-the-climb-718/) - Tuesday 9th February 2021 We’re in the situation in the UK where we’re in lockdown. After Covid cases rocketing after Xmas, and new variants being discovered, we’ve effectively been told to stay home except for essentials. In many ways, if we had to have a lockdown, now’s the best time. It’s the height of winter - [New Year, New Tools - The Climb #717](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/09/new-year-new-tools-the-climb-717/) - Monday 8th February 2021 I fall for this every year! I get past the financial glut that is January when everyone is poor, reach February, and start craving new tools. I tell myself that if ONLY I had some device or other then my work would benefit. I’d be able to do X, or be - [Pokemon Go Roselia Community Day - The Climb #716](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/08/pokemon-go-roselia-community-day-the-climb-716/) - Sunday 7th February 2021 This has to be the least participation I’ve ever had in a community day. It was the turn of Roselia to have a community day today, yet despite evolves having two special exclusive moves, I did the research and was basically done. I probably played, at most, an hour or two. - [The Comics Binge - The Climb #715](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/07/the-comics-binge-the-climb-715/) - Saturday 6th February 2021 I have had a real craving for comics the last couple of days. I tend to be a comics binger. I’ll go ages without reading a single comic and then I want to binge read not only an entire trade, but an entire event as well. I love the idea of - [Pitch Perfect Editing - The Climb #714](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/06/pitch-perfect-editing-the-climb-714/) - Friday 5th February 2021 I’m still absolutely shattered today. Whilst I didn’t have any more seminars, staying up until about 5am the last 3 nights have put my sleep schedule all out of whack, even after catching up on missing sleep. As a result, today was a bit of a nothing day. I look at - [Netflix And Sell - The Climb #713](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/05/netflix-and-sell-the-climb-713/) - Thursday 4th February 2021 I’ve been a wreck today. I’m doing a series of courses this week from Netflix on scriptwriting. It’s not that I’m focused on writing scripts right now but that the opportunity came up and given how I really want to know more about the industry… I took the opportunity to learn. - [Late Night Learnings - The Climb #712](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/04/late-night-learnings-the-climb-712/) - Wednesday 3rd February 2021 I got a lot done today, despite it being Warcraft Wednesday. Ordinarily, this is the day weekly quests reset in World of Warcraft and so the priority for the last few months has been to get the new content done on this day to leave the rest of the week free - [Having Fun Writing Short Stories - The Climb #711](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/03/having-fun-writing-short-stories-the-climb-711/) - Tuesday 2nd February 2021 After a couple of weeks of just feeling unmotivated and unable to concentrate I manged to get a decent numbers of words down today. Everyone I speak to seems to be going through the same at the moment. Lockdown has just dragged on to the point that, when combined with the - [Switching Gears - The Climb #710](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/02/switching-gears-the-climb-710/) - Monday 1st February 2021 It’s a new month, and with it some of my writing aims change. I have a schedule I want to keep to for the year, however January – despite starting well – really was a struggle. So rather than delay my previous milestone, I’m using the start of new scheduled projects - [Professions Update - The Climb #709](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/02/01/professions-update-the-climb-709/) - Sunday 31st January 2021 This has not been a productive week. Today’s the last day of January and as such I’m going to spend part of tomorrow doing a January review. It started so well with the script getting sent off, only to then get worse as news from the US caused a bunch of - [Sofa Setup - The Climb #708](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/31/sofa-setup-the-climb-708/) - Saturday 30th January 2021 So my days during this pandemic have been pretty identical. I’ll get up, work for most of the day, then go to my support bubble a road or two away and either watch TV or play videogames in company, before returning home, going to bed and repeating the next day. The - [Story Notes For Future Me - The Climb #707](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/30/story-notes-for-future-me-the-climb-707/) - Friday 29th January 2021 I spent a couple of hours doing research for a novel I’m not planning to write this year. This wasn’t planned but given that this week has been very unproductive in just about anything plus I’m very frustrated that I’m not currently taking advantage of the pandemic to set things up - [Adventures in Crypto - The Climb #706](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/29/adventures-in-crypto-the-climb-706/) - Thursday 28th January 2021 I’m feeling really rundown this week. There’s part of me that wants to be motivated and organised, and yet there’s another part of me that is now bored of this pandemic and how the days seem to bleed into one another. I’m frustrated that I started this month so productively, and - [Beyond Shadowlands - Warcraft Wednesday - The Climb #705](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/28/beyond-shadowlands-warcraft-wednesday-the-climb-705/) - Wednesday 27th January 2021 With the buzz of the launch of Shadowlands now passing, I’m enjoying the more relaxed pace of the game. I managed to log in today on weekly reset and get the renown quests done on both my main and raiding alt in half the time it usually takes. Of course, there - [Better Notetaking - The Climb #704](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/27/better-notetaking-the-climb-704/) - Tuesday 26th January 2021 One of the things I really want to improve in 2021 is my notetaking. I’ve got better over the years, especially when it comes to writing and ideas. I used to be a person who thought the only ideas worth remembering were those in my head, but as I’ve got older - [HEMA Drama - The Climb #703](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/26/hema-drama-the-climb-703/) - Monday 25th January 2021 One of the few downsides to big, diverse groups is that sooner or later, someone is going to do something that annoys or offends another person or section of the group. You’re never going to have a big group without some form of drama. Sometimes the drama is quite small, sometimes - [Gaming Day - The Climb #702](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/25/gaming-day-the-climb-702/) - Sunday 24th January 2021 Because this has been a wobbly week, I’ve tried to be a bit kind with myself this weekend. I’ve enjoyed good food, watched TV and played some games. Today there was a Mareep incense day. I did the original community day years back so this was of little interest to me… - [Need For Structure - The Climb #701](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/24/need-for-structure-the-climb-701/) - Saturday 23rd January 2021 After yesterday’s wobble, I’m taking it easy today. I’ve toyed with the idea of keeping my weekend’s free of tasks and I’ve tried the last few weeks to schedule everything for during the week. However, inevitably, things that should have got done, haven’t been, and as a result, tasks from the - [Anxiety Attack - The Climb #700](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/23/anxiety-attack-the-climb-700/) - Friday 22nd January 2021 I feel I’ve weathered the pandemic pretty well. I have plenty of activities to keep me busy round the house: from working through to writing to gaming to one day finishing gluing all the Shadows of Brimstone miniatures I have. I have my support bubble and get to spend part of - [Erratic Productivity - The Climb #699](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/22/erratic-productivity-the-climb-699/) - Thursday 21st January 2020 It’s hard to remember that we are only 3 weeks into January. It already feels like 5 months. And as such, maybe I shouldn’t feel quite so frustrated. Things are getting done, goals are being progressed, but each day feels like a mess, a period of chaotic progress, and non-optimal productivity. - [Burndown - Warcraft Wednesday - The Climb #698](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/21/burndown-warcraft-wednesday-the-climb-698/) - Wednesday 20th January 2021 With the covenant campaign over and gearing slowing right down, the anticipated Warcraft burndown has arrived. I see this as a good thing. I’m definitely not fed up with Warcraft or planning to stop playing, but today – the day I typically spend the majority of it doing the new renown - [A Nothing Day - The Climb #697](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/20/a-nothing-day-the-climb-697/) - Tuesday 19th January 2020 Some days are nothing days, when you do a bunch of stuff not none of them seem to be the key achievement or piece of learning that day. I finished reading The Invisible Lives of Addie LaRue. I didn’t feel like I read a whole bunch in 2020 and as such - [The Year Of Voice? - The Climb #696](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/19/the-year-of-voice-the-climb-696/) - Monday 18th January 2021 If 2020 was the year where I really dived into the craft of theme, then it’s looking like 2021 is the year I dive into the craft of voice. As you may know, I’ve been struggling with this first draft. I’ve got better over the years at letting a first draft - [Career Paths - The Climb #695](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/18/career-paths-the-climb-695/) - Sunday 17th January 2021 I’ve been thinking a lot about writing careers recently. It might seem a bit presumptuous, but I’ve been asking myself what type of writer I want to be. You have to be adaptable as a writer. It’s part of the reason I do the occasional short story or script. It’s not - [Pokemon Go Machop Community Day - The Climb #694](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/17/pokemon-go-machop-community-day-the-climb-694/) - Saturday 16th January 2021 I think I’m slowly getting back into Pokemon Go again. As I’ve said in the past, some of the decisions taken by Niantic in the past 6 months have left me so angry that it spoilt the enjoyment of the game for me. However, I kinda like the new collection challenges. - [My 2021 Reading Challenge - The Climb #693](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/16/my-2021-reading-challenge-the-climb-693/) - Friday 15th January 2021 One of the things I really want to do more of in 2021 is read. Whilst other areas of my writing profession have been sporadic, they have at least had moments of productivity. Reading, however, is something that suffered. I just couldn't get my head into books in 2021. Even big - [Thinking About Voice - The Climb #692](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/15/thinking-about-voice-the-climb-692/) - Thursday 14th January 2021 I’ve been thinking a lot about voice this week. There was a time when I worried a lot about this as a writer. Just what is voice? What was my authorial voice? As time has progressed, I’m not sure I have a clear definition, but I understand a little more of - [Shadowlands Completed? - The Climb #691](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/14/shadowlands-completed-the-climb-691/) - Wednesday 13th January 2021 It feels like things are starting to quieten down in Shadowlands. This week, my characters completed the campaign quest – nicely timed with taking down Denathrius on my raiding alt. Whilst it’s still a pain to get all the anima, I had saved the turn in from Denathrius so at least - [HEMA Hibernation - The Climb #690](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/13/hema-hibernation-the-climb-690/) - Tuesday 12th January 2021 The pandemic has been pretty devastating to HEMA. Obviously whilst there is some element of social distancing when you are trying to stay out of the range of someone’s blade, it’s just not practical to risk it with a big group of people together, and it provides a burden to clubs - [Digitial Notebooks And Why I Advocate Them - The Climb #689](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/12/digitial-notebooks-and-why-i-advocate-them-the-climb-689/) - Monday 11th January 2021 I like to be a mobile writer, and by that I mean, I want to be able to write anywhere. Obviously some locations are better than others, but I don’t want to be in a position where I have chance to write and don’t have tools at my disposal to do - [Denathrius Down - The Climb #688](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/11/denathrius-down-the-climb-688/) - Sunday 10th January 2021 This has been a incredibly long week. I was lamenting that I felt like I wasn't being productive this week, only to realise that I submitted the script on Wednesday and that was this week. I still had a bunch of other things that needed to get done but didn’t due - [The Shop At The Bottom Of The Hill - The Climb #687](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/10/the-shop-at-the-bottom-of-the-hill-the-climb-687/) - Saturday 9th January 2021 I rarely get ideas from dreams. Mostly my dreams are a mixup of continuously changing ideas, each scene changing one piece of continuity so that by the end, the dream is very different to how it started. Even when there is something that feels concrete, it fades so quickly from memory - [Environmental Influence - The Climb#686](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/09/environmental-influence-the-climb686/) - Friday 8th January 2021 I wish I didn’t get impacted by the world around me. I guess you’re supposed to, as a writer. You’re supposed to absorb the world and spit it out in a way that all makes sense in the form of a story. I’ve often said that my productivity has been a - [Warcraft Thursday - The Climb #685](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/08/warcraft-thursday-the-climb-685/) - Thursday 7th January 2020 Today has technically been my day off. I should have had my day playing Warcraft yesterday but due to needing to get my submission out, it meant I only got a few hours play – which isn’t enough for all the Warcraft weekly quests. So I decided to have a Warcraft - [First Writing Project Of 2021 Completed - The Climb #684](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/07/first-writing-project-of-2021-completed-the-climb-684/) - Wednesday 6th January 2021 I've managed to get my first writing project of 2021 completed and submitted but it came at a cost. Wednesday is typically my Warcraft day. It the day of the weekly resets and I’ve found it’s easier to find groups on that day. It also means I get the bulk of - [Full Steam Ahead - The Climb #683](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/06/full-steam-ahead-the-climb-683/) - Tuesday 5th January 2021 I try to track my writing and editing. I have a database where I enter what I was writing, the word count and the start and end times to not only give me a log of the number of words written across any given period, but also my writing rate. Through - [Deadlines, Deadlines, Deadlines - The Climb #682](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/05/deadlines-deadlines-deadlines-the-climb-682/) - Monday 4th January 2021 So imagine you’d planned out your year. You remember seeing a screenwriting open submission around April and thought to yourself that would be a good thing to enter in 2021 as a form of motivation to try your hand at scriptwriting. Imagine you even planned to start writing a script at - [New Year, New Projects (And Old Ones) - The Climb #681](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/04/new-year-new-projects-and-old-ones-the-climb-681/) - Sunday 3rd January 2021 I started on the script today. I’ve got less than a week to complete it (due to a submissions period and looming deadline I've only just found out about) which means that January has hit me with full force. However, I’m making progress on this. I’d like to say it was - [A Productive Saturday - The Climb #680](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/03/a-productive-saturday-the-climb-680/) - Saturday 2nd January 2021 If this is a sign of my 2021 to come then this is going to be a good year. I’ve had a productive day across a range of interests. Firstly, putting together the structure of the script has gone well. I’m using the story circle to guide me and was having - [Hitting The Ground Running - The Climb #679](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/02/hitting-the-ground-running-the-climb-679/) - Friday 1st January 2020 Technically, I should be hung over and having a day off. But I’ve never been a big drinker and with the year we’ve had, it ended up being a small celebration with my support bubble who was asleep most of the evening. That was OK, as I ended up watching a - [The Year Of Being Fearsome - The Climb #678](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2021/01/01/the-year-of-being-fearsome-the-climb-678/) - Thursday 31st December 2020 I don't think there's anyone who will deny that 2020 was a funny old year. Life stopped for a good part of it as nurses became heroes, and people who refused to wear masks became people we wanted to punch in the face. We all became more isolated, and FOMO seemed - [Warcraft Wednesday: Squeezing A Week Into A Day - The Climb #677](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/31/warcraft-wednesday-squeezing-a-week-into-a-day-the-climb-677/) - Wednesday 30th December 2020 Wednesday is the EU reset day in World of Warcraft. It means it’s the day when weekly lockouts reset and new quests go live. The big progress system in Shadowlands is Renown, and it seems that each week since the expansion’s launch there has been 3 renown up for grabs. One - [The Script - The Climb #676](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/30/the-script-the-climb-676/) - Tuesday 29th December 2020 One of my goals in 2020 that really never got completed was to write a script. I wanted to diversify my writing by looking at other formats, not because I wanted to switch from novel writing but because I thought it would help round me out as a writer. It would - [Tracking Writing Projects - The Climb #675](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/29/tracking-writing-projects-the-climb-675/) - Monday 28th December 2020 Although it’s technically a bank holiday here in the UK, it’s been back to work for me. I know a lot of people like to wait until the start of the new year before getting started but I always found that when I did that, I ended up taking a month - [Writing Priorities in 2021 - The Climb #674](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/28/writing-priorities-in-2021-the-climb-674/) - Sunday 27th December 2020 I’ve been pretty bad at posting The Climb of late. A lot of this has been to do with breaks. I took several weeks off for the Shadowlands launch in World of Warcraft. I don’t regret it. I needed that break as it was my only ‘holiday’ all year and in - [Hitting 2021 Running - The Climb #673](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/27/hitting-2021-running-the-climb-673/) - Saturday 26th December 2020 I used to make New Year’s Resolutions each year. That progressed over time into giving each year a theme, into this year coming up with a more structured goal-orientated plan. Like many, I’d eagerly await the chiming of the bells to ring in the New Year before embarking on my planned - [Xmas Day - The Climb #672](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/26/xmas-day-the-climb-672/) - Friday 25th December 2020 We tend to get to the last day of the year and think back over the past 365 days, reviewing what life twists and turns we’ve experienced, whilst looking forward to the new start that a new year brings. Except this year there’s no restart. There’s no clear slate, no new - [Xmas Logistics - The Climb #671](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/25/xmas-logistics-the-climb-671/) - Thursday 24th December 2020 I’ve become convinced that Xmas is an exercise in logistics. This was supposed to be a simple Xmas. I’m not seeing close family. I’m not doing presents with extended family. Just a simple meal and a few presents with my support bubble. And yet, it’s somehow turned into this massive exercise - [I HATE Xmas Wrapping - The Climb #670](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/24/i-hate-xmas-wrapping-the-climb-670/) - Wednesday 23rd December 2020 If there’s one area of Xmas that I have always hated it’s wrapping. I love deciding on gifts, hunting them down and seeing people’s faces when they open them… but the actual wrapping them? Urgh! This isn’t a new phobia. It’s something that I’ve openly said for years. It’s not that - [Asynchronous Progress - The Climb 669](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/23/asynchronous-progress-the-climb-669/) - Tuesday 22nd December 2020 I’ve been thinking a bit about creative work today following an interview I read with NK Jemisin. There’s a really interesting quote that got me thinking. “Having spent 20 years in the workplace, it’s difficult not to apply capitalist logic to everything, not to think about productivity in terms of the - [The Xmas Food Shop - The Climb #668](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/22/the-xmas-food-shop-the-climb-668/) - Monday 21st December 2020 Today’s big mission was to do the Xmas food shop. I’m having a small Xmas this year. Family are high risk so we decided way back in the summer to cancel xmas and as a result I’m having a small xmas with my support bubble. Plans are such that, even with - [The Second Raid Night - The Climb #667](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/21/the-second-raid-night-the-climb-667/) - Sunday 20th December 2020 It was the second raid night tonight. Despite spending most of the week working on Alt-leveling, I’d got some good drops at the start of the Warcraft week and as such entered the raid having made a good 7 ilevels. I’m not trying to be the star DPS but at the - [Alt Leveling - The Climb #666](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/20/alt-leveling-the-climb-666/) - Saturday 19th December 2020 When I made my Shadowlands plans, I’d said to myself that I’d level up a load of alts. Heck, I went through weeks of work to get them all to level 50 and geared up. And yes, I did get them through to Oribos and do work on their professions. But - [Xmas Tasks - The Climb #665](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/19/xmas-tasks-the-climb-665/) - Friday 18th December 2020 I forget how much time Xmas takes up. I could be forgiven for considering that as this is a simpler Xmas, it really wouldn’t eat much of my time. My parents are high risk and as such we made the decision back in early summer to cancel Xmas – It helps - [Contemplating Chapter Changes - The Climb #664](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/18/contemplating-chapter-changes-the-climb-664/) - Thursday 17th December 2020 So I’m contemplating a big chapter change. In terms of a ‘formula’ this chapter is the one where the 'call to adventure' has been made but the hero rejects it. Something has to happen to make them change their mind. This novel has been an experiment in structure and whilst I’m - [Warcaft Wednesday - Gearing Progress - The Climb #663](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/17/warcaft-wednesday-gearing-progress-the-climb-663/) - Wednesday 16th December 2020 As we enter ‘burnout’ phase I’m pretty happy with my progress in Warcraft. I’m naturally playing a bit less (except for Wednesday’s weekly reset where there’s a lot to do) but it hasn’t stopped me being super-productive. Obviously the focus for most of the past week was gearing the Raiding main - [The 2021 Writing Roster - The Climb #662](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/16/the-2021-writing-roster-the-climb-662/) - Tuesday 16th December 2020 I need to start creating some codewords for my various writing projects. It’s not that I want to be all super secretive, it’s simply that as I plan and gather ideas, I want to collate everything under one name. Most of my projects don't have titles; that comes much later for - [2021 Plans - The Climb #661](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/15/2021-plans-the-climb-661/) - Monday 14th December 2020 Today was a bit of an admin day. Whilst I’d caught up with all my editions of The Climb, I still had a bit of admin from the last couple of weeks to sort out. Some of this I had already started, such as going through my open tasks and rescheduling - [Raid Night! - The Climb #660](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/14/raid-night-the-climb-660/) - Sunday 13th December 2020 I’ve been looking forward to tonight. Just like my writing earlier in the week, this feels like the culmination of many months of work in Warcraft. I’m raiding again. I first started raiding back in Wrath of the Lich King and the Uldar raid. I was playing Unholy Death Knight and - [Pokemon Go December Community Day - The Climb #659](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/13/pokemon-go-december-community-day-the-climb-659/) - Saturday 12th December 2020 Come the end of the year, Niantic holds a special Pokemon Go weekend where all the Pokemon from the year's previous community days spawn. It’s a great way to catch up if you missed any of the days, as well as get some extras and evolve them for the community day - [Caught Up - The Climb #658](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/12/caught-up-the-climb-658/) - Friday 11th December 2020 It’s a little ironic that just as I catch up with myself, I find it’s Friday with a busy gaming weekend ahead. Saturday is the end of the year Community Day in Pokemon Go and Sunday is my first raid in World of Warcraft. Whilst neither will take up the entire - [Clearing The Backlog - The Climb #657](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/11/clearing-the-backlog-the-climb-657/) - Thursday 10th December 2020 After several days, and a lot of work, I finally cleared my backlog of The Climbs. It comes at the same time that I went and bought a couple of gear pieces in Warcraft to get my raider up to the required 170 ilevel needed for the raid on Sunday. Whilst - [Warcraft Wednesday - The Climb #656](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/10/warcraft-wednesday-the-climb-656/) - Wednesday 9th December 2020 Wednesday is my allocated Warcraft day for a number of reasons. First, and foremost, I like the alliteration. But also, it’s the weekly reset day for Europe. That means, weekly quests reset on a Wednesday; patches tend to roll out on a Wednesday. After a couple of solid weeks playing the - [He's Making A List... - The Climb #655](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/09/hes-making-a-list-the-climb-655/) - Tuesday 8th December 2020 My life is all about making lists currently. After two weeks on WoWcation, there are a lot of tasks I need to do. These range from creating editions of The Climb for each day I was “off” to patching a couple of HEMA websites I look after. I use a variation - [Back To Work - The Climb #654](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/08/back-to-work-the-climb-654/) - Monday 7th December 2020 The first thing to do is make a list. I started this yesterday. And yes, a large part of it is to write up and post two weeks worth of The Climb. Regardless of whether anyone reads them or not, the idea is to get me back into the habit of - [The Last Day Of WoWcation - The Climb #653](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/07/the-last-day-of-wowcation-the-climb-653/) - Sunday 6th December 2020 Today is the last day of my WoWcation. Whilst I still have a mountain of things to do, I feel the two weeks of solid gameplay have got me to a point where I feel quite bedded down. Two main characters have been leveled; I’m now deep into the main endgame - [Mythic Dungeons - The Climb #652](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/06/mythic-dungeons-the-climb-652/) - Saturday 5th December 2020 One of the reason doing dungeons causes me such unreasonable levels of anxiety is the fact that, at the start, I don’t know the dungeon. Each boss has their own mechanic, there are favoured routes through the dungeon, there are times to avoid things on the floor and times when to - [Joining The Guild - The Climb #651](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/05/joining-the-guild-the-climb-651/) - Friday 4th December 2020 I’m in a guild again! Some time back in October some of my old raiding buddies from 8 years back got in touch. They saw I was playing a lot of Warcraft and now streaming and said I should join them. Back in Warlords of Dreanor my old guild decide to - [Professions - The Climb #650](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/04/professions-the-climb-650/) - Thursday 3rd December 2020 My plan with professions in Shadowlands has always been quite straightforward. The first step was to get all the professions across a number of characters, including some bonus dual gathers where it made sense. The second step was to get all those characters through The Maw intro so they could learn - [Torghast - The Climb #649](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/03/torghast-the-climb-649/) - Wednesday 2nd December 2020 It seems crazy that one of the features I think I’ll most enjoy during Shadowlands is a feature I’ve just not had a lot of time for just yet. Torghast is Shadowlands' major end game feature and it’s basically a randomised dungeon that gets progressively harder as you progress. Obviously, over - [One Week Down - The Climb #648](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/02/one-week-down-the-climb-648/) - Tuesday 1st December 2020 So I’ve been going hard at Shadowlands for a week now. My aims were to get a couple of characters levelled as well as getting all my alts through The Maw and picking up their professions so I’m feeling pretty accomplished. Yet, there is so much to do that I’m still - [Gearing Up - The Climb #647](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/12/01/gearing-up-the-climb-647/) - Monday 30th November 2020 You might be mistaken for thinking that playing Shadowlands was as simple as getting a character to level 60 and that was that. From there on in it’s all happy times. But it doesn’t stop there. There are lots of levels in Warcraft: Your actual level, the level of your professions, - [Threads Of Fate - The Climb #646](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/30/threads-of-fate-the-climb-646/) - Sunday 29th November 2020 I’m already leveling my second character through Shadowlands. Whilst my main is busy unlocking things and doing the dailies of the endgame, I’m alternating time between him and my alliance leveling alt. The idea is that I’ll be joining up with some old guildmates from 8 years ago on their new - [The Alt Army - The Climb #645](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/29/the-alt-army-the-climb-645/) - Saturday 28th November 2020 My long term plans for Shadowlands is to level all my 18 max level toons (or at least… what were max level until last week). This is obviously going to take some time. However, where I normally ‘fail’ with most expansions is that I play a main or two and then - [Revendreth - The Climb #644](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/28/revendreth-the-climb-644/) - Friday 27th November 2020 As expected, I hit level 60 within a few minutes of arriving in Revendreth. However, I still needed to complete the campaign to choose my covenant and unlock the endgame. I’d always intended to go Revendreth as a covenant. From an RP perspective it was always this or Maldraxxus, and whilst - [Aldenweald - The Climb #643](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/27/aldenweald-the-climb-643/) - Thursday 26th November 2020 I’m now just short of hitting max level. It's likely I’ll hit it within the first couple of quests within Revendreth. Ordinarily this would not be a problem. I’ve had plenty of expansions where the final zone isn’t explored until months after launch. Shadowlands is a little different though. You need - [Maldraxxus - The Climb #642](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/26/maldraxxus-the-climb-642/) - Wednesday 25th November 2020 Maldraxxus is the zone I’ve been least looking forward to. It suffers a bit with middle-zone syndrome, where the excitement of launch has worn off, the big story beats are either behind or ahead, and the grind starts to set in. For the main I’m levelling, Maldraxxus could have been a - [Bastion - The Climb #641](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/25/bastion-the-climb-641/) - Tuesday 24th November 2020 One of the things I’ve realised from doing all the thumbnails for my various Warcraft-related The Climb blog posts, is that Azeroth is dark. Even the light areas. Yes, there might be a lot of colour, but it’s all toned down.So, as a result, my first reaction to Bastion is just - [Into The Shadowlands - The Climb #640](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/24/into-the-shadowlands-the-climb-640/) - Monday 23rd November 2020 And we’re off! At 11pm, the quest popped up and we were into the Maw! During previous launches I’ve tried to race to the new max level. That’s meant playing through the night and skipping a lot of the quest text. It’s resulted in me missing a lot, but I’ve had - [Staycation Azeroth - The Climb #639](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/23/staycation-azeroth-the-climb-639/) - Sunday 22nd November 2020 You’d think that playing a game solidly for a couple of weeks was pretty simple. But one of the things I love about a Warcraft expansion launch is the amount of prep it takes. It helps build the anticipation, and makes for any expansion launch to be an event. I’ve always - [Pokemon Go Magmar Community Day - The Climb #638](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/22/pokemon-go-magmar-community-day-the-climb-638/) - Saturday 21st November 2020 Today was Magmar Community Day in Pokemon Go. I’m in at an interesting point with the game currently. I’m not playing it as heavily as I once did, and that’s not just because I’m playing loads of Warcraft instead. I originally started playing it as a way to get a friend - [2021 Plans - The Climb #637](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/21/2021-plans-the-climb-637/) - Friday 20th November 2020 I think I know what I’m writing in January. Of course, I still have this current NaNoWriMo novel I need to finish before then. But I figure buy first or second week of December I should be burnt out a little with World of Warcraft and I can finish it off. - [Pre-Patch Prep - The Climb #636](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/20/pre-patch-prep-the-climb-636/) - Thursday 19th November 2020 Look, I know I should be giving you some writing content, especially with NaNoWriMo going on, but whilst things are ticking along, there’s nothing really interesting to say. There’s no insights, no bouts of super-productivity or major blocks. At best, I’m wondering whether my chapter structure needs to be a bit - [Warcraft Wednesday: Icecrown Edition - The Climb #635](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/19/warcraft-wednesday-icecrown-edition-the-climb-635/) - Wednesday 18th November 2020 So I’ve spent close to a year preparing and the time is almost here. Shadowlands launches next week, and I’m beyond excited. I’m already planning to change my sleep schedule so I can play through the night upon launch. My plans for Shadowlands are simple. I want to take a couple - [Playing With Fire By Writing To Market - The Climb #634](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/18/playing-with-fire-by-writing-to-market-the-climb-634/) - Tuesday 17th November 2020 Writing is a funny old business. When you start you learn all these ‘rules’. They tell you that you have to write every day. They say that there are no writing rules. They say not to write for market. But as you dive deeper you find it’s much more nuanced. Many - [How I'm Starting To Form Writing Plans For 2021 - The Climb #633](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/17/how-im-starting-to-form-writing-plans-for-2021-the-climb-633/) - Monday 16th November 2020 I’ve started to think about next year. Specifically, I'm thinking about what writing projects I could get done next year. There’s a number of factors I need to consider. Every project has at least 3 stages: outline, first draft and edit / redraft. I shouldn’t immediately go to the next stage - [How I Plan To Adjust My Outline Process - The Climb #632](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/16/how-i-plan-to-adjust-my-outline-process-the-climb-632/) - Sunday 15th November 2020 I constantly work on process. It’s not that I rigidly stick to it. My approach to process has always been to find what shortcuts I use and make them the process. It means I constantly refine. There’s times when I make myself stay rigidly to it by way of an experiment - [6 Hours 40 Minutes - The Climb #631](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/15/6-hours-40-minutes-the-climb-631/) - Saturday 14th November 2020 6 hours and 40 minutes. This is my life right now. The Warcraft Prepatch event dropped last week and it was something I’ve been waiting for so I could gear up all my characters. With it came problems. There’s a currency the even gives, either by completing daily quests, or killing - [An Epic Fantasy Idea - The Climb #630](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/14/an-epic-fantasy-idea-the-climb-630/) - Friday 13th November 2020 I’m not sure whether my brain does this to dick with me or whether the most attractive idea is the one you don’t have to write yet. But, I’ve had the beginnings of an idea for an Epic Fantasy. My “plan” is to get the current NaNo novel first draft written - [Getting Back On The Horse - The Climb #629](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/13/getting-back-on-the-horse-the-climb-629/) - Thursday 12th November 2020 I’m starting to catch up with myself. After last week’s air of doom and gloom in the greater world made me feel so negative and started clouding my judgement, I felt the need to bury my head in videogames for a number of days. The trouble is that there is then - [Shadowlands Pre-Patch Event - The Climb #628](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/12/shadowlands-pre-patch-event-the-climb-628/) - Wednesday 11th November 2020 Today was the World of Warcraft Pre-Patch Event. Normally this arrives with the pre-patch itself but this year has been a little different, with the release of the expansion being delayed. The Pre-Patch event is basically a limited time event where we get a taste of the bad guys we’ll be - [Complicated Antagonists - The Climb #627](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/10/complicated-antagonists-the-climb-627/) - Tuesday 10th November 2020 I’ve been catching up on His Dark materials over the last couple of days. It’s been one of those TV series I’ve been meaning to watch and I just needed the right time and mood to watch it. Despite the movie of The Golden Compass being a complete mess, I have - [Mr Beast and Unnecessary Learnings - The Climb #626](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/09/mr-beast-and-unnecessary-learnings-the-climb-626/) - Monday 9th November 2020 There was a time when I found disappearing down a Youtube rabbit hole most annoying. It seemed to me to be the height of procrastination. However, I’ve learnt to better use them so they don’t eat time and enjoy the weird places they take me. In case you don’t know, a - [Consistency Frustrations - The Climb #625](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/08/consistency-frustrations-the-climb-625/) - Sunday 8th November 2020 One of the good things to come out of Lockdown was that it gave me the push to restart The Climb. Whilst overall, the idea is to create something akin to a DVD commentary on the making of any book, on a micro level, it gets me writing every day. When - [The Razorcrest - The Climb #624](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/07/the-razorcrest-the-climb-624/) - Saturday 7th November 2020 I’ve been a bit naughty. As many of you know, I used to run a site called Action-Figure. We were the premier news site for collectible toys. It was a ridiculous amount of work for little to no profit but it sent me around the world. I partied and worked with - [Contemplating A New Beginning - The Climb #623](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/06/contemplating-a-new-beginning-the-climb-623/) - Friday 6th November 2020 World events are such that I really can’t face writing right now, but I have been using the time to think about the start to this NaNoWriMo novel. I built the plot very fast and as such there’s probably part of me that feels a little unsure of it. I used - [Badly Acted Quest Text - The Climb #622](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/05/badly-acted-quest-text-the-climb-622/) - Thursday 5th November 2020 While the count from the US election is continuing, I’ve decided to take myself away and bury myself in videogames. I’ll return to writing and catch up on NaNo, when my head is in a better place. So I’ve been doing a bit of Twitch recently. It started as a way - [Election Blues - The Climb #621](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/04/election-blues-the-climb-621/) - Wednesday 4th November 2020 I think I’ve worked it out. I think I’ve worked out why my writing compass has been thrown completely out of whack. It’s the US election. That’s surprised me a little today, but watching results trickling in, I’ve kinda worked out why. I think if I were a US citizen I’d - [Being Too Negative - The Climb #620](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/03/being-too-negative-the-climb-620/) - Tuesday 3rd November 2020 I’m in a bit of a quandary. So I’m not happy with the start of this novel I’m writing for NaNoWriMo. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s that the thing I’m heavily using for an influence has a very distinct start and I feel I should be emulating that. Except, this - [Saved By The Outline - The Climb #619](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/03/saved-by-the-outline-the-climb-619/) - Monday 2nd November 2020 Today was one of those days where you wake up late and then find yourself chasing your tail for the rest of the day. And guess what was at the bottom of the list? Yep, writing this novel. It’s not that the start to this novel is bad, it’s just it’s - [The Dreaded Start - The Climb #618](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/02/the-dreaded-start-the-climb-618/) - Sunday 1st November 2020 And so we begin. I wish I could say I’m excited about this novel but despite all the work, I feel unprepared. The beginning doesn’t feel exciting enough; I feel it needs to start with a punch to keep with the feel I want for the novel. But it is what - [I Have A Plot! - The Climb #617](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/11/01/i-have-a-plot-the-climb-617/) - Saturday 31st October 2020 So I have a plot. Of course, I’m currently filled with doubt about it. Is it too basic? Are the characters a little simplistic? Is the story just… well… dull? At this stage I have to fight myself a little. There’s a lot of fear and it’s easier to find excuses - [Starting On The Outline Skeleton For My NaNoWriMo Novel - The Climb #612](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/27/starting-on-the-outline-skeleton-for-my-nanowrimo-novel-the-climb-612/) - Monday 26th October 2020 I wouldn’t say this novel I'm planning is a paint-by-numbers but I’m imposing a lot of structure on it. I want to see just how far I can take structure. The plan is to make this my NaNoWriMo novel, but that leaves me only a few days to really outline it. - [Real Life Puts Me Behind On Plotting - The Climb #616](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/31/real-life-puts-me-behind-on-plotting-the-climb-616/) - Friday 30th October 2020 Today has been a day sorting out some real life things, which means all my writing time has been eaten up and I’ve not made a lot of progress with the plot. Still, I’ve had plenty of time to think, and thinking IS working. I think I know what the secondary - [Starting To Get The Plot Together - The Climb #615](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/29/starting-to-get-the-plot-together-the-climb-615/) - Thursday 29th October 2020 I’ve been continuing to work on the outline for my NaNoWriMo novel. Having got a sense of the plot from a 50,000 foot view, it’s now time to start diving into chapters. I made good progress today. I’d say I have about two thirds of the main plot worked out chapter - [You Know, I Might Just Be Ready In Time For NaNoWriMo - The Climb #614](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/29/you-know-i-might-just-be-ready-in-time-for-nanowrimo-the-climb-614/) - Wednesday 28th October 2020 This is how writing works. You bang your head long enough against any metaphorical wall, you’ll break it. For the last few days I’ve been stuck on the plot of my NaNoWriMo novel this year. I’m using the event as a way to play with structure, specifically, whether planning heavily before - [The Part Of Plotting I Hate The Most - The Climb #613](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/28/the-part-of-plotting-i-hate-the-most-the-climb-613/) - Tuesday 27th October 2020 This is the part of plotting that I hate. I have a protagonist, I have their first chapter. I have a secondary character and an antagonist. I even have the last, possibly last 2, chapters. You’d think, at this stage, I’d be diving into my scenes and fleshing them out, trying - [The Unexpected Pokemon Go Day - The Climb #611](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/25/the-unexpected-pokemon-go-day-the-climb-611/) - Sunday 25th October 2020 Today ended up being a big Pokemon day, even though I hadn’t planned it to be. Warcraft is a little frustrating at the moment as I’m currently trying to level another character through Pandaria. However, for some reason, that expansion is really laggy and as a result, I’m really not enjoying - [Thinking Of Plots Like HTML - The Climb #610](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/24/thinking-of-plots-like-html-the-climb-610/) - Saturday 24th October 2020 I have a working idea that I’m keen to try out. It relates to plots and subplots. I read something about this back at the start of summer and whilst I’ve forgotten where I read it, the idea obviously stayed with me as it has percolated in my back brain until - [Is It Time To Start Using Character Sheets? - The Climb #609](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/23/is-it-time-to-start-using-character-sheets-the-climb-609/) - Friday 23rd October 2020 I’ve never been someone who has done character sheets. Rare amongst Fantasy authors, I was never into RPGs as a kid and so filling out a one-sheeter for a DnD game or the like, was something that never happened. But I’m trying for more structure in projects. I’m playing around with - [State Of Warcraft - The Climb #608](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/22/state-of-warcraft-the-climb-608/) - Thursday 22nd October 2020 As I’ve said, I’ve been playing a load of Warcraft in the last week. With the release of the pre-patch and the associated level squish now was a great time to start leveling alts. This is all investment. I have enough characters to be able to actually play. Heck, you don’t - [Is Now The Time To Experiment With Writing Structures? - The Climb #607](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/21/is-now-the-time-to-experiment-with-writing-structures-the-climb-607/) - Wednesday 21st October 2020 The only truism in writing is that there are no truisms in writing. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in all my years of writing, it’s that any rules you think that might exist in writing, have been broken by many commercially and critically successful novels. And yet, I believe structures - [Generating Ideas By Playing Games - The Climb #606](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/20/generating-ideas-by-playing-games-the-climb-606/) - Tuesday 20th October 2020 There’s a little side effect from me playing so much Warcraft. It’s called Fill the Mana Bar. I find disappearing to Azeroth for a few hours each day, a bit of a meditative state. I get so involved in the game that I forget about my own worries for a few - [Building An Army In Azeroth - The Climb #605](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/19/building-an-army-in-azeroth-the-climb-605/) - Monday 19th October 2020 I’m playing a load of Warcraft at the moment. There are several reasons for this. First is that it is the ultimate de-stress tool for me. I can disappear into Azeroth for a couple of hours each day and just forget the current world. Secondly, with pre-patch going live last week, - [Pokemon Go Tournament Day - The Climb #604](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/18/pokemon-go-tournament-day-the-climb-604/) - Sunday 18th October 2020 Today was the latest in the monthly Pokemon Go PvP tournaments myself and a friend host. I’m not big into PvP in games, Fortnite is probably the exception. But even in games like Warcraft I prefer the PvE rather than PvP. As a result I don’t even do the Battle Leagues - [Pokemon Go Charmander Community Day - The Climb #603](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/17/pokemon-go-charmander-community-day-the-climb-603/) - Saturday 17th October 2020 I’m having a bit of a Pokemon Go weekend this weekend. We’ve got our local PvP tournament tomorrow which whilst it is all remote conducted over discord, is a way for a bunch of local players to virtually meet up. And then today was Charmander community day. This is the second - [Do I Do NaNoWriMo This Year? - The Climb #601](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/15/do-i-do-nanowrimo-this-year-the-climb-601/) - Thursday 15th October 2020 I’m debating doing NaNoWriMo this year. My original plan was to do a rewrite of a novel. That was for a future soft external deadline… a way to get ahead of myself. However, that deadline seems to have been pushed out, and as a result I’m wondering if I should do - [Taking A Week Off - The Climb #602](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/16/taking-a-week-off-the-climb-602/) - Friday 16th October 2020 I’m giving myself a week off. I had made plans to start to introduce a bit more structure to my writing when I took leave the week after next. As that date has loomed there’s more and more that I want to do in that time, to the point where I - [Pre-Patch - The Climb #600](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/14/pre-patch-the-climb-600/) - Wednesday 14th October 2020 Today was a big day in World of Warcraft as the pre-patch went live in Europe. If you think of World of Warcraft as a house, then the Shadowlands expansion is a bit like putting an extension onto it. As part of that extension, there may need to be some rewiring - [The Silence Of The Pandemic - The Climb #599](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/13/the-silence-of-the-pandemic-the-climb-599/) - Tuesday 13th October 2020 I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how the pandemic has impacted their creativity. For some the stress and confinement has caused them to be unable to write. For others it’s the ability to read. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve suffered from neither of those (although finding the focus for - [Planning Ahead - The Climb #598](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/12/planning-ahead-the-climb-598/) - Monday 12th October 2020 Today has been a day of admin. As the year draws to a close there are a bunch of things I want to get complete as well as a bunch of new things I want to start. Whilst I’m OK if not all of these come to fruition, what I don’t - [Twitch Streamer - The Climb #597](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/11/twitch-streamer-the-climb-597/) - Sunday 11th October 2020 This weekend I’ve started doing some Twitch streaming this weekend. It’s nothing too exciting, just a couple of hours of Warcraft each day. It’s been a way to motivate me (if motivation was needed) to do all those final things I need to do in Warcraft before the pre-patch lands next - [The Digital Writer - The Climb #596](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/10/the-digital-writer-the-climb-596/) - Saturday 10th October 2020 I made a decision some years ago to go fully digital with my writing. My reasoning was many-fold. The first was that I wanted to be able to index my work and be able to find it with a search rather than trying to find the right notebook. Secondly, I wanted - [Imposter Syndrome - The Climb #595](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/09/imposter-syndrome-the-climb-595/) - Friday 9th October 2020 When I first got my agent I suffered terrible imposter syndrome. I’d submitted to her on a bet. A group of us (many now published names) were lamenting our lack of published books and vowed to all send to agents as a result. I had Black as Knight kicking around and - [The Ruthlessness Of Antagonists - The Climb #594](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/08/the-ruthlessness-of-antagonists-the-climb-594/) - Thursday 8th October 2020 I’ve been reading some craft things about antagonists and threat that may prove useful in an upcoming project. I want my antagonists to prove a challenge to my protagonist. Sometimes that threat comes in the form of intellect or power, but in this project it comes in the form of ruthlessness. - [The Returning Idea - The Climb #593](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/07/the-returning-idea-the-climb-593/) - Wednesday 7th October 2020 My ideas develop over time and a lot of the time it’s not even conscious. I have an idea for a future book. It’s a strong hook and one I’ve talked about before, but today it visited me again. At the heart of this is whether the idea works best as - [Battle Ground *Minor Spoilers* - The Climb #592](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/06/battle-ground-minor-spoilers-the-climb-592/) - Tuesday 6th October 2020 So I finished Jim Butcher’s Battle Ground tonight. I’m a big fan of the Dresden Files after my friend and writer Stephen Aryan encouraged me to read them. It’s a weird series because the first 6 books in the series are only OK but that investment in reading is worth it - [Urgent And Patient Work - A Work in Progress - The Climb #591](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/05/urgent-and-patient-work-a-work-in-progress-the-climb-591/) - Monday 5th October 2020 I’ve had a minor revelation about myself that whilst not earth shattering and far from concrete. Whilst this idea is still solidifying, I’m coming to the conclusion that there are two sorts of work: work that requires urgency and work that requires patience. Fixing a leak would be urgent work, loosing - [Treading Water - The Climb #590](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/04/treading-water-the-climb-590/) - Sunday 4th October 2020 I feel like I’m treading water a bit at the moment. There are a number of things I’m waiting on, which explains why some projects have been ticking away in the background and not seeming like they are progressing. Couple this with a cough that still hasn’t gone away – most - [Travel Sickness - The Climb #589](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/03/travel-sickness-the-climb-589/) - Saturday 3rd October 2020 It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled in the back of a car. It’s been a long time since I traveled, period. But today we did some Pokemon Go and I had the opportunity not to drive. Over the last few years, my Pokemon Go playing friends and I have - [Considering Twitch As Practise For Authortube - The Climb #588](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/02/considering-twitch-as-practise-for-authortube-the-climb-588/) - Friday 2nd October 2020 I’m thinking that I need to do some Twitch streaming. Whilst there’s a large part of me that feels streaming is probably more of a job than it looks, I think it’s a good way to practise public speaking. I don’t believe I’m particularly bad. I did drama as a kid - [Shadowlands Delay - The Climb #587](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/10/01/shadowlands-delay-the-climb-587/) - Thursday 1st October 2020 So Shadowlands has been delayed. As someone who books leave from the day job to play new Warcraft expansions, this screws me over somewhat. And given I have to work round other’s availability there’s unlikely to be any chance of moving it – not that I could even if it was - [Back To Work October - The Climb #586](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/30/back-to-work-october-the-climb-586/) - Wednesday 30th September 2020 With the end of the month here and my frustration at having a month off (although it was prompted by illness and was perfect time to do so) I’m starting to look at October and mentally prepare to get back into the thick of it. Of course, there’s quite a bit - [Lazy September - The Climb #585](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/29/lazy-september-the-climb-585/) - Tuesday 29th September 2020 I have to say that I’m feeling a lot of guilt over how ‘lazy’ I’ve been in September. This is the first month since lockdown began where I don’t feel I’ve accomplished anything. I say ‘lazy’ but a combination of burngeddon and illness has meant my attention has been elsewhere. I - [The Speed Of Ideas - The Climb #584](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/28/the-speed-of-ideas-the-climb-584/) - Monday 28th September 2020 Part of the creative process that continues to amaze me is just how quick ideas can cascade. How, upon going to climb a set of stairs, my brain can ask an innocent question about magic use in one of the worlds I’m working on, and then by the time I reach - [Pokemon Go Circus Cup - The Climb #583](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/27/pokemon-go-circus-cup-the-climb-583/) - Sunday 27th September 2020 Whilst there was a lot of Warcraft today, the main event was Pokemon Go and the monthly Silph League tournament we host. During lockdown we’ve been virtual only, but it used to be fun to meet up with everyone and play. Given how much I’m nonplussed by PvP in Pokemon Go, - [Master Of Garrisons - The Climb #582](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/26/master-of-garrisons-the-climb-582/) - Saturday 26th September 2020 There seems to be this thing with World of Warcraft whereby if you want to make money then you do the content from several expansions back. It’s not that things are getting cheaper, it’s just that at a higher level, things become easier, and therefore quicker, and therefore more profitable. I - [Guilt Free Gaming - The Climb #581](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/25/guilt-free-gaming-the-climb-581/) - Friday 25th September 2020 I feel I’m not really doing much in the way of writing at the moment, instead just playing loads of games. I feel that if I was a regular reader, I’d question if this blog was about writing or video games. Truth is, as I’ve reminded myself today, the work that - [Battle Pet Master - The Climb #580](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/24/battle-pet-master-the-climb-580/) - Thursday 24th September 2020 The original plan for this evening was to do some Fortnite. I’ve not played it a huge amount over the last couple of weeks and the week 5 challenges have now been released. However, the person I was due to play with didn’t feel great and so I jumped back into - [Slow Recovery - The Climb #579](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/23/slow-recovery-the-climb-579/) - Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Since coming down with a cold over a week ago, I’ve had zero energy. And I mean zero. I’ve been going to bed at 5 in the afternoon, and just don’t have spoons to concentrate on anything. I suspect that a combination of the pandemic, general life stresses and burngeddon have - [Lockdown 2 - Electric Boogaloo - The Climb #578](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/22/lockdown-2-electric-boogaloo-the-climb-578/) - Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Mentally, I’m preparing myself for another 6 months of lockdown. Some might say we’re only in a partial lockdown, but given the number of covidiots we have even in my local shop, I’m fully expecting that things may have to be locked down further for a time. I did a lot - [Garrison Gaming - The Climb #577](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/21/garrison-gaming-the-climb-577/) - Monday 21st September 2020 I’m trying to be prepared for the next World of Warcraft expansion: Shadowlands. I’d like to go into the expansion and earn some gold so that I’m not in the same situation with future expensive items such as the Brontosaur. I’m also trying not to burn myself out. Warcraft has always been - [Pokemon Go Porygon Community Day - The Climb #576](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/20/pokemon-go-porygon-community-day-the-climb-576/) - Sunday 20th September 2020 I’m still feeling ill. I’m certainly better than I was, but I still have a bit of an occasional cough and feel so exhausted. I suspect some of this is the combined stresses of Lockdown and burngeddon leaving me a bit run down. It’s why I’ve decided to just take it easy - [Disruption - The Climb #575](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/19/disruption-the-climb-575/) - Saturday 19th September 2020 I’ve been thinking a lot about disruption lately and whilst it’s not exactly welcome (especially in the form it’s come) there are ways to make the best out of a bad situation. We’ve seen massive disruption in the last 6 months, not only to the wider world but to our own lifestyles. - [For The Alliance - The Climb #574](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/18/for-the-alliance-the-climb-574/) - Friday 19th September 2020 I’ve started to level an alliance character through BFA in World of Warcraft. Back at the beginning of WOD my old guild decided to migrate servers. As we were all after a change we decided that it would be perfect time to swap to alliance. I was a bit too fond - [A Chilled Birthday - The Climb #573](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/17/a-chilled-birthday-the-climb-573/) - Thursday 17th September 2020 I had a pretty chill birthday. Whilst saying another year closer to death is a bit morbid, I’ve got to an age where they represent a span of time of not having completed things. Whilst I’m not a person who generally directly compares my achievements to those of others, those people - [The Art Of Muddling Along - The Climb #572](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/16/the-art-of-muddling-along-the-climb-572/) - Wednesday 16th September 2020 This cold is starting to annoy me now. To be fair, the actual cold is largely over; I’m just left with a bit of a cough and nasal congestion. A combination of this, lack of fitness currently and pandemic means I’m feeling a bit run down. But I don’t feel quite - [Shadowlands Plans - The Climb #571](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/15/shadowlands-plans-the-climb-571/) - Tuesday 15th September 2020 It’ll come to no surprise to anyone who knows me that I have planned to take 2 weeks off for the launch of Shadowlands. As I have done with most of the expansions, I use up holiday so I can play solidly on launch and level up my character to max. - [Delays - The Climb #570](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/14/delays-the-climb-570/) - Monday 14th September 2020 The best laid plans. Today was going to be the day I started on the redraft but I’m ill. I’m so unbelievably unfocused, and even ended up going to bed late afternoon. I don’t trust myself when I’m ill. I’m not sure if there’s some chemical change in the brain when - [The Comedown - The Climb #569](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/13/the-comedown-the-climb-569/) - Sunday 13th September 2020 I’m ill. I’m pretty sure it’s not Covid – in this day and age, it’s everyone’s immediate thought. Whilst I am coughing, it’s to clear my throat, rather than a dry consistent cough. I also have no fever and my sense of taste and smell is normal. I had a roast - [Back Home - The Climb #568](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/12/back-home-the-climb-568/) - Saturday 12th September 2020 It’s good to be back home. Even though I only live round the corner from the Crispinator, I’ve missed my own house and bed. Whilst I only had a morning to myself before I headed back round, it was nice to have me time again. They’re doing well, all things considered, - [Reconnecting - The Climb #567](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/11/reconnecting-the-climb-567/) - Friday 11th September 2020 Whilst I’ve only been round the corner, I get to sleep in my own bed tonight for the first time in a couple of weeks. I’ve enjoyed my time (if enjoy is the right word) caring for my crispy friend but they’re now at the stage where they can manage. They’re - [How I Manage Tasks - The Climb #563](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/07/how-i-manage-tasks-the-climb-563/) - Monday 7th September 2020 I’ve spent a bit of time over the last couple of days getting my task management up to date. I lean on it more heavily at certain times more than others. Most of the time it ticks along in the background, but when I really need to ramp it up and be - [The Next Gen - The Climb #566](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/10/the-next-gen-the-climb-566/) - Thursday 10th September 2020 The release of new consoles is always a big moment in gaming. It represents an evolutionary step in gaming, where the everything is reset to zero and gamers get to decide their eco-system for the next generation. Last gen was the first time I really embraced console gaming. Whilst I’ve had just - [The Next Project - The Climb #565](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/09/the-next-project-the-climb-565/) - Wednesday 9th September 2020 I’ve pretty much decided the next project I will work on when I return home after caring for my frazzled friend for the past couple of weeks. I’m hoping that after a couple weeks away from the writing routine I should return refreshed and energised. It’s another rewrite rather than any first - [Stoopid Brain - The Climb #564](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/08/stoopid-brain-the-climb-564/) - Tuesday 8th September 2020 Books are big things. As a result, it takes time to do anything with them. Hence the perception that publishing is slow. And whilst I know this (heck, it takes a LONG time to write a book which is why most books in a series are spaced at least a year between) - [Future Adventures - The Climb #562](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/06/future-adventures-the-climb-562/) - Sunday 6th September 2020 One of the things I’ve really missed during lockdown is having adventures. Whilst I’ve been unable to go stormchasing the last couple of years due to finances (it ain’t cheap to drive all over the US for a couple of weeks), the fact that I couldn’t sensibly go, even if I - [Shadowlands Prep - The Climb #561](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/05/shadowlands-prep-the-climb-561/) - Saturday 5th September 2020 I’m almost resolved that there’s no way I will get the Brontosaur mount in World of Warcraft before Shadowlands. I’m 3 million short and given my servers economy I doubt there’s any practical way of accomplishing it. There’s a chance it will appear in the black market auction house in the - [Productivity Systems Are Like Walking Sticks - The Climb #560](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/04/productivity-systems-are-like-walking-sticks-the-climb-560/) - Friday 4th September 2020 I’ve been caring for pets and ol’ crispy (as they are now known) for just over a week now, but it seems like a lot longer. As a result, a lot of my own tasks and jobs have been put on hold. There was a time when recovering from that would - [New Concept Ideas - The Climb #559](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/03/new-concept-ideas-the-climb-559/) - Thursday 3rd September 2020 Understandably, my mind has been removed from anything creative at the moment, instead remaining in a state of hyper-vigilance as I care for a burns victim while they recover. And because I’ve not had any active projects with deadlines, the fact I’ve not been creative has not been a bother. There’s - [Victory Umbrella - The Climb #558](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/02/victory-umbrella-the-climb-558/) - Wednesday 2nd September 2020 It’s been a week since Craig burnt himself. It seems both no time at all and months ago. He’s getting more independent. He took the dog out for a short walk today. It’s important that he get some independence and I don’t want his facial burns keeping him. It was also - [Paying Attention - The Climb #557](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/09/01/paying-attention-the-climb-557/) - Tuesday 1st September 2020 Craig will talk about how, after the fire, he’ll get sensations of the fire running up his arm. I’ve been on edge for a week. I work best when I have something to do and for the last week, it’s been looking out for him. I’ve carved some time out for - [Home Time - The Climb #556](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/31/home-time-the-climb-556/) - Monday 31st August 2020 I got a couple of hours to myself today. Whilst Craig was off to Bristol for an outpatients appointment, I got time to go back home and have a little me time. Admittedly most of this consisted of doing washing, having a shower and popping to Tescos for food for the - [Home Care - The Climb #555](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/30/home-care-the-climb-554/) - Sunday 30th August 2020 Craig’s first night was a bit rough. I looked in on him when I woke up and he seemed to be sleeping but he somehow managed to break his sling. Every couple of hours he needs to wash his face. The ointment he uses causes it to crystalise over his wounds. - [Homecoming - The Climb #554](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/29/homecoming-the-climb-553/) - Saturday 29th August 2020 Craig came home today. He’s a mess and has to go back on Monday. His arm is bandaged up for the duration but his face needs cleaning and a paraffin ointment applied every couple of hours. I spent most of the day getting ready. I slept better but still feel tired. - [Trauma Validation - The Climb #553](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/28/trauma-validation-the-climb-552/) - Friday 28th August 2020 Craig and I had a long Facetime chat today. I asked him for access to his CCTV so I could get video of the incident. I often joke that if something really bad happens you should get a picture of the injury. I say this after leggeddon. My reasoning is that - [Petsitting - The Climb #552](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/27/petsitting-the-climb-552/) - Thursday 27th August 2020 I love animals. I think pet ownership is a responsibility. And this is why I don’t have any. I’m not responsible enough. My theory is that you have a plant. If you don’t kill the plant, you’re allowed something like a goldfish or hamster. From there you can go to something - [Trauma - The Climb #551](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/26/trauma-the-climb-551/) - Wednesday 26th August 2020 It’s a good job that I took a load of photos for The Climb when I went to Uffington the other week. I’m writing this several days on and haven’t even thought about taking a daily photo. Today was quite traumatic, and ended up with a loved one in a serious - [Setting Milestones - The Climb #550](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/25/setting-milestones-the-climb-550/) - Tuesday 25th August 2020 I’m slowly feeling a bit better, and by better, I mean I didn’t feel the need to take a 2 hour nap late afternoon. I’m hoping I’ll be back to my usual self by the weekend. I hope so as there feels like a mountain of micro tasks that I need - [One Person's Hero... - The Climb #549](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/24/one-persons-hero-the-climb-549/) - Monday 24th August 2020 Today has been a day of continuing flair ups and gaming. I’m expecting it to start to improve but I did have to go and have a lay down at 5pm this evening. Today’s focus has been getting my friend to level 100 in Fortnite. This has been a bit of - [The Batman Trailer - The Climb #547](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/22/the-batman-trailer-the-climb-547/) - Saturday 22nd August 2020 So the first trailer for The Batman is out. I’m very interested in this movie and not just because I’m a Batman fan. I’ve had an interesting relationship with Batman movies. I really didn’t like Batman Begins when it first came out. It seemed too subtle at the time, and it’s - [Chill Gaming - The Climb #548](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/23/chill-gaming-the-climb-548/) - Sunday 24th August 2020 I’ve not been feeling great this weekend, with a flare up of some medical problems. Luckily, the best option for me is to just chill out in front of the computer or xbox. I did find myself going back to bed at 11am this morning though. As a result, I’ve not - [Playing With Short Stories - The Climb #546](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/21/playing-with-short-stories-the-climb-546/) - Friday 21st August 2020 In order to relieve some of my creative boredom right now I’ve started doing some work into short stories. Whilst I’ve had some short stories meet with success over the years, it’s not an area where I feel completely comfortable. I’m still very hit and miss with the short stories I - [Notetaking - The Climb #545](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/20/notetaking-the-climb-545/) - Thursday 20th August 2020 I wasn’t feeling at my best today and so I spent bits of the day working on organising my notes. Effective notetaking is something I’m very interested in. What’s the best way to distil any piece of learning into something I can refer to for future recall? I see videos of - [The Importance Of Being Organised - The Climb #544](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/19/the-importance-of-being-organised-the-climb-544/) - Wednesday 19th August 2020 One of the things I’m really, really interested in is the technical aspects of writing. This goes beyond simple craft. Whilst I love to hear about how writers approach character, what I really love is to know how they organise themselves. What writing tools do they use? How do they organise - [A Glum Day - The Climb #543](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/18/a-glum-day-the-climb-543/) - Tuesday 18th August 2020 Today has been a glum day. I’ve worked out that writing is very integral to me getting through this pandemic. It’s my escape. It’s why I busy myself with little projects. All the time I’m working on something I’m focused on that and not the general shitshow that is 2020, where - [Calm Before The Storm - The Climb #542](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/17/calm-before-the-storm-the-climb-542/) - Monday 17th August 2020 I’m a little restless at the moment. I’m not trying to start any major project right now as it’s possible that I might need to switch to something else in the coming weeks. So now’s the perfect time to play with things and work on my craft. As much as I - [Gaming Sunday - The Climb #541](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/16/gaming-sunday-the-climb-541/) - Sunday 16th August 2020 I’d like to say that I spent all of Sunday deep in some writing project or other, but the truth of it was that it was spent gaming. I suppose I shouldn’t feel too guilty given the work that got done yesterday, but there’s still a sense that however much I - [Surprisingly Productive - The Climb #540](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/15/surprisingly-productive-the-climb-540/) - Saturday 15th August 2020 I managed to get loads done yesterday, and I’m not entirely sure how. For the most part, yesterday was quite a leisurely day, procrastinating by playing Witcher 3 on the Xbox. From time to time, I got up and dived into a piece of work, but at most it felt like - [Rebuilding A Story - The Climb #539](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/14/rebuilding-a-story-the-climb-539/) - Friday 14th August 2020 I’m actually thinking that 2020 might turn out to be the Year of Theme rather than the Year Of Everything On Fire. One of my big growths as an author this year is really looking at theme and seeing how to integrate it more into my work. Instead of being an - [Task Management - The Climb #538](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/13/task-management-the-climb-538/) - Thursday 13th August 2020 For all the work I have to do, I feel I’ve done none. The thing is, that like many writers, getting any project done consists of loads of tiny bits of work. And some of it can have big repercussions. Making a decision on a story direction might be something that - [A Bolt Out The Blue - The Climb #537](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/12/a-bolt-out-the-blue-the-climb-537/) - Wednesday 12th August 2020 Today’s been another hot day but at least we got a hint of rain and thunder. I’ve been busy trying to avoid the heat, as once it hits afternoon and the sun shifts round, my office becomes a Finnish sauna. As a result, the writing related activities I’d normally during my - [Heat Index - The Climb #536](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/11/heat-index-the-climb-536/) - Tuesday 11th August 2020 Today was a really frustrating day. So during weekdays the plan is that when I finish the day job, I pack up and crack out the writing work. Except with the current heatwave, from about 3pm onwards the office catches the afternoon sun and starts heating up rapidly, meaning that by - [Future Investment - The Climb #535](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/10/future-investment-the-climb-535/) - Monday 10th August 2020 I think a lot back to April when I did a lot of craft work surrounding theme. I generated some real benefit from this, and feel it leveled up my writing a lot. I feel it was an investment I put into my career that really paid off. But, now I - [The First Adventure - The Climb #534](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/09/the-first-adventure-the-climb-534/) - Sunday 9th August 2020 So I managed to throw fizzy drink all over my keyboard late last night. I cleaned it as best I could but this morning, my keyboard was acting like it had been possessed. I ordered a cheap temporary one to pick up when the shops opened and took myself out for - [Restless Rest - The Climb #533](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/08/restless-rest-the-climb-533/) - Saturday 8th August 2020 My brain seems to rebelling against the idea of having no active project. I spent the day playing Pokemon Go and the Xbox. I did the Magikarp community day, but mainly for the stardust. Then I came home and played on various games on the Xbox, although I seem to be - [Recharging The Mana Bar - The Climb #532](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/07/recharging-the-mana-bar-the-climb-532/) - Friday 7th August 2020 I’ve often likened my creativity to a Mana bar, like you get in videogames. As I work on creative enterprises, I pull from that Mana bar. If I’m not careful, I will drain it dry. To recharge it, I need to consume. I’m not talking actual food but books, TV, videogames. - [A Return To The Xbox - The Climb #531](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/06/a-return-to-the-xbox-the-climb-531/) - Thursday 6th August 2020 I’ve bought an xbox. I know, I know, the timing seems all wrong. There’s a new Xbox due out in less than 6 months and so I’ve already bought into last generation. But hear me out. The last console I owned (other than the Switch) was a Xbox 360. I loved - [When Did It Become Wednesday? - The Climb #530](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/05/when-did-it-become-wednesday-the-climb-530/) - Wednesday 5th August 2020 I’ve genuinely lost track of time. I have been convinced today is Tuesday. This has not helped with The Climb, where I’m seriously behind on posting. Apologies. The truth is that times get busy, either with writing projects or real life, and sometimes I just don’t have the energy to write - [Synopsiseseseseses - The Climb #529](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/04/synopsiseseseseses-the-climb-529/) - Tuesday 4th August 2020 I love being organised. I love it when you can tell your agent that BTW you do have the synopsises for 2 further sequels already written up and peer-reviewed. But then, of course, your agent asks if you have an updated version of the novel you’ve just submitted, and you think, - [Minor Tweaks - The Climb #528](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/03/minor-tweaks-the-climb-528/) - Monday 3rd August 2020 Today I changed 2 sentences in the novel (making sure to make the corresponding changes in Scrivener), and sent it off to my agent. I’m trying not to get too excited. There’s something about this novel that feels … special. I have plenty of other ideas that I think would make - [The Short Awaited Feedback - The Climb #527](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/02/the-short-awaited-feedback-the-climb-527/) - Sunday 2nd August 2020 There’s this thing when you are a writer, or at least for me there is. Writing a novel takes a LONG time. Between the planning, drafting and redrafting, this can take months and even years before you release it to someone else: be it an agent, an editor, or a beta - [Pensive Waiting - The Climb #526](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/08/01/pensive-waiting-the-climb-526/) - Saturday 1st August 2020 Things are slow in publishing, until they are not. And then they’ll be slow again. As a writer you come to accept that the industry acts in bursts of activity. It looks like the feedback for the latest rewrite is going to be due back this weekend. I was told I’d - [The Disappointing Pokemon Hunt - The Climb #525](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/31/the-disappointing-pokemon-hunt-the-climb-525/) - Friday 31st July 2020 Back a thousand years ago, before lockdown, I would go out around town with my friend most evenings to play Pokemon Go. We’d catch the day’s last raids, take some gyms, then collect Pokeballs by spinning stops and catch pokemon for rares, shinies and stardust. We had a nice little routine. - [Longboi Watch - The Climb #524](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/30/longboi-watch-the-climb-524/) - Thursday 30th July 2020 I have just a few more days until I’m back at the day job. It’s always at this stage I start to look at my list of tasks and chastise myself for everything that didn’t get done. However, I did actually manage to get quite a bit done on this staycation. - [Chill Out - The Climb #523](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/29/chill-out-the-climb-523/) - Wednesday 29th July 2020 There’s always this weird disconnect when you finish a project. It’s a bit like when you finish a book that stays with you or you move off a moving escalator. There’s a momentum that’s built up that wants you to carry on, yet there’s nothing to carry on. Whilst I can - [New Ventures - The Climb #522](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/28/new-ventures-the-climb-522/) - Tuesday 28th July 2020 A combination of having worked my ass off the last few weeks and still having a flare up of a medical condition meant yesterday was largely a lazy day. Perhaps I’m being a bit unfair to myself. One of the things I want to do is to set up Twitch. The - [Project Completed - The Climb #521](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/27/project-completed-the-climb-521/) - Monday 27th July 2020 So the novel has been sent off. I only had a few chapters left to do, which I did this today with my setup of Kindle, sofa and mobile phone for notes. I actually like being away from the computer because it means I spend less time fretting and get down - [Pokemon GoFest Day 2 - The Climb #520](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/26/pokemon-gofest-day-2-the-climb-520/) - Sunday 26th July 2020 Pokemon GoFest Day 2 Today was the second day of play-at-home GoFest. As much as I miss the fun of being in a park with tens of thousands of other players, this event has been fun and the most fun I’ve had in Pokemon Go in a very long time. Today - [Pokemon GoFest Day 1 - The Climb #519](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/25/pokemon-gofest-day-1-the-climb-519/) - Saturday 25th July 2020 Pokemon GoFest 2020 Day 1 A year ago, I flew to Germany with my friend to take part in GoFest I’ll confess. I never was a huge fan of Pokemon when I was working in pop culture. It just never grabbed me the way some other IPs did. And when Pokemon - [So Close - The Climb #518](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/24/so-close-the-climb-518/) - Friday 24th July 2020 Did I mention I hate readthroughs? Today has been a frustrating day. I have Pokemon GoFest this weekend and most of my weekend will be spent hunting virtual creatures. I also need to prepare in the only way someone who takes this way too seriously, must, and work out which 500 - [I Hate The Final Readthrough - The Climb #517](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/23/i-hate-the-final-readthrough-the-climb-517/) - Thursday 23rd July 2020 I’m not sure what it is but the final readthrough is one of my least favourite parts of the process. I don’t know what exactly it is, but the intense focus whilst reading the draft one last time before it gets sent off always feels a bit like torture to me. - [The Final Readthrough - The Climb #516](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/22/the-final-readthrough-the-climb-516/) - Wednesday 22nd July 2020 Today I managed to get the final tweaks done to the draft. I finished by rewriting a conversation designed to impart a little of the lore without being an infodump. It also gave me chance to expand the racial diversity of my world a little. I always try and make those scenes - [The Secret End Chapter - The Climb #515](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/21/the-secret-end-chapter-the-climb-515/) - Tuesday 21st July 2020 Today wasn’t the most productive day. I’d intended to whip through all my final tweaks but a headache meant I wasn’t my most productive. I still managed to get through a number of the easier ones. As I’ve previously mentioned, one of the things I’ve done to speed my editing / - [Draft (Sorta) Done - The Climb #514](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/20/draft-sorta-done-the-climb-514/) - Monday 20th July 2020 It’s done. Well sorta. I’ve managed to do the new draft in just over 2 weeks. This is with a day job and other distractions. Best of all, I don’t feel I particularly rushed it. Case in point, if you remember, I wasn’t happy with a scene with a secondary protagonist - [Blooming Secondary Character Arcs - The Climb #513](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/19/blooming-secondary-character-arcs-the-climb-513/) - Sunday 19th July 2020 We’re definitely on the homeward straight right now. I’m now approaching the epic climax of this novel and I’m not expecting a lot of changes needing to be made. But sometimes, little changes you make can have bigger impact later on and I’m finding this with one of my secondary protagonists. - [The Emotional Pivot - The Climb #512](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/18/the-emotional-pivot-the-climb-512/) - Saturday 18th July 2020 Today has been a busy day. I had a Pokemon Go tournament I helped organise (which I jointly won, much to my amusement) as well as a major shopping run breaking up my writing day. I’ve got to a pivotal chapter. Logically thinking, it’s probably that point in the novel where - [Action Stations - The Climb #511](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/17/action-stations-the-climb-511/) - Friday 17th July 2020 I had a realisation about staycation today. I want to get lots done. I want to look back at these two weeks and feel that the time I would ordinarily be devoting to the day job got used productively. My main aim is to get this draft done. If that’s all - [Staycation - The Climb #510](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/16/staycation-the-climb-510/) - Thursday 16th July 2020 I’ve got an upcoming Staycation. Given the day job owes me so much holiday I need to start taking it, so I’ve booked out 2 weeks from next week. Of course, with Covid, I don’t plan to go anywhere other than the supermarket for essentials, so it’s going to be a - [Improvements To My Revision Process - The Climb #509](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/15/improvements-to-my-revision-process-the-climb-509/) - Wednesday 15th July 2020 I know I sound like a broken record, but this draft is going exceptionally well. I’ve tried to put my finger on why that is and I think ultimately it relies in confidence in my ability to revise. Writing a novel is a difficult endeavor. There’s so many moving parts. There’s - [The Late Introduction - The Climb #508](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/14/the-late-introduction-the-climb-508/) - Tuesday 14th July 2020 My friend was still ill so it was another long evening of writing again tonight. This proved to be quite handy as tonight I got to work on one of the longest chapters in the book. In terms of changes, not a whole lot needed to altered. There were some subtle - [An Evening Of Good Progress - The Climb #507](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/13/an-evening-of-good-progress-the-climb-507/) - Monday 13th July 2020 Social plans got cancelled tonight due to a friend being ill. Thankfully not Covid related. But it gave me the opportunity to get a lot of work done on the draft. The bulk of it was spent on the new chapter. For what ended up being a very short chapter, it - [The New Chapter - The Climb #506](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/12/the-new-chapter-the-climb-506/) - Sunday 12th July 2020 I am now at one of the most difficult pieces of this draft. I’m am close to the midway point in the novel and where the half from one draft meets the half from another. Bang in the middle of this is a new chapter. I say new, but a version - [Jigsaw Puzzles - The Climb #505](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/11/jigsaw-puzzles-the-climb-505/) - 11th July 2020 Some drafts feel like hurdles where you’re struggling to get the story, character motivation and prose over some obstacle in order for everything to tie up and work. This draft feels more like a jigsaw puzzle where everything feels like it is slotting into place. I don’t have enough skill and experience - [Slow Burn - The Climb #504](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/10/slow-burn-the-climb-504/) - Friday 10th July 2020 I appear to be a third of the way through this draft. I’m really happy with the way its going, although typically I don’t get to the “I hate this, why did I think I can write?” stage until around the 66% mark. A couple of things have emerged as I - [Good Writing - The Climb #503](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/09/good-writing-the-climb-503/) - Thursday 9th July 2020 It’s so easy to have your nose so close to the proverbial grindstone that it’s difficult to see progress. For example, people tell me I’m a good writer. I think I’m publishable, but beyond that I’m completely blind. There are plenty of shitty writers who are publishable. There are a few - [The Frankenstein Chapter - The Climb #502](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/08/the-frankenstein-chapter-the-climb-502/) - Wednesday 8th July 2020 Today I went over a big action chapter. I love writing action and I think it’s one of my strengths as a writer. Having experience with combat probably helps more than I know, but a lot of it stems from being told as a child that it was impossible to write - [Good Progress - The Climb #501](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/07/good-progress-the-climb-501/) - Tuesday 7th July 2020 Progress continues to go well on this draft. I’m not going to lie there’s still a feeling that I’m somehow rushing it, that I’m not going deep enough on the changes. But then I tell myself I have a plan of what needs to be done and I need to stick - [Widening Skills - The Climb #500](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/06/widening-skills-the-climb-500/) - Monday 6th July 2020 One of the things I’ve been very keen to do during Covid is expand my writing skills. It’s not just been limited to novels, although I did do a lot of work on theme in April that feels I’m really benefiting from during these recent outlines. I’ve also looked at Script - [The First Two Chapters - The Climb #499](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/05/the-first-two-chapters-the-climb-499/) - Sunday 5th July 2020 So after my procrastination yesterday, I actually sat down to do some writing/ editing. I always find the start of projects a little slow. I think first chapters are so important for setting tone, and I don’t know if it’s just fear manifesting itself or if it’s some skill I’ve not - [Procrastination - The Climb #498](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/04/procrastination-the-climb-498/) - Saturday 4th July 2020 I’d wanted to get started on the novel write today, but I ended up procrastinating. I rang family and talked to them for ages, then I did some work creating future thumbnails for The Climb, and then I played a round of Fortnite so I keep on top of the season - [Couch Potato - The Climb #497](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/03/couch-potato-the-climb-497/) - Friday 3rd July 2020 I didn’t start on the draft today. I’d like to tell you that I had a big elaborate reason why but in truth, it’s just procrastination. Instead, I just finished up watching the third series of Dark. I’ve been watching a lot of TV during lockdown. I only tend to realise - [I Have An Outline - The Climb #496](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/02/i-have-an-outline-the-climb-496/) - Thursday 2nd July 2020 So I have an outline. There’s a part of me that feels I must have somehow cheated, that I’ve cut some corner and not put the work in. I worry that Ill start writing and find how little I prepared and then have a hellish writing experience. But, I’ve documented what - [The Easiest Outline - The Climb #495](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/07/01/the-easiest-outline-the-climb-495/) - Wednesday 1st July 2020 Outlining is going very well. In fact, it’s going REALLY well. I don’t want to jinx it but I’d originally thought that this outline might take me 2 weeks. Even that was hopeful given that most outlines take me a month. But either the things I’ve gone over in the discussion - [The King Of Outlines - The Climb #494](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/30/the-king-of-outlines-the-climb-494/) - Tuesday 30th June 2020 I’m outlining again. I am the king of outlines at the moment. Hopefully it’ll mean this one won’t take too long. This one’s a little different in that it’s basically splicing together two drafts, the first half from one draft, the second from another. Of course, it’s not quite that easy. - [New Projects - The Climb #493](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/29/new-projects-the-climb-493/) - Monday 29th June 2020 I’m glad I had a weekend of no projects as I now seem to have a few. Remember how I said in publishing everything happens in burst. We’re now in a burst. Nothing really to report. Maybe in the future… but not now. I’ve seen situations where everything looks good only - [Discussion Documents - The Climb #492](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/28/discussion-documents-the-climb-492/) - Sunday 28th June 2020 Oh God, I feel like such a grown up! I have adulted hard today. After the discussions yesterday, I labelled something a discussion document and sent it out for feedback. Several things are obvious to me. First is how happy I feel with this process. After discussions yesterday I had a - [Time To Listen - The Climb #490](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/26/time-to-listen-the-climb-490/) - Friday 26th June 2020 It seems that across many of the communities I frequent there’s been a multitude of revelations about sexual misconduct. Whether it be men in positions of power, or esports teams, it’s been quite horrific reading about the ordeals some of these women have gone through. The worst of it, is a - [Primary Project Progress - The Climb #491](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/27/primary-project-progress-the-climb-491/) - Saturday 27th June 2020 There’s a large part of me that feels like I’ve done nothing during lockdown. My waistline has increased so that’s certainly true when it comes to exercise. But perhaps I’m being cruel to myself when it comes to writing. Some of this has been pretty obvious, some of it has been - [I Have A Synopsis - The Climb #489](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/25/i-have-a-synopsis-the-climb-489/) - Thursday 25th June 2020 I got the synopsis done. Yeah, I know. Two days ago and I was hating on it and felt I had a mountain to climb. But as I said, sometimes it only takes a small thing to unlock the whole jigsaw puzzle. The key for me was wanting to utilize a - [World of Fortnite - The Climb #488](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/24/world-of-fortnite-the-climb-488/) - Wednesday 24th June 2020 I’m doing something that all writers must recognise. I start a new week and say there are a list of things I want to complete. I may even have a list. But a busy week means you can’t get on it right at the start of the week. That’s OK, you - [I Hate Outlines - The Climb #487](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/23/i-hate-outlines-the-climb-487/) - Tuesday 23rd June 2020 I wish I could outline faster. The novel outline is still a mess. It’s a collection of partial story arcs, and whilst it’s started to mix at the end, the middle is just a mess. Some arcs stall, others have needless repetition. The more you write, the more you learn about - [Outline Progress - The Climb #486](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/22/outline-progress-the-climb-486/) - Monday 22nd June 2020 I’ve been doing a bit of work on the novel synopsis today. I often joke to my friend that I’m going to kill all her favourite characters, but this time I might actually mean it. The outline involves a series of specific murders and I’m afraid if the villain doesn’t complete - [The Productivity Mobius Loop - The Climb #485](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/21/the-productivity-mobius-loop-the-climb-485/) - Sunday 21st June 2020 I have Scrivener open on one screen and Final Draft open on another. I’m not sure this is the optimum way to work. Certainly, if I was to do any research on productivity it would probably say to focus on one and only one thing. But I know how my brain - [Weedle Community Day - The Climb #484](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/20/weedle-community-day-the-climb-484/) - Saturday 20th June 2020 It sort of crept up on me but today was Weedle Community Day in Pokemon Go I’m really struggling with storage right now. I keep a dex of good PvE Pokemon, a living shiny dex, a living shadow dex, keep anything over 96% IV, keep ones I want to trade, and - [Screenwriting - The Climb #483](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/19/screenwriting-the-climb-483/) - Friday 19th June 2020 At the start of the year I did something a little different where I listed out my goals for the year. They covered a range of subjects from swordfighting to writing. The idea was to organise myself so that over the course of the year I not only moved forward on - [Back To Storycraft - The Climb #482](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/18/back-to-storycraft-the-climb-482/) - Thursday 18th June 2020 I spent a bit of time yesterday evening doing more study on story structure. Having seen the benefit of the work I did back in April, it feels more an investment rather than a procrastination exercise. It’s strange. When you first start to write, you spend a lot of time studying - [Archaeologist - The Climb #481](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/17/archaeologist-the-climb-481/) - Wednesday 17th June 2020 Given that I nearly never made it to level 100 last season, with the launch of Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 3 I’ve made a point of putting some time in today rather than play Warcraft. I have been playing though. I’ve been thinking about long term investments. I’ve upped a bunch - [The Battle of Endor - The Climb #480](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/16/the-battle-of-endor-the-climb-480/) - Tuesday 16th June 2020 Music plays an important part in my writing. I tend to listen to orchestral soundtracks as I write and edit, choosing from a range of albums and playlists that I match to the mood of the piece I’m working on. Recently, I’ve been heavily into Youtube composers. They take classic scores, - [A Glorious Mess - The Climb #479](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/15/a-glorious-mess-the-climb-479/) - Monday 15th June 2020 This outline is a glorious mess. I mean, there’s the framework of a decent in novel there, but dig into the detail and there’s missing character arcs, massive plot holes, and a load of boring scenes. That’s OK though. I can work with that. Things like this used to stress me. - [The Not-A-Hangover - The Climb #478](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/14/the-not-a-hangover-the-climb-478/) - Sunday 14th June 2020 I rarely drink alcohol these days. I’ve got nothing against it per say but pre-lockdown I was often driving and so I just got accustom to not drinking. And I had no intention of drinking my way through lockdown (although it does sometimes seem like a good idea) and so saw - [How My Outlining Has Changed - The Climb #477](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/13/how-my-outlining-has-changed-the-climb-477/) - Saturday 13th June 2020 Long story short, I need to work on a rough synopsis to something. It’s not for a project that I plan to be actively working on so I don’t need to go too deep, but I need something workable that I can potentially go back at a later date and add - [Too Fat To Fence - The Climb #476](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/12/too-fat-to-fence-the-climb-476/) - Friday 12th June 2020 In an announcement that will surprise no-one, least not me, I cannot fit into my fencing jacket. I’m not surprised. I’ve hardly exercised in the past 2 months, and whilst I’ve eaten sensibly, I’m a person who needs to eat perfectly, and do plenty of exercise. And I have no real - [The Side Quest - The Climb #475](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/11/the-side-quest-the-climb-475/) - Thursday 11th June 2020 As I’ve stated, I’ve been a bit restless of late. I’m juggling a few writing projects at the moment. Some of them are existing ideas, some are new. But because of a number of things going on right now, I’m not sure what should be my priority. It’s left me feeling - [Professions Are So Hard - The Climb #474](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/10/professions-are-so-hard-the-climb-474/) - Wednesday 10th June 2020 I dunno why, but I thought I could decide to level up a profession and then do it in an evening. I’ve started playing a bit more Warcraft this week, although it’s been a little sporadic. My focus has been professions and mainly Blacksmithing. I take a character, do the LFR - [The Buddy Movie - The Climb #473](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/09/the-buddy-movie-the-climb-473/) - Tuesday 9th June 2020 Feeling a little less tired today, but I did have a 40 minute nap today after finishing the day job, and did start getting a bit fatigued again late this evening. I’ve been watching a few TV series on Amazon prime this past week. Worked my way through Alex Rider, which - [Still Tired - The Climb #472](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/08/still-tired-the-climb-472/) - Monday 8th June 2020 I’m still ridiculously tired and I can’t figure out why. I had my alarm set for 8:15am this morning and I woke naturally a minute or two before. That’s usually a sign my sleep is on point. My body clock turns off when I’m tired. Given how much I slept yesterday - [So Tired - The Climb #471](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/07/so-tired-the-climb-471/) - Sunday 7th June 2020 I’ve been feeling SO tired this weekend. I’ve never been a great sleeper. My family has a history of insomnia and I typically burn the candle at both ends during the week and catch up at weekends. But even then, once I’m awake, it’s very difficult for me to continue to - [The Idea That Won't Leave - The Climb #470](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/06/the-idea-that-wont-leave-the-climb-470/) - Saturday 6th June 2020 I have a new idea I can always tell the good ones because they linger long after you’ve written them down to look at some time in the future. You find they invade your mind when you haven’t invited them in. They take shape. I’m not short of ideas at the - [Missing HEMA - The Climb #469](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/05/missing-hema-the-climb-469/) - Friday 5th June 2020 I’ve been pretty good with lockdown. In many ways I’ve enjoyed it, and used to it to engage with things that I ordinarily haven’t had time for. I’ve played Warcraft until I burnt myself out, I’ve read more. I’ve caught up on a few TV series. I have got a bit - [The Lunchtime Walk - The Climb #468](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/04/the-lunchtime-walk-the-climb-468/) - Thursday 4th June 2020 I couldn’t get out today for a walk because the weather has turned. Whilst I’m not a fan of the blistering heat, I dislike having to find out a hoodie and discovering how tight they feel. Today was a bit of a slob day. I never went for my walk, I - [Long Term Goals - The Climb #467](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/03/long-term-goals-the-climb-467/) - Wednesday 3rd June 2020 I’m falling into one of the traps of long term goals. I’ve not played the last week. I’ve been meaning to but other things have taken priority. One thing that is constant amongst any of the long term projects I’ve done (whether it be getting myself healthy after Leggedon, or learning - [The Struggle of The Climb - The Climb #466](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/02/the-struggle-of-the-climb-the-climb-466/) - Tuesday 2nd June 2020 In some ways, The Climb is a writing challenge for me. With a day job, writing and other projects ongoing, finding the time to write a blog post is difficult. Then there’s deciding what to write. I don’t have the luxury of having days to think. I have to come up - [Restless - The Climb #465](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/06/01/restless-the-climb-465/) - Monday 1st June 2020 My list of lockdown projects hasn’t got much shorter. My garden still looks like a blitzkrieg by nature. I still have a table set up with loads of gaming miniatures for Shadows of Brimstone I need to finish gluing. My TBR pile isn’t getting any smaller. I’ve still not made enough - [Pokemon Go PvP Tournament - The Climb #464](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/31/pokemon-go-pvp-tournament-the-climb-464/) - Sunday 31st May 2020 I suck at Pokemon Go PvP Last year our Pokemon Go community started to host Silph Arena competitions. As one of the administrators for the community, I felt it was probably right I took part, even if only to boost numbers. We needed a minimum 8 for the tournament to work. - [Vagueblogging - The Climb #463](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/30/vagueblogging-the-climb-463/) - Saturday 30th May 2020 I spent half the day working on something today. I can’t really say more as it’s a complicated plan with a load of moving parts and a lot of uncertainty. Yes, I’m vagueblogging! However, it comes after several weeks of careful thinking on what my forward plan should be. What I - [Creating Commercial Art - The Climb #462](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/29/creating-commercial-art-the-climb-462/) - Friday 29th May 2020 It’s been a busy week. There’s a reason I’ve started doing my images for The Climb in batches and then find myself writing up several issues of The Climb based on notes at once. I’ve always thought about my writing in terms of career. There’s times when that feels a bit - [The New Idea - The Climb #461](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/28/the-new-idea-the-climb-461/) - Thursday 28th May 2020 I love it when a new idea comes together “before your eyes”. Over the last week or so, I’ve been trying to formulate a few new ideas for future books. I’ve talked about my process works recently. What I’m finding very interesting at the moment is an added constraint that’s come - [Week Off - The Climb #460](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/27/week-off-the-climb-460/) - Wednesday 27th May 2020 This has been my week off Warcraft. With the bonus rep event over, I’m a little burnt out, so the plan for this past week was really to recover. I’ve also had other games to play. Fortnite chapter 2 season 3 is coming to an end and I’ve needed to get - [Walking Time - The Climb #459](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/26/walking-time-the-climb-459/) - Tuesday 26th May 2020 Over the last couple of weeks , I’ve developed a weakness in my lower back. I start walking and after a couple of hundred metres I’ve developed a pain above one of my glutes in the small of my back. I had a few ideas as to the cause very early - [Crossroads - The Climb #458](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/25/crossroads-the-climb-458/) - Monday 25th May 2020 I love that I have writer friends who I can text and ask questions about time travel without having to qualify that it’s novel research. I could use some time travel right now. I really wish I could travel into the future and back again to explore the outcomes of a - [Pokemon Community Day - The Climb #457](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/24/pokemon-community-day-the-climb-457/) - Sunday 24th May 2020 Today was Pokemon Community Day and the first time I’ve not played the entire event. I’ve mentioned before that I find Pokemon Go a reminder of the “old world”, of a time when we’d drive around town, coordinating raids and mopping up every Pokémon with our gotchas. With lockdown, it became - [Ebooks - The Climb #456](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/23/ebooks-the-climb-456/) - Saturday 23rd May 2020 Last year, I had a major hard disk crash. Luckily, all my writing is automatically backed up so data loss wasn’t even a concern. But I managed to lose my ebook library. This in itself, wasn’t too much of a worry, as the vast majority of my books are kindle and - [New Ideas - The Climb #455](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/22/new-ideas-the-climb-455/) - Friday 22nd May 2020 Ideas are weird beasts. I’m in the process of coming up with a range of ideas. Whilst I’ve got a lot of existing ones I’ve not yet used, I’m in the process of putting some entirely new ideas together. For me ideas can come in one of four varieties: Aesthetic, Character, - [Unwell - The Climb #454](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/21/unwell-the-climb-454/) - Thursday 21st May 2020 I’m ill currently. Luckily this isn’t Covid but relates to a long running medical condition. I need to be ultra careful what I eat. I can’t process fats properly so if I do eat even a sensible amount of fat, I start retaining weight a day or two later. That’ll go - [Raid Burnout - The Climb #453](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/20/raid-burnout-the-climb-453/) - Wednesday 20th May 2020 So I burnt myself out last week farming raw gold. The plan had been to really go for it to see just how much I could realistically gather in a week, most of this was done taking my 8 alts through Draenor raids. I did them all on LFR, Normal, Heroic - [The Writing Business - The Climb #452](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/19/the-writing-business-the-climb-452/) - Tuesday 19th May 2020 Writing as a profession is weird. I’m sure all creative industries are much the same. There’s the creative part of you that wants to do fun and exciting stuff, but then there’s the business side that constrains it. Too much business, the creative output gets stifled and what gets turned out - [The Career - The Climb #451](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/18/the-career-the-climb-451/) - Monday 18th May 2020 The interesting thing about publishing is that it’s so individual. I think it’s very easy when you are looking for an agent or dreaming of publication to think there’s some linear path. Writers will tell you that you need to write a book, send it to agents and wait through all - [Mortality - The Climb #448](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/15/mortality-the-climb-448/) - Friday 15th May 2020 I’m still feeling a little glum today. Part of this is this chapter which I need to figure out, but there’s also underlying frustration. Everything seems to be on hold at the moment. We’re in lockdown. Swordfighting events are being cancelled and I doubt we’ll see any this year. I’m waiting - [Forcing The Protagonist - The Climb #499](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/16/forcing-the-protagonist-the-climb-499/) - Saturday 16th May 2020 It used to be that I’d rewrite chapters time and time again, trying to get the tone right. I’m pretty sure that The Four Realms’ first chapter was rewritten 50+ times from scratch. I have a problem with this book’s second chapter, and in trying to rewrite it I’m very much - [Character Motivations - The Climb #450](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/17/character-motivations-the-climb-450/) - Sunday 17th May 2020 I’ve done some more work on chapter 2. What’s interesting with this chapter is that instead of throwing out and rewriting it, I refine it like waves lapping at a coast. My focus has very much been on the protagonist. They’ve been changed by the events of book 1. That was - [A Frustrating Day - The Climb #447](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/14/a-frustrating-day-the-climb-447/) - Thursday 14th May 2020 Today was one of those frustrating days. It was a day when just about everything finds some way of getting on top of you and you just want to give up on everything and go live in a cave or something. You’re miserable company and you know it, preferring to just - [Raw Gold - The Climb #446](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/13/raw-gold-the-climb-446/) - Wednesday 13th May 2020 One of the things I like about Warcraft Wednesdays is going back over the last entry and seeing how much progress I’ve made. It’s also interesting seeing what my aims were a week ago and whether I kept to them or got distracted. This week has largely been about raw gold. - [Four Act Structure - the Climb #445](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/12/four-act-structure-the-climb-445/) - Tuesday 12th May 2020 My head is predominantly in book 2 at the moment. There’s a lot to consider and I’m really wanting to make some serious progress on it over the coming weeks. But in the back of my head there’s a little bit of thinking going on surrounding book 3. Some of this - [Loredump - The Climb #444](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/11/loredump-the-climb-444/) - Monday 11th May 2020 I mentioned yesterday how I’ve been working on chapter 2 of this novel. As I said, with scenes like this that are predominantly character based, I tend to work on key moments of dialogue and spider out. I’ll start with snippets of script, fleshing it out with connecting dialogue, attribution, character - [Catching Up - The Climb #443](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/10/catching-up-the-climb-443/) - Sunday 10th May 2020 This weekend has been a bit of a catch up weekend. A combination of personal stuff and Pokemon Go Safari zone means I’ve been behind on everything. It’s good to be busy but in lockdown life I have so much going on, I have no time to be bored. I’ve not - [The Zoom Quiz Strikes Again - The Climb #442](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/09/the-zoom-quiz-strikes-again-the-climb-441/) - Saturday 9th May 2020 Last night was the second HEMA virtual pub quiz This was supposedly bringing together the best players from the two runs of the last quiz they ran. I did terrible in that, so either they made a mistake or I was there for comedy value. I did slightly better though. I - [Philadelphia Safari Zone - The Climb #441](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/08/philadelphia-safari-zone-the-climb-441/) - Friday 8th May 2020 Way back in late February / early March when coronavirus was just starting to rear its head, Pokemon Go postponed an event in St Louis. I’ve done a few of these events and they’re fun. Basically, they take over a large park, cram in a ton of cell towers, and then - [Getting Behind - The Climb #440](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/07/getting-behind-the-climb-440/) - Thursday 7th May 2020 This has been the most difficult week since restarting The Climb. It’s been one of those weeks where a lot has been going on in real life. Nothing exciting, but just one of those weeks when lots needs to be done in a short period of time. It’s meant that with - [Professions Leveling - The Climb #439](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/06/professions-leveling-the-climb-439/) - Wednesday 6th May 2020 This last week has been about professions and reputation. I’ve not been afraid to spend in order to get materials to level up, averaging around 20-30k gold per profession. Instead of edging a few forward, I’ve focused on just a few and spent the cash to get them as close to max - [The Weekly Review - The Climb #438](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/05/the-weekly-review-the-climb-438/) - Tuesday 5th May 2020 Productivity is always a massive struggle. Even the most productive people have days when they feel off or don’t get much done. One of the reasons I like systems so much, is that they are there to support you rather than lead you. I find when I’m being productive I, ironically, - [The Silent Epidemic - The Climb #437](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/04/the-silent-epidemic-the-climb-437/) - Monday 4th May 2020 I keep telling myself that I’m OK Lockdown is weird. The social isolation doesn’t really bother me as much as it does others. I learnt to enjoy my own company many years ago. If I need a social fix, I can phone someone, or read Facebook updates. Yet, there’s this weird - [Onto Chapter 2 - The Climb #436](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/03/onto-chapter-2-the-climb-436/) - Sunday 3rd May 2020 I’m onto editing the second chapter. If chapter 1 is the James Bond pre-credits roll reintroducing the world and protagonist to the reader, then Chapter 2 is when everything gets set up for the book ahead. This is one of those deceiving little chapters that’s a bit more than a rewrite. - [Chapter 1 Done - The Climb #435](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/02/chapter-1-done-the-climb-435/) - Saturday 2nd May 2020 My weekends and free time are pretty much consumed by World of Warcraft right now. I would have thought I would have burned myself out by now, but it still seems to be my coping mechanism whilst in lockdown, and since its working, then who am I to argue? Of course, - [The Zoom Quiz - The Climb #434](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/05/01/the-zoom-quiz-the-climb-434/) - Friday 1st May 2020 In many ways I’ve been impressed how well I’ve been handling social isolation. I’ve embraced my inner introvert and so have kept myself busy with a load of things such that I feel I could ride this lockdown for months. That doesn’t mean I don’t miss social interaction though. There’s something - [The Slow Progress At The Start - The Climb #433](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/30/the-slow-progress-at-the-start-the-climb-433/) - Thursday 30th April 2020 I’ve now progressed to the stage where I need to start editing book 2, and this stage always seems difficult. First of all there’s that transition, where I move from planning to actually editing and rewriting. It’s a slightly different mindset – switching from thinking about theme and character to words - [I Made Gold - The Climb #432](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/29/i-made-gold-the-climb-432/) - Wednesday 29th April 2020 It’s #WarcraftWednesday so it’s time to bring you the latest update on what I’ve been up to in-game. The last week was actually a really good one, even though my playing tailed off a bit the last couple of days. I actually made gold. And not just a little bit, but - [Making Good Progress On Book 2 - The Climb #431](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/28/making-good-progress-on-book-2-the-climb-431/) - Tuesday 28th April 2020 I think I have a working outline for the redraft of book 2. I spent some time yesterday working through the story circle and applying it to what I had currently. I started by creating one for each of the three acts (as well as a fourth for the overall book), - [Story Structure - The Climb #430](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/27/story-structure-the-climb-430/) - Monday 27th April 2020 One of my current fascinations is story structure. I’m finding that as I do some spreadsheet work in my day job I have Youtube videos on in the background talking about all manners of storycraft. I’ve always been interested in the writing process. It’s often been my favourite procrastination exercises. I’m - [The Spark Of An Idea - The Climb #429](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/26/the-spark-of-an-idea-the-climb-429/) - 26th April 2020 I’ve been thinking a lot about book 3 over the weekend. I don’t have any need to start thinking about this just yet (my focus is on redrafting book 2 at the moment and that’ll keep me busy for weeks at a minimum) but given that book 2 does a little to - [Sofa Shinies - The Climb #428](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/25/sofa-shinies-the-climb-428/) - Saturday 25th April 2020 Today was Pokemon Go community day, and it was spent on the sofa. In our local community, Community Day is usually just that, a day for our community to meet up and spend time playing together. We usually all convene at our local hotspot for Pokemon spawns and then wander around - [Energy Levels - The Climb #427](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/24/energy-levels-the-climb-427/) - Friday 24th April 2020 I’m a person who needs to have a very strict diet otherwise I suffer. I know everyone has this magic diet that cause a person to lose weight but mine is medical (so please, no diet advice please. I’m glad it worked for you) I’m not just talking about GI issues - [Writing Frustrations - The Climb #426](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/23/writing-frustrations-the-climb-426/) - Thursday 23rd April 2020 I’m a little frustrated with myself. The novel is now at the stage where I just need to make some changes around the middle and then I’m ready to redraft. Let me summarise. I’ve decided that one plot arc which featured “Bruce Wayne” (not actual Bruce Wayne but the secret identity - [Gaming With Spreadsheets - The Climb #425](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/22/gaming-with-spreadsheets-the-climb-425/) - Wednesday 22nd April 2020 It’s Wednesday which means another update on where I am with World of Warcraft. I’ve now got to the stage where I’m starting to put together spreadsheets. I’ve been using an add-on called TSM to track a lot of my accounting across my various characters but I’ve found it’s not reporting - [A Meh! Day - The Climb #424](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/21/a-meh-day-the-climb-424/) - Tuesday 21st April 2020 I’m not feeling it today. Day job stress has meant that I really don’t have a lot of spoons for other things and it’s left me irritable. I’m waiting back on a bunch of writing things - short story submissions, novel rewrites – and I’m feeling impatient. There’s also things I - [On Productivity - The Climb #423](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/20/on-productivity-the-climb-423/) - Monday 20th April 2020 There’s a lot of discussion about productivity of late. It’s been argued that lockdown is a perfect time to create, and there’s evidence of historical creators using lockdowns to create great works of art. There’s also the backlash to this, that people are under a lot of stress, and adding expectation - [New Approaches To Storycraft - The Climb #422](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/19/new-approaches-to-storycraft-the-climb-422/) - Sunday 19th April 2020 Yesterday was spent planning out the redraft of the second Shade Knight novel. I was actually quite impressed at just how ruthless I was prepared to be. That I think is a product of equal measures preparedness (through thinking through issues of theme and character) and experience. I’ve talked about how - [Carnage On The Corkboard - The Climb #421](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/18/carnage-on-the-corkboard-the-climb-421/) - Saturday 18th April 2020 I’ve started on the Shade Knight book 2 manuscript today. After some time doing the “thinking” work, I’ve now moved onto the outline and loaded the document up. I write in Scrivener rather than MS Word (although I tend to do edits in Word). I don’t use the software to its - [Hunting Pokemon From The Sofa - The Climb #420](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/17/hunting-pokemon-from-the-sofa-the-climb-420/) - Friday 17th April 2020 In another world and time, where we weren’t all in lockdown, I would have been in Liverpool today playing Pokemon Go. Instead, I ended up doing most of it from the sofa. I got into it a few years ago as a friend was playing it. I’ve always enjoyed outdoor games, - [Bruce Wayne Vs Batman - The Climb #419](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/16/bruce-wayne-vs-batman-the-climb-419/) - Thursday 16th April 2020 One of the ‘aims’ of The Climb is to provide a bit of a “making of” documentary for my books. I’ve always been fascinated by what caused writers to do certain things in their novels, what their inspirations were, which bits came easy and which bits came hard. My hope is - [Hardcore Leveling - The Climb #418](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/15/hardcore-leveling-the-climb-418/) - Wednesday 15th April 2020 As I explained last week, one of my aims over the Easter weekend was to level up a load of Alts in World of Warcraft to level 120. My plan is driven by two factors: the first is a current month long double XP event. The second is a timewalking dungeon - [Introducing Antagonists - The Climb #417](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/14/introducing-antagonists-the-climb-417/) - Tuesday 14th April 2020 Easter has put my content schedule all out of whack. If anything, over this past extended weekend I’ve realised the need for some structure in my life while we're in lockdown. I missed getting a few episodes of The Climb up over the weekend because I didn't have graphics ready. But - [The Current Lack Of Pokemon In My Life - The Climb #416](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/13/the-current-lack-of-pokemon-in-my-life-the-climb-416/) - Monday 13th April 2020 Today has been a day of running errands. Whilst I got some Warcraft in and got my Warrior to the stage where they are now doing the latest expansion content, I’ve not really played that much. The reason for that has been the need to do a number of errands. I - [Easter Lockdown - The Climb #415](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/12/easter-lockdown-the-climb-415/) - Sunday 12th April 2020 The four day holiday over Easter always used to be a big time for me. It would either be a big writing convention, or a massive Geocaching weekend; or even before that, a time to meet up with friends and watch movies. At the start of this year I had considered - [Rewrite Prepping - The Climb #414](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/11/rewrite-prepping-the-climb-414/) - Saturday 11th April 2020 I’m currently in full production mode in World of Warcraft. In my quest to level up as many characters to 120 as possible I’ve had little time to do anything else. It’s keeping my occupied during lockdown, and I still have more to do. I can feel a bit of burnout - [Feeling Good Friday - The Climb #413](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/10/feeling-good-friday-the-climb-40/) - Friday 10th April 2020 I have to be honest and say that I’m coping incredibly well with lockdown currently. That could of course change tomorrow and I’m not saying that to be smug, but because I think I can give some advice for those who might be mentally struggling. A lot of the reason is - [The Hero Moment - The Climb #412](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/09/the-hero-moment-the-climb-412/) - Thursday 9th April 2020 There’s a clip from Avenger Endgame that’s been doing the rounds this week. Minor spoilers ahead if you’ve not yet seen the movie. So in the climatic battle against Thanos there’s a scene with Captain America and Thor. Thor’s getting his arse handed to him by Thanos when suddenly Thanos gets - [The Great Leveling Push - The Climb #411](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/08/the-great-leveling-push-the-climb-411/) - Wednesday 8th April 2020 World of Warcraft is my coping mechanism for lockdown. Like many I can be guilty of getting into an endless news cycle which just drags my mental health down. So to get away from it, I choose to go to Azeroth for extended periods of time. It means that when I - [Good Posture - The Climb #410](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/07/good-posture-the-climb-410/) - Tuesday 7th April 2020 I’m not really feeling it today. I think, that after a couple of weeks of eating badly, I’m going through some sugar withdrawals. I have chocolate in the fridge for an emergency and currently my resolve is faltering. I’ve tried to combat it with a healthier energy drink and hopefully that’ll - [Content Strategy (Lockdown Edition) - The Climb #409](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/06/content-strategy-lockdown-edition-the-climb-409/) - Monday 6th April 2020 There’s a number of reasons I enjoy producing The Climb. It’s a lot of work and can sometimes turn into a chore, but not only does it document my entire journey but its content for social media. Now, I get for a lot of people, trying to raise my social media - [I Need A Script - The Climb #408](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/05/i-need-a-script-the-climb-408/) - Sunday 5th April 2020 One of the things I want to do during lockdown is to make some HEMA instructional videos. I love teaching people how to swordfight. As someone who it didn’t come naturally to, I get a real buzz seeing students progress. But it’s more than just an ego trip. I noticed a - [Passive Creativity - The Climb #407](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/04/passive-creativity-the-climb-407/) - Saturday 4th April 2020 There’s not a whole lot of writing going on over the last few days. Instead, I’ve been buried in videogames. This is often my recharge time. I find I naturally go into periods of massive narrative consumption before I write. I’ve likened it to recharging a mana bar. I need to - [Finding Motivation - The Climb #406](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/03/finding-motivation-the-climb-406/) - Friday 3rd April 2020 In most aspects of the lockdown, I’m pretty sorted. I’ve got World of Warcraft to take my mind off the news and keep me busy. I’ve got writing work to feed my creativity. I’ve even got a load of Shadows of Brimstone models still to glue if I want to do - [Writing In These Troubled Times - The Climb #405](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/02/writing-in-these-troubled-times-the-climb-405/) - Thursday 2nd April 2020 I struggle to write when I’m stressed, and I’ve had a lot of stress over the course of this year. Even now there’s a hum of background stress that’s meant I’ve had to tear myself away from news cycles and start focusing on more positive social media. And whilst I gave - [Solo Sword Training - The Climb #403](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/03/31/solo-sword-training-the-climb-403/) - Tuesday 31st March 2020 This has been a bad year for my swordfighting. I was a bit broken from competition last year and just as I was recovering from that, all classes got stopped due to Coronavirus. However, even with the lockdown it’s still possible to train by yourself... even if you're wanting to start - [404 Warcraft Gold Not Found - The Climb #404](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/04/01/404-warcraft-gold-not-found-the-climb-404/) - Wednesday 1st April 2020 World of Warcraft has always been my self-care. When the world is stressful and scary, I find loosing myself in another world for a time can give my anxiety a rest and allow me to emerge the other side, calmer and a little more focused. I dabble in the game, and - [Productivity Monday - The Climb #402](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/03/30/productivity-monday-the-climb-402/) - Monday 30th March 2020 There’s a line in the song “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons “But you always knew that you'd be the one That work while they all play” That’s how I’m choosing to look at the current world lockdown. It’s shit all round and like the majority of the world’s population I’m stressed and - [Two Years Later - The Climb #401](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2020/02/27/two-years-later-the-climb-401/) - Thursday 27th February 2020 Well... it's been a while. In that time, I've got older, fatter, and written some things. There were a number of reasons I stopped updating. First and foremost, it was taking a lot of time to keep up the daily schedule. It was always rough and ready but the pace was - [2019 - The Year Of Soldiering Through](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2019/12/31/2019-the-year-of-soldiering-through/) - I end 2019 sitting here on the last day of the decade, waiting for my mouth to unnumb after emergency dental surgery. I managed to lose part of my tooth yesterday and thought that I’d probably have to have the tooth out. But as it turns out…it was just a filling and they could replace - [The Year Of Priorities](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/12/31/the-year-of-priorities/) - I always knew that 2018 would be a difficult year. 2017 saw me get so many things in harmony that my progress in many areas was astounding. I knew it would never continue and 2018 would be about trying to make difficult choices when everything was pulling in different directions. I ended 2017 a little - [Rotella Destroyer - The Climb #400](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/26/rotella-destroyer-the-climb-400/) - Sunday 25th February 2018 I had a late night last night. I think it boiled down to not wanting to care so much about the result today. People go to Fightcamp or other events and fight with massive hangovers where I will always get an early night and mentally prep. I think I wanted an - [The First Tournament of 2018 - The Climb #399](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/25/the-first-tournament-of-2018-the-climb-399/) - Saturday 24th February 2018 Today was my first swordfighting tournament this year. It’s been a rough couple of months for my swordfighting. I came away from my last tournament feeling defeated and ready for a break. I was overwhelmed with swordfighting stuff from dues to websites and the net result was that I felt ready - [Coming To A Head - The Climb #398](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/24/coming-to-a-head-the-climb-398/) - Friday 23rd February 2018 I feel like everything is coming to a head. You know in those apocalyptic movies where all the signs of the impending cataclysm align? Well, that seems to be my life right now. You see, I’m due feedback on my latest round of rewrites on Black as Knight. I’m hoping that - [Playing With Short Stories - The Climb #397](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/23/playing-with-short-stories-the-climb-397/) - Thursday 22nd February 2018 One of the things I’ve been working on now Book 2 first draft is done and the ideas for book 3 are still being formed, is to work on a short story. I was asked to work on a short story last year and plotted out ahead of any form deadline. But - [The Need For Agency - The Climb #396](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/22/the-need-for-agency-the-climb-396/) - Wednesday 21st February 2018 One of the things my agent always stresses on me is the need for agency. A character needs to be doing things, rather than have things happen to them. Whilst early drafts can be guilty of forgetting that, it’s something I do believe in enough that I apply it to my - [Recharging Spoons - The Climb #395](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/21/recharging-spoons-the-climb-395/) - Tuesday 20th February 2018 I’m feeling a lot brighter today. After feeling low yesterday, I seem to have perked back up and have been on a bit of a high today. It was another day of media consumption today. My friend has been watching a lot of Supernatural lately and I’ve been joining in whenever - [Downwards Spiral - The Climb #394](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/21/downwards-spiral-the-climb-394/) - Monday 19th February 2018 I was feeling a bit low today. It looks some plans that were coming together on Friday are now falling apart and as a result I just got myself into a downwards spiral. It’s not like it’s the end of the world but it certainly felt like it today. The day - [Back Fighting - The Climb #393](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/19/back-fighting-the-climb-393/) - Sunday 18th February 2018 I sparred for the first time in nearly 3 weeks today. The plan had been to really see how the finger could cope with a potential tournament next weekend. It’s my offhand that’s damaged and I suppose that’s been a bit lucky. The competitions I’ve entered don’t really need my offhand. - [Earthquake! - The Climb #392](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/18/earthquake-the-climb-392/) - Saturday 17th February 2018 There’s something about an early start. I’m usually too exhausted to get up really early, or instead find myself pottering around until it’s late in the day, but after returning from a friend’s house relatively early last night I got a decent night’s sleep and was walking to the supermarket to - [Gaining Some Direction - The Climb #391](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/17/gaining-some-direction-the-climb-391/) - Friday 16th February 2018 A plan is formulating that will hopefully see me back swordfighting and competing soon. The finger is slowly healing. Over the past week I’ve seen a massive crack in the tip slowly fuse together and heal over. It’s been quite miraculous to watch. How do our bodies know to heal? If - [The Bad Patient - The Climb #390](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/16/the-bad-patient-the-climb-390/) - Thursday 15th February 2018 I am a bad patient. I know I have to give my finger time to heal. It’s slowly getting there and I’m glad I’ve been sensible. But at the same time, I’m a little frustrated. Not having 101 requests for things to be done for swordfighting is incredibly relaxing. I think - [A Job Rather Than A Hobby - The Climb #389](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/15/a-job-rather-than-a-hobby-the-climb-389/) - Wednesday 14th February 2018 I have a swordfighting tournament in 10 days, followed by one the following week. I’ve paid, although I’ve not booked a hotel for the one in Bradford yet. Which is just as well, as I have to ask myself if I can even compete. The finger is healing slowly, and it’s - [Feeling Lazy - The Climb #388](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/14/feeling-lazy-the-climb-388/) - Tuesday February 13th 2018 I’m feeling so lazy of late. Part of this is the finger, which just isn’t right. I keep soaking it, and the scabs are still falling away to reveal that it’s attached at an angle. This means round the back there’s a gap. It’s painful… best described as pins and needles, - [Keeping A Diary - The Climb #387](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/13/keeping-a-diary-the-climb-387/) - Monday 12th February 2018 When I was young, I used to keep a diary. Every night I would write about my day, as boring as it might be. In many ways, The Climb is an extension of that, taking that documenting of a day and turning it into something very much focus on my writing - [A Day Of Consuming Media - The Climb #386](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/12/a-day-of-consuming-media-the-climb-386/) - Sunday 11th November 2018 Today I’ve been really bored. I still think it’ll be a number of weeks before I start writing something new, and whilst I have a short story I need to work on, I was too restless for what is a delicate bit of prose. And given I spent some time yesterday - [Continuing The Plotting - the Climb #385](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/11/continuing-the-plotting-the-climb-385/) - Saturday 10th February 2018 It’s a pretty lazy weekend this weekend. Fingergeddon means I’m still not fit to fight, and being on call with the day job means I can’t really go anywhere. So I spent a part of today working on the plot for book 3. I was working primarily with Scrivener’s corkboard feature - [Building The Plot For Book 3 - The Climb #384](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/10/building-the-plot-for-book-3-the-climb-384/) - Friday 10th February 2017 You’d think after my meeting with Kate yesterday on Book 2’s first draft that I’d be very much thinking about the subplot that needs replacing. But instead, I’ve almost pushed it to the back of my mind. My creative process works best when it’s in the background. So the focus for - [Taking Feedback On A Draft - The Climb #383](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/09/taking-feedback-on-a-draft-the-climb-383/) - Thursday 8th February 2018 Today I met up with Kate to discuss her beta read of book 2. I spent the morning going over her detailed notes and making notes of my own. When reading feedback from a beta reader, there’s a filter you have to put over it. Just because one reader might have - [It Doesn't Get Easier - The Climb #382](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/08/it-doesnt-get-easier-the-climb-382/) - Wednesday 7th February 2018 There’s a quote I picked up a while back. Actually it was 2 quotes, from leaders in two completely different fields, but it said the same thing. It never gets easier, you just get better at dealing with it. My writing career feels a bit like this right now. I know - [Great Books Need A Lot Of Work - The Climb #381](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/07/great-books-need-a-lot-of-work-the-climb-381/) - Tuesday 6th February 2018 There’s this deluded hope you have as a writer. It’s that, one day, you’ll be good enough that your first draft of a story won’t need any work. That it’ll go to a beta reader, an editor or agent and they’ll tell you it’s perfect. That doesn’t happen. It never happens. - [Genesis Of A Character - The Climb #380](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/06/genesis-of-a-character-the-climb-380/) - Monday 5th February 2018 Today I created a new character for book 3 and I wanted to spend a little time in today’s The Climb explaining my process of how I came up with them. This character will be a personal bodyguard for the Prince. He’ll not only keep the Prince safe but be proactive - [Rearranging The Office - The Climb #379](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/05/rearranging-the-office-the-climb-379/) - Sunday 4th February 2018 Today I decided to tidy up my office space and create a second desk. I’m playing games online with friends who live locally and it would be nice to be able to invite them around and have a social evening playing online together. I have a couple of old PCs, and - [Lazy Saturday - The Climb #378](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/04/lazy-saturday-the-climb-378/) - Saturday 3rd February 2018 I feel like I’ve been really lazy this week. Whilst there are some weeks where I don’t feel like I get a lot of things done, it’s not usually due to a lack of trying. Yet, this week. I don’t think I’ll look back at this week and see it being - [The Need To Consume As A Writer - The Climb #377](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/03/the-need-to-consume-as-a-writer-the-climb-377/) - Friday 2nd February 2018 If you want to be successful at anything, you pretty much have to follow the same pattern. Whether it be in sports or creative arts or business, you need to work hard and put in years of grind (most of it unnoticed). That means sacrifice. That means giving up some leisure - [February Could Be A Busy Month - The Climb #376](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/02/february-could-be-a-busy-month-the-climb-376/) - Thursday 1st February 2018 I went back to work too early. I’ve never been one for being off ill and so I’ll drag myself back to work as soon as possible. But my hand really wasn’t feeling up to a day of use. Over the last day or so I’ve typed a little, I’ve played - [Taking It Easy - The Climb #375](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/02/01/taking-it-easy-the-climb-375/) - Wednesday 31st January 2018 I had intended to go back to work today but my finger was killing me this morning. I think I must have moved around in the night and knocked it. I don’t seem to need to do much for it to really hurt. Just brushing it against something is enough to - [The Walking Wounded - The Climb #374](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/31/the-walking-wounded-the-climb-374/) - Tuesday 30th January 2018 Today I hurt like someone who’d nearly chopped their finger off. Now the shock has worn off. The hand really, really hurts. It’s not just the finger though… just trying to stretch my hand results in pain. So typing hurts it (even if not using the finger), ALT-CTRL-DEL is next to - [I Severed My Finger - The Climb #373](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/30/i-severed-my-finger-the-climb-373/) - Monday 29th January 2018 For someone who fights with blades I’m not very good with sharp objects. I had a major injury today and sliced a good chunk of my finger off, nail and all. The day job was really busy this morning. We had a major incident that took a lot of our time - [A Day Of Progress - The Climb #372](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/29/a-day-of-progress-the-climb-372/) - Sunday 28th January 2018 I have two swordfighting competitions in the next month. They’re not for my primary weapon type (rapier & dagger) so I’m not too worried about them. My hope is that they are a way to ease myself back into competition. First I have the English Sidesword Open. I’m fighting single sidesword - [Starting On A New Short Story - The Climb #371](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/28/starting-on-a-new-short-story-the-climb-371/) - Saturday 27th January 2018 Today has been quite a hectic day. I actually managed to get a decent night’s sleep for a change. I was then up and about trying to get some bits for dinner tonight where a friend came over for a meal and we watched IT. However, in amongst all the chaos, - [Creating A Big Bad For The Next Novel - The Climb #370](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/27/creating-a-big-bad-for-the-next-novel-the-climb-370/) - Friday 26th January 2018 My friend came over this evening and we had an evening of watching The Defenders on Netflix. It was a fun evening of silliness, fart jokes and I actually really liked seeing the Netflix Marvel Universe come together (Don’t even start me off on how excited I am for Infinity War) - [I Gave Away My Best Idea - The Climb #369](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/26/i-gave-away-my-best-idea-the-climb-369/) - Thursday 25th January 2018 There’s this thought when you start out as a writer that ideas are sacred, something heaven-bourne. If you’ve not had much writing experience you can also fall into the trap of thinking an idea arrives fully realised. “Where do you get your ideas?” many authors are asked, and the answer is - [How To Get Started - The Climb #368](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/25/how-to-get-started-the-climb-368/) - Wednesday 24th January 2018 I have no idea why, but I somehow only managed 3 hours sleep last night. As a result I’ve been ridiculously tired all day, not achieved much and have decided to focus this edition of The Climb on some practical advise on getting started. It doesn’t help when it’s an incredibly - [Organising For The Year Ahead - The Climb #367](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/24/organising-for-the-year-ahead-the-climb-367/) - Tuesday 23rd January 2018 It always seems to take me until the end of the month to get myself in gear for the year. My friend says that it’s the same in the gym, that the big influx of new people comes a few weeks into January rather than in the first week. Having a - [A Year Of The Climb - The Climb #366](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/23/a-year-of-the-climb-the-climb-366/) - 22nd January 2018 A year ago today, I started my little experiment. I started documenting my writing career through daily blog posts. The idea was to make a ‘DVD extra’ of how my books came about, how other things in my life fed into that creative process. I wanted to document my writing career – - [I Broke My FitBit - The Climb #365](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/22/i-broke-my-fitbit-the-climb-365/) - Sunday 21st January 2017 I’m still getting aftershocks following last weekend’s anxiety attack. I was pretty rough going to bed last night and still felt a little anxious this morning. Random things keep setting it off and I’m not sure why. I’d already decided that I would go sparring this morning. It was a long - [Do You Even Lift, Bro? - The Climb #364](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/21/do-you-even-lift-bro-the-climb-364/) - Saturday 20th January 2018 It’s funny how plans come about. For the last week I’ve been considering some new fitness goals for 2018. In 2015 I felt my fitness was far behind everyone else I swordfight with. I was slow, both in movement and in reaction. 2016 it was about taking my fitness to a - [Restless - The Climb #363](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/20/restless-the-climb-363/) - Friday 19th January 2018 I’m a bad patient. By all rights what I should be doing is enjoying the rest. I’ve had a tough couple of weeks mentally and have no projects outstanding. The sensible thing to do would be to rest, to gather my mental energy and just consume media ready for the next - [The Couch Potato - The Climb #362](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/19/the-couch-potato-the-climb-362/) - Thursday 18th January 2018 The big trouble with finishing a big project like an edit or a novel is that you suddenly find time on your hands. I liken it to stepping off a travellator or that alien feeling you have when you walk into your house after a holiday. You’ve been working on a - [Teaching Rapier - The Climb #361](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/18/teaching-rapier-the-climb-361/) - Wednesday 17th January 2018 After feeling calmer yesterday I found myself coming back from training late tonight and having another small panic attack. It was small enough that I could recognise it right away but it’s meant that whilst being in desperate need for sleep, I’ve stayed up late hoping for it to subside. The - [Calmer - The Climb #360](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/17/calmer-the-climb-360/) - Tuesday 16th January 2018 I’m definitely feeling a lot better today. I’ve been feeling a lot calmer and my anxiety has died down a lot. It’s left me feeling exhausted. Having felt like I’ve drunk too many energy drinks the last few days, I now feel like I want to sleep. Given that I’ve not - [Blue Monday - The Climb #359](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/17/blue-monday-the-climb-359/) - Monday 15th January 2018 Today is supposed to be Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. For me, that’s certainly partly true as my anxiety has been spiking all over the place. It’s been caused by a number of things and has just seemed to have come to a head. However, I took - [Anxiety And Edits - The Climb #358](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/15/anxiety-and-edits-the-climb-358/) - Sunday 14th January 2018 I feel terrible. I was unable to sleep last night due to my racing mind and then when I did, I ended up waking up a few hours later. I’m at that stage where I just need to rest and keep my mind occupied. The moment I’m left to my thoughts, - [Racing To The End - The Climb #357](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/14/racing-to-the-end-the-climb-357/) - Saturday 13th January 2018 I’ve not really been in the mood to be sociable today. A combination of factors have sent my anxiety sky high and it was only as I prepare to go to bed that I realise that I’ve been having an anxiety attack for the past three days. I’ve been trying to - [Diversionary Tactics - The Climb #356](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/13/diversionary-tactics-the-climb-356/) - Friday 12th January 2018 I could talk today about my sadness, about how parts of my life I keep out of The Climb have become complex and difficult. Instead, I will just say that I live a normal human life with all the ups and heartbreaks and I’m not sure where in it’s arc that - [Brimstone Delivery - The Climb #355](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/12/brimstone-delivery-the-climb-355/) - Thursday 11th January 2018 Many, many moon ago (about 15 months ago to be precise), I backed a kickstarter for a boardgame called Shadows of Brimstone. The game is basically a weird western where adventurers dive into the mines and find all sorts of Cthulhuan terrors. There are also portals which take you to other - [Dealing With Negative People - The Climb #354](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/11/dealing-with-negative-people-the-climb-354/) - Wednesday 10th January 2018 I went into the office today. For my day job I work from home a lot but I do sometimes go into the office. I tend to keep my private life and work life very separate. I don’t really talk about the day job here, and I don’t talk much about - [A Day Of Unexpected Editing - The Climb #353](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/10/a-day-of-unexpected-editing-the-climb-353/) - Tuesday 9th January 2018 I’ve been feeling pretty invisible today. I’m waiting on an email and a friend who’s currently without a mobile and said there was a 50/50 chance they’d come round, didn’t. I’ve also been monitoring how much stress the day job gives me, and have watched my levels rise in the last - [Evolution Of The Magic - The Climb #352](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/09/evolution-of-the-magic-the-climb-352/) - Monday 8th January 2018 Achieving anything worthwhile is hard. It takes a lot of work and persistence. There are days when you feel super-motivated, and there are days when your confidence is knocked. Publishing is a great example. You have to believe that you have a great book in you. You need that supreme confidence - [Making Priorities - The Climb #351](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/08/making-priorities-the-climb-351/) - Sunday 7th January 2018 Today was the first time I needed to think about my priorities. 2018 is my year of priorities, it’s about ensuring that as I get busier that I focus on the important things and don’t worry so much about the minor stuff. And today there was a hard choice to be - [Cooking And Editing - The Climb #350](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/07/cooking-and-editing-the-climb-350/) - Saturday 6th January 2018 It’s been a bit of a hectic day today. It seems like it’s been ages since I had a free weekend. There always seems to be some event on, or on call work with the day job, or a tournament or the like. I have sparring tomorrow but given that it’s - [The Dresden Reread - The Climb #349](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/06/the-dresden-reread-the-climb-349/) - Friday 5th January 2018 One of the things I really wasn’t happy about last year was how little I read. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read – I bought a ton of books. I just never found the time in between edits and tournaments to really sit down days in succession and read. - [Adventures In Brimstone - The Climb #348](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/05/adventures-in-brimstone-the-climb-348/) - Thursday 4th January 2018 As I’ve previously said, I end up buying a load of boardgames on kickstarter. They are amazing value for money but I do end up going all in, which means I really should be playing them some more. Currently, the only time I get to play is when my friends come - [Getting Organised for 2018 - The Climb #347](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/04/getting-organised-for-2018-the-climb-347/) - Wednesday 3rd January 2018 My main aim for this week is to get my ToDo list up to date. I have been a long time user of ToDoist and have processes for tracking and progressing tasks. It’s pretty effective and has allowed me to be super-productive in recent years. I don’t just use it for - [The Best Mundane Day Ever - The Climb #346](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/03/the-best-mundane-day-ever-the-climb-346/) - Tuesday 2nd January 2018 Sometimes it’s the little things. Today was a completely hectic day. I was back at the day job today and there are reports that need doing, people who are off, meetings that needed dialling into. I felt quite productive despite the stress and thought I multi-tasked well but I didn’t seem - [The First Great Genre Dumpster Fire Of 2018 - The Climb #345](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/02/the-first-great-genre-dumpster-fire-of-2018-the-climb-345/) - Monday 1st January 2018 One of my plans for this year is to do more on twitter. I left after it got all political and negative but decided I would return and just be… well, fun and witty and post memes. This would mean deleting negative people but I was fine with that. It seemed - [The Year Of The Offensive - The Climb #344](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2018/01/01/the-year-of-the-offensive-the-climb-344/) - Sunday 31st December 2017 2017 was a funny old year. It was my Year of the Offensive … a year for me to push myself and claim the rewards for my hard work. As I said back then “it’s going to be a year where I happen to it rather than it happens to me”. - [The Danger Of Doing What Is Expected - The Climb #343](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/31/the-danger-of-doing-what-is-expected-the-climb-343/) - Saturday 30th December 2017 I didn’t feel too bad this morning considering how much I’d had to drink at the party, but I was glad when some of the others who’d stayed over decided that we’d go to a greasy spoon. I’m not sure whether it was just the hangover, but I think that was - [Swordfighting Party - The Climb #342](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/30/swordfighting-party-the-climb-342/) - Friday 29th December 2017 This holiday period has been quite hectic. I’ve been surprising social over the last couple of weeks and I’m now getting to the stage where I want the rich food gone and a return to healthy eating and quiet nights in. That doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying it. My body clock - [Games Day 2017 - The Climb #341](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/29/games-day-2017-the-climb-341/) - Thursday 28th December 2017 Today was my annual games day, spent in the company of some of my oldest friends. I’ve known Nick and Simon since we volunteered in a youth charity together some 25 years ago. It doesn’t seem that long ago… but we’ve been through a lot - good and bad - together. - [Party Preparations - The Climb #340](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/28/party-preparations-the-climb-340/) - Wednesday 27th December 2017 Today was spent running around getting ready for the big games day tomorrow. I got up late, but hey, it’s Christmas so it’s allowed. Some of the snow had disappeared but the forecast said it was going to freeze which made me worry about people travelling tomorrow. I decided to walk - [The Worst Boxing Day Sales Ever - The Climb #339](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/27/the-worst-boxing-day-sales-ever-the-climb-339/) - Tuesday 26th December 2017 We have a bit of a tradition with my family. After all the fun of Xmas, we usually get up early on Boxing Day, have a cooked breakfast and then hit the sales. Most years at least one of us has had an item for which we want extra bits. So - [The Christmas Edition - The Climb #338](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/26/the-christmas-edition-the-climb-338/) - Monday 25th December 2017 I spent the day with my family today. After a last minute hectic xmas rush, Christmas is finally upon us. It wasn’t the busiest of Xmas’ this year. Everyone in my immediate family has got to the stage in life where if they really want something for xmas they can afford - [T'was The Night Before Xmas - The Climb #337](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/25/twas-the-night-before-xmas-the-climb-337/) - Sunday 24th December 2017 I woke really, really late today. This is what happens when you go to bed at 4am. But I’ve had a great few days with friends and I woke very relaxed and completely ready for xmas. I’d had a message that I needed to be at my parents for 5pm. I’d - [Friends And Family - The Climb #336](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/24/friends-and-family-the-climb-336/) - Saturday 23rd December 2017 Today has been a lovely day spending it with people who are special to me. For reasons too long to go into, some of my family don't speak to each other. I never felt that it was worth cutting off relations over and so I (feeling like a black sheep at - [Preparing For Xmas - The Climb #335](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/23/preparing-for-xmas-the-climb-335/) - Friday 22nd December 2017 And suddenly, it was Xmas. It seems like Christmas has just suddenly arrived. I've been busy doing loads of things and telling myself that I really need to do a few things for xmas, only to suddenly find I've run out of time. It seemed like only yesterday that it was - [Plans For 2018 - The Climb #334](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/22/plans-for-2018-the-climb-334/) - Thursday 21st December 2017 It feels that over the last couple of days, plans for 2018 have suddenly come into focus. Maybe, getting an idea of what my theme for the year is has allowed everything to slot together, or perhaps taking a bit of a break has given me time to relax and gather - [2018 : The Year of Priorities? - The Climb #333](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/21/2018-the-year-of-priorities-the-climb-333/) - Wednesday 20th December 2017 I've come to the conclusion that I spend too much time doing things for other people. This is mostly my fault because I say yes when I’m being super-productive and can manage “all-the-things” but bites me in the ass when I’m run down or busy. Just taking a couple of weeks - [Burn Out - The Climb #332](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/20/burn-out-the-climb-332/) - Tuesday 19th December 2017 I’ve started feeling a bit better the last couple of days. Sunday’s low day just made me realise just how run down I was. Looking back I can see just how swamped with tasks I’ve been since the end of August. I found myself getting stressed out in September when it - [War Of Warship - The Climb #331](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/19/war-of-warship-the-climb-331/) - Monday 18th December 2017 This shouldn’t be funny, but I think I’ve found the most toxic game ever. My friend Craig put me onto this mobile game he was playing called War of Warship (note the singular). It’s one of these typical base building games. You go gather resources, build your base, get so far - [A Low Day - The Climb #330](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/18/a-low-day-the-climb-330/) - Sunday 17th December 2017 I’ve been on a massive low today and I have no real idea why. There’s certainly things I was disappointed about after last night but I found my head was making much bigger a deal of them than they really were. I’m a little down on sleep recently after a couple - [The Year Of Frustration - The Climb #329](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/17/the-year-of-frustration-the-climb-329/) - Saturday 16th December 2017 This is supposed to be the year of the offensive, but this last week it’s really felt like the year of frustration. Perhaps I’m being a little unfair here. I’ve really pushed myself this year, documenting everything I’ve been doing to try and move various elements of my life forwards. But - [The Difficult Second Album - The Climb #328](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/16/the-difficult-second-album-the-climb-328/) - Friday 15th December 2017 If watching Star Wars has done anything for me, it’s that it’s got me thinking more about the Shade Knight books. I think one of my stresses regarding book 2 is making it as good as the first book. I’ve often described Black as Knight as Batman Year One. It’s the - [Recuperating In Azeroth - The Climb #327](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/15/recuperating-in-azeroth-the-climb-327/) - Thursday 14th December 2017 I’m deeming this my recovery week. After weeks of tournaments and a couple of bad performances, I’m so run down that I’ve taken a bit of a break for the sake of my own sanity. Given how gruelling competitions can be and the fact that I’ve had 6 or 7 of - [The Last Jedi (Spoilers!) - The Climb #326](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/14/the-last-jedi-spoilers-the-climb-326/) - Wednesday 13th December 2017 Warning. There may be spoilers ahead. I’ve seen every Star Wars movie on opening night since Episode 1 in 1999. In that case, given that it came out about a month before the UK, I flew all the way to Texas just to see it. But a combination of being busy - [Devastated - The Climb #325](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/13/devastated-the-climb-325/) - Tuesday 12th December 2017 To understand how I’m feeling today is going to take some explanation. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m feeling very run down due to my tournament on Saturday. This is general fatigue and I’d feel like this whether I won or got beaten by everyone. I felt I fought well but was - [Post Tournament Fatigue - The Climb #324](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/12/post-tournament-fatigue-the-climb-324/) - Monday 11th December 2017 So a weird thing happens to me after a tournament. Swordfighting tournaments are gruelling affairs. Using Stewart’s calculations from the weekend of 6000 calories for 2 tournaments, let’s assume that you are looking at around 3000 calories for a single tournament. I’m not sure that’s exactly correct as I’ll have a - [Snowgeddon - The Climb #323](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/11/snowgeddon-the-climb-323/) - Sunday 10th December 2017 Today was a rest day. After yesterday’s tournament disappointment I’d already decided that even if there was sparring today I wouldn’t be going. Just as well really as I woke up to a couple of inches of snow. I got woken by Kate messaging me some writing support. I didn’t mind, - [I'm So Done With Tournaments - The Climb #322](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/10/im-so-done-with-tournaments-the-climb-322/) - Saturday 9th December 2017 I’m not going to lie, I’m actually glad that this was the last tournament this year. I’m not sure if it’s the pressure of tournament or that I’m not getting enough time to mentally and physically recover, but as the tournament has gone on I’ve done progressively worse. The thing is, - [Tournament's Eve - The Climb #321](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/09/tournaments-eve-the-climb-321/) - Friday 8th December 2017 Tomorrow is my last tournament and I have a grand plan. This is the year of the offensive. This is the year I’ve dedicated myself to going out and making things happen. Last year I fought defensively and this was the year I wanted to change that. Looking back at the - [The Pressure Of The League - The Climb #320](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/08/the-pressure-of-the-league-the-climb-320/) - Thursday 7th December 2017 As suspected, I’m feeling a lot better today. The flu symptoms seem to have disappeared as quickly as they came. That probably means they’re going to linger and strike me down properly in a week or something but as long as I’m fine for Saturday's tournament I don’t really care. I’m - [Playing With 500 Year Old Swords - The Climb #319](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/07/playing-with-500-year-old-swords-the-climb-319/) - Wednesday 6th December 2017 Today probably wasn’t the best day to be ill. A group of us had arranged to go up to the Wallace Collection in London to handle some antique swords from the period of the style that I fight. I would be handling actual 500 year old weapons that I train to - [The Writer's Voice - The Climb #318](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/06/the-writers-voice-the-climb-318/) - Tuesday 5th December 2017 It seems there’s a new bug going around and I’ve come down with it. Over the past 24 hours, 2 of my friends have come down with this light flu. You’re basically bunged up and your muscles and joints ache like they do with a normal flu. It seems to pass - [I Bought A Load Of Star Wars Stuff - The Climb #317](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/05/i-bought-a-load-of-star-wars-stuff-the-climb-317/) - Monday 4th December 2017 I’m trying really hard not to spend much money this month. A combination of tournaments, physio, travel and swords has started eating into my savings, and I feel I need an easy few months to get things back to where they were. People also owe me money which doesn’t help. So - [Refinding My Mojo - The Climb #316](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/04/refinding-my-mojo-the-climb-316/) - Sunday 3rd December 2017 After a terrible week, today I started to find a bit of my mojo today. Driving to sparring this morning I found myself getting fired up for the first time in over a week. It probably makes sense, given that I’ve found that it takes me a week to 10 days - [Self-Care Day - The Climb #315](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/03/self-care-day-the-climb-315/) - Saturday 2nd December 2017 Today was a self-care day. This last week has been absolutely brutal. It feels like everything I’ve touched has gone to horseshit, whether it be swordfighting, writing, relationships or the day job. Overall, things are going well enough for me to realise this is just a bad week rather than get - [The First Xmas Party Of The Year - The Climb #314](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/02/the-first-xmas-party-of-the-year-the-climb-314/) - Friday 1st December 2017 Today has been a busy end to a really shitty week. I had a meeting with day job colleagues today which meant that I had to be up and travelling this morning. It’s not often I get to see the rest of the team, and very rarely do we all meet - [A Tough Week - The Climb #313](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/12/01/a-tough-week-the-climb-313/) - Thursday 30th November 2017 This week is determined to kick my arse. As I continue to lick my wounds from swordfighting, I’ve tried to change my focus to my writing. It’s usually been a good way to continue to move forwards whilst one area of my life is suffering a setback. But even that’s not - [A Busy Day - The Climb #312](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/30/a-busy-day-the-climb-312/) - Wednesday 29th November 2017 Today’s been a bit of a busy day. It started with a trip to Morrisons for the avocado I needed for breakfast. The weather really seems to have turned in the last week or so with frost on the ground and a need to wrap up warm. I suppose it’s not surprising - [Losing My Mojo - The Climb #311](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/29/losing-my-mojo-the-climb-211/) - Tuesday 28th November 2017 I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that my current malaise is due to the change of season. A number of people I’ve spoken to in the last week or so have said that they feel a bit sluggish coupled with a feeling of not wanting to be bothered. Mine seems to - [Feeling A Little Flat - The Climb #310](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/28/feeling-a-little-flat-the-climb-310/) - Monday 27th November 2017 I keep reminding myself that tournaments take it out of me. The worry, the focus, the physical exertion… it all adds up and I’m learning that for a week to ten days afterwards I’m a little flat. Life is excellent at the moment. Overall, things are going brilliantly. Whilst the day - [Learning New Things - The Climb #309](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/27/learning-new-things-the-climb-309/) - Sunday 26th November 2017 Despite all the disappointment I ended yesterday deciding that I would go to training today. After all, it’s not about getting knocked down it’s about getting back up. And with a later start today I could get a lay-in and still make it to Godalming. Except I overslept and woke up - [Tournament Disaster! - The Climb #308](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/26/tournament-disaster-the-climb-308/) - Saturday 25th November 2017 I’ve always known that my good fortune wasn’t going to last. It’s not so much that I’ve been lucky as that my tournament success has been based on a number of factors, only some of which I can control. But look… Wessex Bath wasn’t dreadful. It’s not the end of the - [Black Friday - The Climb #307](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/25/black-friday-the-climb-307/) - Friday 24th November 2017 Today is the day before my next tournament. This is becoming such a regular occurrence that I guess I should be used to it by now but I am a bundle of nerves. I feel unprepared, my pool seems impossible to beat, and I’m sure everything will go terribly wrong tomorrow. - [Feeling Left Behind - The Climb #306](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/24/feeling-left-behind-the-climb-306/) - Thursday 23rd November 2017 Today was a busy day with both Physio and gym this morning. It left me feeling knackered this afternoon (especially as I had to be up super-early this morning after getting back very late from training). But I’d arranged to go out for a meal this evening with my beta-reader Kate. - [Swamped With Swordfighting Stuff - The Climb #305](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/23/swamped-with-swordfighting-stuff-the-climb-30/) - Wednesday 22nd November 2017 This week is supposed to be a holiday from work. It’s supposed to be time for me to unwind and shake off some of the day job stress. So am I relaxing? Am I heck. No, instead I find myself trying to catch up on a multitude of tasks that desperately - [Editing Action Scenes - Te Climb #304](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/22/editing-action-scenes-te-climb-304/) - Tuesday 22nd November 2017 I made good progress with the novel today. Only 3 or 4 chapters, but progress is progress. It’s funny the things that can trip you up as you edit. Case in point today. I have a big action scene set on a carriage and I approach such scenes as if I - [Getting Stuck Into Edits - The Climb #303](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/21/getting-stuck-into-edits-the-climb-303/) - Monday 20th November 2017 I always have such ambitious plans. I look at my week off and say I want to get the entire book edited in that time. I sit down and calculate how many chapters that is a day, and remind myself that this is just a structural edit. Given that I’ve learnt - [Back To The Edits - The Climb #302](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/20/back-to-the-edits-the-climb-302/) - Sunday 19th November 2017 Much to my annoyance there was no Sunday sparring today. Whilst I appreciate that it’s the day after Bucklerthon, I have Wessex Bath in less than a week and… well, I need to train. Perhaps a day off is what my body needs after a slew of tournaments but given I - [Bucklerthon - The Climb #301](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/19/bucklerthon-the-climb-301/) - Saturday 18th November 2017 To be honest, I went to support my students. I really wasn’t in the mood to fight today. My thoughts were elsewhere, I was worried about taking another hit on my right thigh (which is still purple from Wessex Reading last month). But for people I’ve trained for the best part - [One Year Later - The Climb #300](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/18/one-year-later-the-climb-300/) - Friday 17th November 2017 Tomorrow I have another tournament. This time it’s Bucklerthon, the event where just a year ago I won my first medal. Back in the summer of 2016 I was very frustrated with my swordfighting. I’d put in a good 6 months of additional training with the aim of seeing some improvement - [A Week Of Editing - The Climb #299](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/17/a-week-of-editing-the-climb-299/) - Thursday 16th November 2017 So it looks like next week could be quite a busy one. Like a lot of people I get paid holiday from the day job. I use a lot of it in May when I go Storm chasing and then to take the odd day off here and there for travel - [Social Butterfly - The Climb #298](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/16/social-butterfly-the-climb-298/) - Wednesday 15th November 2017 Friends have been moaning me about our annual board games meetup. Every year for the last few years since I got my own house I have my friends come over for the day and we play boardgames. Each year there’s a different game. The first year it was Shadows of Brimstone, - [Local Friends - The Climb #297](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/15/local-friends-the-climb-297/) - Tuesday 14th November 2017 I’m a bit annoyed. I went out this morning to try the car again and yes, it’s making the same judder. I’d hoped that letting the engine cool overnight might have cleared the issue, but alas. Which means it now needs a potential expensive garage visit. On the plus side, I - [Car Troubles - The Climb #296](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/14/car-troubles-the-climb-296/) - Monday 13th November 2017 So just what I didn’t need… the car has started playing up. I went to training tonight and getting into the car afterwards I noticed that the engine management light was on and the car was juddering when accelerating. Seeing as I only just got the car serviced it was unlikely - [Time For Friends - The Climb #295](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/13/time-for-friends-the-climb-295/) - Sunday 12th November 2017 Today has been a day for friends. Given how hectic the last few months have been it’s been pretty good to unwind. Sparring was in Reading today and whilst not so much of a journey, it still ate up a large part of my day. After a decent breakfast, I loaded - [Sword Diplomacy - The Climb #294](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/12/sword-diplomacy-the-climb-294/) - Saturday 11th November 2017 After moaning that I’m feeling a bit burned out you’d think that I’d take a weekend off the swordfighting. That was the original plan and I’d arranged to hang out with a non-swordfighting friend today and just have a bit of a mini adventure. But that fell through and then this - [Exhausted & Lethargic - The Climb #293](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/11/exhausted-lethargic-the-climb-293/) - Friday 10th November 2017 This has seemed like a long week. I still feel exhausted after Swordfish. Whilst I’ve been getting the normal amount of sleep I’m not feeling refreshed when I wake up. I have a tiredness that goes beyond pure sleep and I’ve been feeling drained all week. Infact it goes back all - [Back To Editing - The Climb #292](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/10/back-to-editing-the-climb-292/) - Thursday 9th November 2017 So while I’ve been busy focusing on my swordfighting I’ve been thinking about book 2. I actually did some editing of the book today which I’m quite pleased about. It was only a chapter, which isn’t a huge amount. But I’m always slow to start after a break, and I thought - [Lessons In Patience - The Climb #291](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/09/lessons-in-patience-the-climb-291/) - Wednesday 8th November 2017 There’s a reason I try to progress the swordfighting and writing in parallel. Back in the summer of 2016 I was incredibly frustrated with my swordfighting. I’d put in a solid 6 months of hard effort to try and become decent. I was doing OK and improving but I was far - [The Focus For The Rest Of The Year - The Climb #290](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/08/the-focus-for-the-rest-of-the-year-the-climb-290/) - Tuesday 7th November 2017 I ache. I cannot tell you how tired my body feels. I woke up this morning feeling as tired as I did when I went to bed. Someone pointed out to me that it’s probably adrenaline. I’ve been hyped up for competition and now it’s over I've just slumped. I feel - [Catching Up - The Climb #289](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/07/catching-up-the-climb-289/) - Monday 6th November 2017 I really could have done with a massive lay in. I’m still feeling exhausted after Sweden and a day in bed might have been what I really needed. But I had an appointment at the hospital at 8:20am which meant leaving the house ridiculously early on a crisp and frosty morning. - [Returning Home With New Plans - The Climb #288](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/06/returning-home-with-new-plans-the-climb-288/) - Sunday 5th November 2017 Today was the last day in Sweden as we return home to the UK. It’s been an amazing trip and I’ve come away really proud of myself and my accomplishments. Of course, the attention now turns to the year ahead and the work I need to do. I’ve pretty much decided - [Treating Myself To A New Sword - The Climb #287](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/05/treating-myself-to-a-new-sword-the-climb-287/) - Saturday 4th November 2017 Today I rewarded myself for all my hard work with a new sword. I’m still in a bit of shock over my result yesterday. I keep thinking back to what my fencing was like just a year ago and marvelling at the progress. I keep thinking about it and finding myself - [Swordfish, The World Stage – The Climb #286](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/04/swordfish-the-world-stage-the-climb-286/) - Friday 3rd November 2017 If you asked a load of fencers what the defacto world championship for swordfighting was, the vast majority would point to Swordfish. Held each year in Gothenburg, the fact that it attracts so much of the world’s best talent means that it’s the competition everyone wants to win. I first went - [Sleepy In Gothenburg - The Climb #285](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/03/sleepy-in-gothenburg-the-climb-285/) - Thursday 2nd November 2017 I normally don’t sleep before flights. I always worry that I’ll somehow oversleep and then miss my flight. As a result I will normally stay up the night before I travel, constantly checking my luggage and worrying about leaving some item or other. But I’ve been acutely aware of how much - [Representing My Country - The Climb #284](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/02/representing-my-country-the-climb-284/) - Wednesday 1st November 2017 Unfortunately The Climb is going to have a little posting hiatus again. I travel to Sweden tomorrow to take part in the premier competition in the swordfighting calendar and because of all the kit I need to take, I won’t be taking my laptop. Never fear though, like my trip to - [Why I Won't Be Doing NaNoWriMo This Year - The Climb #283](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/11/01/why-i-wont-be-doing-nanowrimo-this-year-the-climb-284/) - Tuesday 31st October 2017 So I won’t be taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, and it saddens me. Whilst I’ve seen some authors moan about NaNo I think it serves a useful function. It teaches you that a novel is the product of a lot of continuous work. And whilst the result of NaNo is - [55th In The World - The Climb #282](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/31/55th-in-the-world-the-climb-282/) - Monday 30th October 2017 My results from the weekend got put into the world rankings today and I’ve moved up two places to 55th in the world. I’m happy with this. I always knew Reading would be a tough tournament and as I mentioned on here I was expecting to drop a little, so to - [Bloody And Bruised - The Climb #281](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/30/bloody-and-bruised-the-climb-281/) - Sunday 29th October 2017 I’m sore today. I took a cut across my thigh which hurts that bad I’m slightly hobbling. I think I also got hit on the thumb as one side is red, bloody and swollen. I also keep finding various bruises. Ideally, this would have been a day for rest, to take - [Quarter-Finalist Again - The Climb #280](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/29/quarter-finalist-again-the-climb-280/) - Saturday 28th October 2017 Today has been a weird day. It’s been a day where everything went right and yet I end the day feeling disappointed. I woke up feeling good. My limbs didn’t ache, I felt rested. My head was in probably the best place it had ever been: excited for the tournament yet - [I've Been here Before - The Climb #279](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/28/ive-been-here-before-the-climb-279/) - Friday 27th October 2017 I realise I’ve been here before. You’ll notice that there are times when I rarely talk about the writing and seem solely focused on the swordfighting. The writing is never forgotten. I could tell you the stress I feel waiting to hear feedback on the latest draft, about my worries over - [I Am Prepared - The Climb #278](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/27/i-am-prepared-the-climb-278/) - Thursday 26th October 2017 I’m feeling really good. The start of the week was a panic, where I was stressing over my upcoming tournament. I was pushing myself, wondering if I was pushing myself too hard. Other people were taking it easy and yet I continued to train. I was in a fog of confusion - [Peaked Too Soon? - The Climb #277](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/26/peaked-too-soon-the-climb-277/) - Wednesday 25th October 2017 Today has been the first day in what feels like forever where I’ve felt on top of things. For the last couple of months I’ve felt like I’m drowning in tasks. I’ve not felt particularly in control or organised, but this morning I found myself thinking how most of my backlog - [Naming Swords - The Climb #276](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/25/naming-swords-the-climb-276/) - Tuesday 24th October 2017 It’s been a busy day today. I had to get up early for physio which meant I spent the rest of the day just feeling exhausted. Because of this, I decided that today would just be a day for taking it easy. I’ve trained extremely hard the last few days and - [Feeling The Pressure - The Climb #275](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/24/feeling-the-pressure-the-climb-275/) - Monday 23rd October 2017 Three days of intense training really take their toll. I know I’ve been really pushing it this week. Some people are using this as a week to rest ahead of competition. I see it as a week to get some last minute training. But I’m glad I can now step it - [Here We Go Again - The Climb #274](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/23/here-we-go-again-the-climb-274/) - Sunday 22nd October 2017 For the second day in a row, I went sparring. This time it was in Hawley, which whilst still a drive, didn’t require the additional train journey. Again I was fencing Pim and Sasha. Again I was shouted at for doing things wrong. That said, I really feel I’ve levelled up - [The Battle Of Waterloo - The Climb #273](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/22/the-battle-of-waterloo-the-climb-273/) - Saturday 21st October 2017 Sometimes you just have to put in the work. After Wednesday left me feeling like the worst fencer ever, I knew I needed to put a load of effort in before my competition next week. I mean, I find the feedback really, really useful, but it’s also been a little demoralising - [Feeling Unproductive - The Climb #272](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/21/feeling-unproductive-the-climb-272/) - Friday 20th October 2017 So I feel I’m not being productive of late. Part of it is all the swordfighting activities. What with Romania, Swordfish, Wessex league and all the training for those events, it feels like a lot of my focus has been sucked up. I have genuine nerves about Wessex League. Up until - [Stranded In Swindon - The Climb #271](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/20/stranded-in-swindon-the-climb-271/) - Thursday 19th October 2017 After last night’s beating, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really need to step up my training. It’s less than a week until the next Wessex competition and if I want to win it I really need to pull something out the bag. I’m thinking of going up to London - [Defeated By Titans - The Climb #270](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/19/defeated-by-titans-the-climb-270/) - Wednesday 18th October 2017 One of the biggest downsides to our school is that we have so many really good people that it can be hard to see your own progress. I think something like 8 out of the top 10 British rapier & dagger fighters were trained by the school. That’s pretty impressive. But - [Trying To Find My Focus - The Climb #269](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/18/trying-to-find-my-focus-the-climb-269/) - Tuesday 17th October 2017 In my head, I’d go to Romania at the beginning of October and then have a full month until the next Wessex League tournament. However, I looked today and it’s the end of next week. Which means that Swordfish is the end of the week afterwards. In many ways, I’m in - [Returning Home - The Climb #268](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/17/returning-home-the-climb-268/) - Monday 16th October 2017 Today I came home from Romania. I couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was dehydration from the alcohol or maybe it was the fact that I was sad to bereturning home. We had to be up and out at 5:30am so when I woke around 4:30am I found myself getting up to repack - [Drunken Smallsword In A Romanian Palace - The Climb #267](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/16/drunken-smallsword-in-a-romanian-palace-the-climb-267/) - Sunday 15th October 2017 Today was my last full day in Romania. In truth this weekend has been everything I could possibly want – an amazingly relaxed and chilled weekend that takes my mind away from a load of personal crap going on back in the UK Today had originally been intended to be our - [Judging The Longsword Tournament - The Climb #266](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/15/judging-the-longsword-tournament-the-climb-266/) - Saturday 14th October 2017 After yesterday’s migraine, I woke up feeling a lot better today. Rather than dwell on things, I simply focused on the event at hand. I know tournaments. I know that tension and excitement that precedes them as fighters ready themselves to be tested against each other. Except today, I wasn’t fighting, - [Teaching Swordfighting In Romania - The Climb #265](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/14/teaching-swordfighting-in-romania-the-climb-265/) - Friday 13th October 2017 I should have seen Friday the 13th as an omen. An event that starts on Friday 13th is doomed to be a catastrophe, right? Well, it appears not as Optimus 2017 is proving to be an outstanding event. Considering this is the first event the local HEMA group has organised, it’s - [Staying In A Romanian Palace - The Climb #264](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/13/staying-in-a-romanian-palace-the-climb-264/) - Thursday 12th October 2017 Today was the first day of my Romania trip. As I’ve previously said, I’m travelling to Bucharest with School of the Sword to act as an assistant instructor for an event that’s being held out there. I’d seen from some of the promo videos that it look quite good. However, I - [Personal Milestones - The Climb #263](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/12/personal-milestones-the-climb-263/) - Wednesday 11th October 2017 I make a lot of long term plans. These can be connected with my writing career, my health or even my own personal development. And if I possess one skill, it’s that I deliver on those plans. Behind that is nothing complex. Each large goal is a lot of smaller goals, - [Physio - The Climb #262](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/11/physio-the-climb-262/) - Tuesday 10th October 2017 I went to the Physio today. I’m still feeling ill – although not as ill as yesterday – and given how my lower back and now neck aches after a couple of days laid up in bed, I decided it was worth dragging myself up off my sickbed to go. I’m - [The Eye Of The Hurricane - The Climb #261](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/10/the-eye-of-the-hurricane-the-climb-261/) - Monday 9th October 2017 I feel a bit like I’m in the eye of a hurricane at the moment. Around me, everything is chaos. There’s the eternal stress of worrying about the book (a feeling that I never feel will change, only the book I’m stressing about). Then there’s upcoming tournaments and trying to pull - [OMG, I'm ill AGAIN - The Climb #260](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/09/omg-im-ill-again-the-climb-260/) - Sunday 9th October 2017 For someone who never gets ill, I seem to be doing a bad job of avoiding bugs in 2017. I woke this morning to find that my throat had swollen up and I’d come down with a bit of a fever. This is like the second time I’ve been ill this - [How To Get Started - The Climb #259](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/08/how-to-get-started-the-climb-259/) - Saturday 7th October 2017 I had just one task to do today: get a vlog done! With my trip to Romania looming, I want to get back in the habit of vlogging so I can capture what looks to be an amazing trip. But I fell foul of a mistake a lot of content creators - [Evolution - The Climb #258](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/07/evolution-the-climb-258/) - Friday 6th October 2017 I’ve never believed in God. Nor do I believe in fate. I do, however, believe the universe gives you signs from time to time. In truth this is just your subconscious drawing meaning from your day, finding parallels that justify a position you probably have already unknowingly concluded. But I’m a - [The Drudgery - The Climb #257](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/06/the-drudgery-the-climb-257/) - Thursday 5th October 2017 I’ve been a bit all over the place the last few weeks. The Climb has been late going up and if I’m honest I’m feeling a little frustrated with progress on just about everything. Publishing moves glacially slow. Books are big complex things and so they take time to get right, - [A Long And Busy Day - The Climb #256](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/05/a-long-and-busy-day-the-climb-256/) - Wednesday 4th October 2017 Today was a ridiculously busy day that left me completely exhausted. I was up early this morning to go to the gym. Given I was still knackered after yesterday’s busy day, I was feeling tired before I even got there. I did some work to get my glutes activating and left - [Running Late For Physio - The Climb #255](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/04/running-late-for-physio-the-climb-255/) - Tuesday 3rd October 2017 Today has been a very busy day. I had to be up early to go back to physio… and of course, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I felt I gave myself enough time, but for some reason getting showered and dressed always takes me more time that I - [Hard Work Takes Over When Talent Runs Out - The Climb #254](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/03/hard-work-takes-over-when-talent-runs-out-the-climb-254/) - Monday 2nd October 2017 It says a lot about today when the best thing about it was being told just how much you sucked. A lot of stresses were bringing my mood low today. I fully expect the next couple of weeks to be similar. Everything is great and I know that in a couple - [Here We Go Again - The Climb #253](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/02/here-we-go-again-the-climb-253/) - Sunday 1st October 2017 So my September break is now over and tonight I’ve dived back into book 2 to start work on the second draft. In many ways, this forced break has been a bit torturous. Sometimes I think I need a stress to keep my mind off other stresses, and without a book - [Realistic Dreams & Delusional Evidence - The Climb #252](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/10/01/realistic-dreams-delusional-evidence-the-climb-252/) - Saturday 30th September 2017 So every writer dreams of their book being big. You’ve invested so much time into it that it becomes like a child. You love it unconditionally despite the flaws other people can see in it. And as a result, it’s hard not to think it the most perfect book in the - [Self-Care - The Climb #251](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/30/self-care-the-climb-251/) - Friday 29th September 2017 Today has been a bit of a self-care day. I’ve noticed myself getting a bit low over the last couple of days and have taken measures to combat it. I’ve unpacked all the reasons why and am very confident that it’s a combination of various pressures rather than the early stages - [Cake Club Cancelled - The Climb #250](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/29/cake-club-cancelled-the-climb-250/) - Thursday 28th September 2017 Today was supposed to be a cake club meeting. I’d been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. Despite not writing anything this month due to my enforced break after handing in my edits, I’ve felt very stressed this month and the thing I felt I needed to do - [You Are A Product Of Those Around You - The Climb #249](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/28/you-are-a-product-of-those-around-you-the-climb-249/) - Wednesday 27th September 2017 Today has been an exhausting day where I don’t feel I’ve stopped. It’s not been helped by the fact that the day job annoyed me. Things are a bit stressful and I really resent the implication that the solution is for everyone to “just work harder”. The less said about that - [I Fell Asleep - The Climb #248](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/27/i-fell-asleep-the-climb-248/) - Tuesday 26th September 2017 I went to a physio today about my back. There’s part of me that’s amused by the fact that if you’d said 5 years ago I would be going to see a sports physio, I would have not believed you. Anyways, the good news is that it’s not a trapped nerve - [Validation - The Climb #247](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/26/validation-the-climb-247/) - Monday 25th September 2017 So if you are ambitious like me, there comes a time when you set yourself an impossible goal. Whilst I think it’s good to have short term achievable goals, if I’ve learnt anything over the last 5 years it’s that you should never sell yourself short. I thought the great writers - [There’s Still More Work To Do - The Climb #246](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/25/theres-still-more-work-to-do-the-climb-246/) - Sunday 24th September 2017 I went sparring this morning. However, I don’t think I fought very well. I wasn’t bad, but my focus wasn’t there and it demonstrated to me that my mental game is very important to my fighting. Both Sasha and Pim were there and they’ve picked up a new tell I have. - [Making Plans - The Climb #245](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/24/making-plans-the-climb-245/) - Saturday 23rd September 2017 I had planned to have a busy day tidying the house. Given all the tournaments and edits of recent weeks I actually had a day where I didn’t have to do anything. But despite doing nothing for 3 days earlier this week with my cold, it seemed my body just wanted - [Desk Work - The Climb #244](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/23/desk-work-the-climb-244/) - Friday 22nd September 2017 Urgh! I’ve only been back at the day job for 2 days and already the weekend couldn’t come quick enough. I’ve decided that I have a new pet hate. It’s when you get asked to do a job in a rush… because the information is needed urgently. There’s a large part - [Embracing Setbacks - The Climb #243](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/22/embracing-setbacks-the-climb-24/) - Thursday 21st September 2017 I’ve had a good week so it was only natural that it had to balance out. That came in the form of me managing to pull my lower back in the gym this evening. It’s in the same spot I pulled a while back and it’s so annoying. I was doing - [Delivering On My Crazy Plans - The Climb #242](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/21/delivering-on-my-crazy-plans-the-climb-242/) - Wednesday 20th September 2017 I stayed off the day job today because I’m still not feeling 100% but my plan is to go back tomorrow. However, despite the cold, I’ve been feeling incredible due to the external validation my new world ranking has given me. At the start of this year I said I wanted - [The Countdown To Swordfish - The Climb #241](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/20/the-countdown-to-swordfish-the-climb-241/) - Tuesday 19th September 2017 The highlight of today was when I walked to the shops to get some fresh air and some supplies. It nearly killed me and I needed to have two naps this afternoon as a result. I’ve been really restless today. Just sitting at my desk has somehow made my back ache, - [Ranked 57th In The World - The Climb #240](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/19/ranked-57th-in-the-world-the-climb-240/) - Monday 18th September 2017 I took today off the day job ill today. I woke up with a sore throat and heavy eyes, and made the decision that this isn’t something to power through. I pushed myself over the weekend to ensure I competed and sparred but I’m not feeling better and so it’s time - [The Product Of Hard Work - The Climb #239](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/18/the-product-of-hard-work-the-climb-239/) - Sunday 17th September 2017 There was a time when I got excited about birthdays. Now they just make me feel old. I’d not really planned to do anything for my birthday today. I’d figured I would be knackered from yesterday’s tournament and would want a quiet one. I was, however, determined to make it to - [Silver Medallist - The Climb #238](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/17/silver-medallist-the-climb-238/) - Saturday 16th September 2017 I had a very rough night last night. By the time I went to bed, I was doubled up in pain with stomach cramps. I seriously thought that if I didn’t improve overnight I was possibly going to have to drop out of the tournament today. I made a point of - [Pre-Tournament Nerves - The Climb #237](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/16/pre-tournament-nerves-the-climb-237/) - Friday 15th September 2017 By the time you read this, I’ll be fighting, as I have a big tournament tomorrow. I’ve been in an odd mood about this tournament. Whereas I’ve known about Astolat and Fightcamp all year, the tournament tomorrow has only come about in the last few weeks. And after doing better than - [The Day The Music Died - The Climb #236](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/15/the-day-the-music-died-the-climb-236/) - Thursday 14th September 2017 I listen to a lot of music while I work. My day job gives me Spotify Premium that whilst being reluctant to use at first (I prefer to ‘own’ my media) is now always playing, either on my computer at home, or on my phone. I’m not as much an audiophile - [Method Writing - The Climb #235](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/14/method-writing-the-climb-235/) - Wednesday 13th September 2017 You’ve probably heard of method acting. This is where an actor is so mentally invested in a role that even when not playing them they take on some of the characteristics. It’s considered by many to be a very in-depth form of acting. I think I method write. This occurred to - [The Cool Kid - The Climb #234](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/13/the-cool-kid-the-climb-234/) - Tuesday 12th September 2017 I was never a cool kid. I was generally popular, but I was never part of the school social elite. It never really bothered me. My head was a little fucked up in my late teens and 20s, and I was too busy dealing with that to worry about being cool. - [The Emotional Rollercoaster - The Climb #233](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/12/the-emotional-rollercoaster-the-climb-233/) - Monday September 11th 2017 I like to think I have a pretty good sense of self. Sometimes it might take me a day or so to realise my mood or frame of mind when I’ve had chance to unpack it all, but I can normally tell if something is off with me. Other than occasional - [Missing That Fire - The Climb #232](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/11/missing-that-fire-the-climb-232/) - Sunday 10th September 2017 OK, I’m so ready for my writing vacation to be over. I’ve been so bored this evening, not knowing what to do with myself. At least some friends have been in the eyewall of Hurricane Irma so Facebook has been entertaining if nothing else. In less than a week I have - [Turning Art Into A Profession - The Climb #231](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/10/turning-art-into-a-profession-the-climb-231/) - Saturday 9th September 2017 Today was a gaming day. Given I have to be up early on Sundays and that I’m often behind on sleep come the end of the week I like to try and get a lay in on Saturday. It rarely goes beyond 9am no matter how hard I try. I got - [Time Is The Enemy - The Climb #230](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/09/time-is-the-enemy-the-climb-230/) - Friday 8th September 2017 It’s tempting to think that whilst I’m sat here playing World of Warcraft and tracking friends who are chasing Hurricane Irma, that nothing is going on with the writing career. But the fact is that whilst I try and recharge, the manuscript is currently with my agent. I got an update - [Levelling Up - The Climb #229](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/08/levelling-up-the-climb-229/) - Thursday 7th September 2017 This evening was spent going over the new draft of my friend’s short story. I realise this is why I don’t offer to beta novels, as just a 4000 word story took me about 4 hours, which is quicker than the last time I read it. Still, given how many hours - [Developing A Thicker Skin As A Writer - The Climb #228](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/07/developing-a-thicker-skin-as-a-writer-the-climb-228/) - Wednesday 6th September 2017 Well my friend replied to my email with the comments on her story, so she’s still speaking to me. But in a few IMs she did raise a good point. How do you develop a thick skin when it comes to someone critiquing your story? You should blog about it, she - [Guild Master - The Climb #227](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/06/guild-master-the-climb-227/) - Tuesday 5th September 2017 So I appear to have a new World of Warcraft guild. And by that I don’t mean I’ve joined a new guild. You see, I joined my guild back in the days of Wrath of the Lich King when Ulduar was the current raid. We had some great times, including 9-manning - [Keeping Busy - The Climb #226](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/05/keeping-busy-the-climb-226/) - Monday 4th September 2017 The day job definitely seems to be the source of my current spate of stress. I’m still not exactly sure why though. I actually wondered whether I should be starting another writing project just to take my mind off things. Perhaps this stress is all generated by the fact I have - [Fighting Fitter - The Climb #225](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/04/fighting-fitter-the-climb-225/) - Sunday 3rd September 2017 After a few days of mystery stress, I felt something approaching normal today. I do feel like I’ve got a bit of a chill, so perhaps I have a touch of something. It’s also possible that this is a result rather than a cause. Either way, whilst I’ve felt touches of - [Mystery Stress - The Climb #224](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/03/mystery-stress-the-climb-224/) - Saturday 2nd September 2017 I’ve been unable to figure out why but today I have been feeling so unbelievably stressed. The best way I can describe it is as if someone had turned the stress tap on and I couldn’t stop the flood. What’s weird though, is that I’m unable to conclude what it is - [Stress Monkey - The Climb #223](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/02/stress-monkey-the-climb-223/) - Friday 1st September 2017 As a writer you dream of a day when you might land a big publishing deal and be able to write fulltime. You imagine the freedom of being able to write when and where you want. The downside of that dream is that as the possibility of getting a deal becomes - [Carvery Club? - The Climb #222](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/09/01/carvery-club-the-climb-222/) - Thursday 31st August 2017 After yesterday’s various annoyances, I felt a bit better today. I’m still missing my motivation and mojo but I felt being a bit more sociable today. Just as well as tonight was the regular meeting of Cake Club. Although, I’m thinking we might need to change its name to Carvery Club - [Kill All Humans - The Climb #221](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/31/kill-all-humans-the-climb-221/) - Wednesday 30th August 2017 I’ve been in a weird mood today. I’d like to attribute it to having come out a period of intense novel work, but in reality, I think people have just been pissing me off. It’s weird feeling to finish a draft of a novel. You’ve had your head inhabiting that world - [So This Is How Other People Live - The Climb #220](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/30/so-this-is-how-other-people-live-the-climb-220/) - Tuesday 29th August 2017 If you’re a person who is on the go, then taking a forced break is a strange thing. It reminds me of stepping off one of those travellators you find at airports: your momentum is forward but everything around you has slowed down and you feel yourself stumble. I do still - [It's Done! - The Climb #219](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/29/its-done-the-climb-219/) - Monday 28th August 2017 There were a couple of major things I wanted to get this Bank Holiday Monday. The first was to get out and mow the garden. I’d hoped to do it yesterday after coming back from sparring but as always, I returned knackered and didn’t possess the strength to move. Today was - [Manuscript Preperation - The Climb #218](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/28/manuscript-preperation-the-climb-218/) - Sunday 27th August 2017 The final stage before I send off a manuscript is what I like to call manuscript prep. It’s the stage where I go and run a spell checker, fix small formatting issues and similar things that need to be done before sending the manuscript off. I’ll check things that I’m worried - [Eye Of The Storm - The Climb #217](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/27/eye-of-the-storm-the-climb-217/) - Saturday 26th August 2017 I’ve made a vow to myself that now the edits have been done, save for any tidy up work before sending it back to my agent, I’m going to take until the end of September off. Technically I’ve been in this state since the beginning of the week, but have been - [Beta Feedback - The Climb #216](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/26/beta-feedback-the-climb-216/) - Friday 25th August 2017 Today was another long day with the day job. Even though everyone finished early, with all the travel to Watford and back it still worked out as a 12 hour day. I suppose that’s better than the 15 hour day I had on Wednesday but I still felt exhausted and collapsed - [I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends - The Climb #215](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/25/i-get-by-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends-the-climb-215/) - Thursday 24th August 2017 Friends have been totally awesome today. After yesterday’s stressfest, I’ve felt a little calmer today. With time comes a little hindsight. Yes, the day job caused the majority of my stress but there were other factors as well. Mounting demands on my time to do the dues for swordfighting definitely added - [A Seriously Stressful Day - The Climb #214](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/24/a-seriously-stressful-day-the-climb-214/) - Wednesday 23rd August 2017 This is how it all happened. I thought I was being smart. Given that the person I handed the School of the Sword payments over to is off long-term sick, I thought rather than panic day to day, I’d bunch all the tasks together and do them in bulk. It made - [Fried - The Climb #213](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/23/4992/) - Tuesday 22nd August 2017 I took tonight off from finalising the draft. The editing is now complete and all that is left to do is a spell check and any continuity issues. Kate has been an absolute star and said she’ll give it a quick read at the weekend. There’s part of me that’s impatient - [A Night Off - The Climb #212](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/22/a-night-off-the-climb-212/) - Monday 21st August 2017 I’m burnt out. I mean I’m seriously fried. I noticed it today when I was thinking about upcoming tournaments. I thought to myself… don’t worry about trying to win, just take part. Now ordinarily, I’d say this is good advice but given how driven I am, how much I want to - [The Grind Continues - The Climb #211](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/21/the-grind-continues-the-climb-211/) - Sunday 20th August 2017 Today has felt slow. On one hand, it’s been busy with sparring and then a meeting with another writer which meant I had less time for editing - and I still got through a couple of chapters - but I didn’t get to the end of the novel. I’m now on - [Much Ado About Editing - The Climb #210](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/20/much-ado-about-editing-the-climb-210/) - Saturday 19th August 2017 Today could be summed up in just one word: editing. Editing, editing, editing, editing, editing. In total, I edited for the best part of 15 hours, and the only reason I didn’t carry on for a few hours more was the fact that I was worried I was getting a bit - [I Hate It And I Love It - The Climb #209](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/19/i-hate-it-and-i-love-it-the-climb-209/) - Friday 18th August 2017 If it’s possible to both love something and hate it, then I have reached that stage of the novel. I made great progress today. So great, in fact, that I constantly stopped myself to double check I wasn’t becoming slapdash due to an overriding urge to get the novel done. I - [Constantly Growing - The Climb #208](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/18/constantly-growing-the-climb-208/) - Thursday 17th August 2017 I made some good progress on the edits today. I would have liked to have done more since I have a dozen chapters left, but the two I did was progress. I had to rewrite the start of the first of the two chapters this evening. As I mentioned in a - [I Need To Read More - The Climb #207](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/17/i-need-to-read-more-the-climb-207/) - Wednesday 16th August 2017 I’ve had a day where an unintentional slight that actually worked in my favour really bothered me. I turned up to training tonight thinking I was going to be teaching to find I wasn’t. That in itself doesn’t bother me. I always said I would teach for a 6 month block - [Good Editing Progress - The Climb #206](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/16/good-editing-progress-the-climb-206/) - Tuesday 15th August 2017 It’s gone 1:30am and it looks like I’m going to have to leave finishing editing this consolidated chapter until tomorrow. I can’t complain though as progress, whilst slow, has been good. I’m still being quite ruthless, and seem to be succeeding in my aim of trimming the wordcount. I was helped - [Change Of Focus - The Climb #205](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/15/change-of-focus-the-climb-205/) - Monday 14th August 2017 With Fightcamp now over, my focus is now starting to change, so that the edits of Black as Knight once again become my main focus. Whilst the first Wessex League tournament is a little over a month away, now the two big UK competitions of the year are over, I can - [Fightcamp Round 2 - The Climb #204](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/14/fightcamp-round-2-the-climb-204/) - Sunday 13th August 2017 I hurt. I really, really hurt. My left elbow is starting to turn black after my semi-final fight on Friday, and my right forearm is equally swollen. My right arm is also feeling the aches from constantly holding a sword. But it’s not just the injuries from fighting. I feel boiled - [A Swiss Multitool Of Death - The Climb #203](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/13/a-swiss-multitool-of-death-the-climb-203/) - Saturday 12th August 2017 Today is possibly a little anti-climactic after yesterday. I’d long made the decision that today would be a rest day. No matter how well or badly I did on Friday, I knew that competing in two competitions would mean I would be exhausted the day afterwards. And so I had a - [The Fight Of My Life - The Climb #202](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/12/the-fight-of-my-life-the-climb-202/) - Friday 11th August 2017 Today has been a day of incredible mental and physical resilience. I'm at Fightcamp this weekend. It's basically a weekend in a field with lots of people with lots of different weapons. There are a load of seminars with some of the best instructors in the world, so if you want - [Fightcamp - The Climb #201](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/11/fightcamp-the-climb-201/) - Thursday 10th August 2017 I sometimes wonder if there's a need to take a day off before a competition like Fightcamp. Yes, it's a 2+ hour drive but that's not impossible after a work day. Plus, this year I'm staying in a hotel rather than camping. There's part of me that thinks I wasted today. - [Fire And Fury - The Climb #200](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/10/fire-and-fury-the-climb-200/) - Wednesday 9th August 2017 So you expect to have a bad night fighting before a tournament right? It’s a thing. It’s totally a thing. Oh, how I sucked today. The day started well with progress on consolidating the three chapters. I nearly completed the second third of this, but I ran out of time and - [My Editing Has Levelled Up - The Climb #199](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/09/my-editing-has-levelled-up-the-climb-199/) - Tuesday 8th August 2017 I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather today. There’s a gastric flu going around and it says something about how bad my stomach issues are when I’m not sure if I have a bad case of it or my stomach is just flaring up. As a result I’ve felt a - [Positive Distraction - The Climb #198](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/08/positive-distraction-the-climb-198/) - Monday 7th August 2017 By rights I should be writing about the chapter consolidation work I did today. I should write about how I paired down some of the emotion whilst trying to still have the same impact as previous drafts. I should also be stressing over the next part of this new chapter. I - [Documenting Progress - The Climb #197](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/07/documenting-progress-the-climb-197/) - Sunday 6th August 2017 Today marked the step up of my training. With less than a week to go until Fightcamp, I’m actually feeling pretty good. I’m fighting well and today fought with three different weapon combinations: backsword, single rapier and sword & buckler. I videoed all my fights. I’ve already reviewed a lot of - [Nothing Is Ever Broken - The Climb #196](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/06/nothing-is-ever-broken-the-climb-197/) - Saturday 5th August 2017 Today has been all about one thing: fixing chapter one. In truth, this has meant spending 95% of the day thinking about it and about 5% of the day actually making changes. But this chapter has become a bugbear of mine, and editing it again has been as much a psychological - [Hidden Illnesses - The Climb #195](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/05/hidden-illnesses-the-climb-195/) - Friday 4th August 2017 Today was mostly spent at the hospital Since before Leggedon I’ve had medical issues that I’ve struggled to get doctors to take seriously. Whilst I understand that everyone thinks their metabolism is wrong, I started piling on weight in my mid-20s around the same time as my Vtiligo started. My food - [Gang Aft Agley - The Climb #194](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/04/gang-aft-agley-the-climb-194/) - Thursday 3rd August 2017 It’s fair to say that today has not been a good day. There are a number of reasons, and whilst none of them was enough to ruin my Thursday single-handedly, collectively they managed to do it. I found myself lacking motivation in the gym today. Normally, I’ll moan and grumble, but - [The Benefits Of Long Drives - The Climb #193](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/03/the-benefits-of-long-drives-the-climb-193/) - Wednesday 2nd August 2017 I do a lot of travel. If I go into the day job office it’s a good hour by car, and swordfighting training can be anything up to 2 hours depending on where I’m going. However, I must admit that I don’t mind the drives. In fact they can be quite - [Return Of The Vlog? - The Climb #192](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/02/return-of-the-vlog-the-climb-192/) - Tuesday 1st August 2017 I’m considering bringing back the vlogs. This has stemmed from the conjunction of a couple of things: improving my training and watching a load of Youtube. I’m still feeling fired up about the tournament season ahead. I’ve seen that a couple of our best fighters have signed up for the upcoming - [Super-Motivated - The Climb #191](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/08/01/super-motivated-the-climb-191/) - Monday 31st July 2017 I’ve been feeling pretty pumped today. For some reason I’ve been watching some Olympians’ Youtube videos today and it’s got me super motivated. It got me thinking about my swordfighting and just how far it’s come on. I was supposed to be super-frustrated right now but my world-ranking came in about - [World Class Progress - The Climb #190](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/31/world-class-progress-the-climb-190/) - Sunday 30th July 2017 Today was a good day of progress on a number of fronts. First there was good news on the swordfighting front. The results from Astolat have been added to the world rankings and it’s seen me rise 68 places. I’m still outside the top 100 – which is my short term - [Version Control - The Climb #189](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/30/version-control-the-climb-189/) - Saturday 29th July 2017 Whereas yesterday I woke from a nightmare, this morning I woke to a revelation. The novel starts in the wrong place. I’ve been stressing over the early chapters of Black As Knight. It’s probably been the biggest challenge throughout the creation of this novel. I rewrote it a couple of years - [Recharged - The Climb #188](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/29/recharged-the-climb-188/) - Friday 28th July 2017 I had a nightmare last night. I dreamt that I’d taken so long with the edits that I got dropped by my agent. This wasn’t helped by the fact that when I launched Facebook after I woke, I found today was the two year anniversary of my contract arriving. I’ve not - [Game of Moans - The Climb #187](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/28/game-of-moans-the-climb-187/) - Thursday 27th July 2017 I was feeling so exhausted today that part of me wanted to postpone cake club tonight. But given that I’d already pushed it back a week due to tournament prep, plus I need to get back into a writing frame of mind, I went and am glad I did. We really - [Getting To The New Normal - The Climb #186](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/27/getting-to-the-new-normal-the-climb-186/) - Wednesday 26th July 2017 Things are slowly returning to normal after Astolat. It’s been such a big focus for me over the last few months – churning away in the background since Untournament – and now it’s over. Naturally, my attention has turned to future tournaments and how I want to approach them. There’s also - [The Post-Astolat Task List - The Climb #185](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/26/the-post-astolat-task-list-the-climb-185/) - Tuesday 25th July 2017 I still feel shattered today. I am awake and alert but my body has a weariness that goes down to my bones. As a result, I didn’t jump back into the edits tonight, instead catching up on Game of Thrones (I’m several seasons behind). If Leggedon taught me anything, it’s to - [Broken - The Climb #184](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/25/broken-the-climb-184/) - Monday 24th July 2017 I feel exhausted. I feel so exhausted that I have a tiredness that goes beyond just wanting to sleep and can be felt all the way to my bones. I’d thought about taking the night off training tonight given how exhausted I felt, but then Matt announced we were running a - [Yesterday's Victory Is Today's Baseline - The Climb #183](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/24/yesterdays-victory-is-todays-baseline-the-climb-183/) - Sunday 23rd July 2017 I slept fretfully last night, waking several times and having trouble getting back to sleep. But upon getting up and having breakfast, despite it being stupidly early and thinking I’d not had enough hours sleep, I felt good. My first fight today was for the rapier & dagger quarter finals. I - [Quarter-Finalist - The Climb #182](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/23/quarter-finalist-the-climb-182/) - Saturday 22nd July 2017 So bits of me ache and my knuckle is purple but day 1 of the Astolat tournament has taken place and I’m now back home trying to get sleep for an extremely early start tomorrow. I felt good this morning. I felt focused as I had my breakfast and loaded up - [Eve Of The Fight - The Climb #181](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/22/eve-of-the-fight-the-climb-181/) - Friday 21st July 2017 It’s the night before the big tournament. I am focused, I am not focused enough. I am prepared, I am unprepared. This is it, I think. This is what I’ve worked towards. It all boils down to this, where those hours of sacrifice, those hours of training… this is where I - [Chilling With Warcraft - The Climb #180](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/21/chilling-with-warcraft-the-climb-180/) - Thursday 20th July 2017 Today has been a day of trying to chill and get myself into the mood for my upcoming tournament. Given the way the world rankings have come along in the last year, Astolat now qualifies more than Fightcamp for the title of the UK’s national tournament. Not that there’s an official - [Getting My Head Back In The Game - The Climb #179](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/20/getting-my-head-back-in-the-game-the-climb-179/) - Wednesday 19th July 2017 I attended the first day of a big departmental meeting with the day job today. I don’t tend to enjoy these because I rarely see the value in what we discuss. Because the area I work in is very specialised, 90% of these things usually end up being of no relevance - [In Need Of Focus - The Climb #178](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/19/in-need-of-focus-the-climb-178/) - Tuesday 18th July 2017 I’d like to pretend that I’m not still smarting from yesterday, but in truth I am. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to keep away from people – both in person and online – from Thursday so I can focus on my mental preparations for competition. I know I - [Judges Are Dicks - The Climb #177](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/18/judges-are-dicks-the-climb-177/) - Monday 17th July 2017 If you asked me my views about the judging of swordfighting tournaments, I’d say this. I’d tell you that judging is hard, that you are trying to watch fast moving pieces of metal going in all directions. I’d tell you how your mind isn’t sure what you just saw. Was it - [Pre-Tournament Sparring - The Climb #176](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/17/pre-tournament-sparring-the-climb-176/) - Sunday 16th July 2017 Today was my second consecutive day of swordfighting and my last weekend before the Astolat tournament. In a week's time I will know whether all those months of training will have paid off. They usually say that you fight terribly the week before a tournament. It’s almost become a swordfighting superstition. - [The Man With Montante - The Climb #175](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/16/the-man-with-montante-the-climb-175/) - Saturday 15th July 2017 Today has been a swordfighting day with a seminar on the use of the Montante taking up the best part of the day. I woke up feeling very relaxed. After writing The Climb last night I went up to bed and read. I’ve started on The Republic of Thieves. I’m a - [The Jittery Tank - The Climb #174](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/15/the-jittery-tank-the-climb-174/) - Friday 14th July 2017 I’ve felt very unfocused today. I suspect that it’s pre-tournament nerves starting. This weekend I’m swordfighting all weekend and then next weekend is the Astolat tournament. I can feel myself getting jittery over the fact that I’m fighting all weekend. It’s almost as if I’m annoyed that I don’t have time - [Going Automated - The Climb #173](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/14/going-automated-the-climb-173/) - Thursday 13th July 2017 Today I went automated. Ever since I bought the house nearly 3 years ago, I’ve wanted Philips Hue so I could change the colour of the lights. The problem is that Philips Hue is really expensive. A starter pack with 3 bulbs will set you back a good £150. And with - [Note Taking - The Climb #172](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/13/note-taking-the-climb-172/) - Wednesday 12th July 2017 For some reason I’ve been consumed by note taking today. And not taking notes but the process of taking notes. I’m not sure if this is driven by a need to be more organised after the disruption of the last week or not but I realised that there must be a - [Getting Back On The Horse - The Climb #171](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/12/getting-back-on-the-horse-the-climb-171/) - Tuesday 11th July 2017 One of the outcomes from Leggedon was the need to be super organised. I needed to take all manners of medication, ensure the leg got exercise, monitor and manage my food and a million other things. On top of this, I had a broken novel that needed fixing, and so I - [The Best Fencer Ever - The Climb #170](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/11/the-best-fencer-ever-the-climb-170/) - Monday 10th July 2017 I finally started to feel a bit like my old self today. I still don’t believe I achieved a whole lot . Work was busy. I’ve been working on a report, which means a lot of Excel work. But on top of this, my source data isn’t being created properly so - [The Worst Fencer Ever - The Climb #169](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/10/the-worst-fencer-ever-the-climb-169/) - Sunday 9th July 2017 I fenced like crap today. I’d been tempted not to go, given my mood the last couple of days, but then I decided that in doing that, I’d just be defeating myself. And so, despite my head being elsewhere, I went. I guess I fenced just about as well as I - [Stuck Indoors - The Climb #168](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/09/stuck-indoors-the-climb-168/) - Saturday 8th July 2017 I’ve been in a bit of a bad mood today. Aside from everything else that’s been going on over the last few days, I’ve been in a bit annoyed. You see, it’s summer outside… the weather is fantastic. I should be going to the beach and eating ice cream, especially given - [Crossing Into Enemy Territory - The Climb #167](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/08/crossing-into-enemy-territory-the-climb-167/) - Friday 7th July 2017 I continued to keep away from people today. Following Wednesday night’s panic attack, I’ve seen my low turn into anger. Mainly because it could have been avoided. I’ve got a pretty thick skin and people can be pretty blunt around me, but having a go at me when I’m in an - [Self-Imposed Exile - The Climb #166](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/07/self-imposed-exile-the-climb-166/) - Thursday 6th July 2017 Today has been a bit of a down day. Following yesterday’s panic attack, I’ve been left a little flat and annoyed about a few things. This has put me in a bit of a “fuck the world” mood which is never helpful and so I’ve kept away from people lest I - [Deconstructing A Panic Attack - The Climb #165](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/06/deconstructing-a-panic-attack-the-climb-165/) - Wednesday 5th July 2017 I suffered with anxiety for years. It wouldn’t stop me doing things and I would later identify this as high-functioning anxiety. It would mostly manifest itself in worries that would just build and build into massive panic attacks. I’m not sure when they first started. It might have been when I - [The Delicate Editing Of Chapter One - The Climb #164](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/05/the-delicate-editing-of-chapter-one-the-climb-164/) - Tuesday 4th July 2017 I’ve been doing some delicate editing today. The first couple of chapters are the real challenge in this edit. I have to make some subtle changes to blow the protagonist’s agency through the roof. It basically means that his plans have to be a little more solid. Of course, this means - [High Hopes, Low Expectations - The Climb #163](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/04/high-hopes-low-expectations-the-climb-163/) - Monday 3rd July 2017 I had an interesting conversation in the pub with an editor friend. We were talking about our various projects and he asked me what was happening with Black As Knight. I explained that I was fully prepared that it might not sell but that I had a figure that I was - [Staying Motivated - The Climb #162](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/03/staying-motivated-the-climb-162/) - Sunday 2nd July 2017 I hate it when the weekend is over, especially when it’s a weekend where I’ve done little writing. However, with the knowledge that I’ve been feeling a bit run down together with the fact that I was seeing Danny yesterday, it made sense to take a little break and refresh ready - [A Reunion With An Old Friend - The Climb #161](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/02/a-reunion-with-an-old-friend-the-climb-161/) - Saturday 1st July 2017 Danny is one of my oldest friends. 25 years ago we worked in the same voluntary organisation, and when I was I charge of national recruitment he was one of the regional coordinators. However, back then Danny wasn’t the type of person who looked charitable. In fact, if you met him - [Sucstress - The Climb #160](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/07/01/sucstress-the-climb-160/) - Friday 30th June 2017 I made up a word today. My friend (and author) Emma Newman was talking about that welcome stress you get when you’re doing something awesome but it’s still outside your comfort zone. She was sure there’d be some German word for it, but I suggested we make one up. Sucstress I - [The Wartime General - The Climb #159](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/30/the-wartime-general-the-climb-159/) - Thursday 29th June 2017 I think I burnt myself out a bit today. I had a very active day where I was extremely focused but then never had any energy for the evening’s editing. The day job fun and games have continued today. What started as demonstrating I had things under control within my department - [How Did I End Up In This Position? - The Climb #158](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/29/how-did-i-end-up-in-this-position-the-climb-158/) - Wednesday 28th June 2017 People who have known me a long time know just how anxious I used to get about things. I’m a lot better than I was (a LOT better as this edition will point out) but I can still get myself in a panic over the smallest of things. And then there - [The Story Is King - The Climb #157](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/28/the-story-is-king-the-climb-157/) - Monday 27th June 2017 I was having a bit of a panic this morning. I woke to be no clearer about my quandary from yesterday. My head was telling me to simplify relationships to make it easier for the reader, and yet my gut was telling me that the depth was in those characters and - [Trusting My Gut - The Climb #156](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/27/trusting-my-gut-the-climb-156/) - Monday 26th June 2017 Trusting your gut is a very scary thing, especially when the stakes are raised. I’ve gone through a few more pages today editing Black as Knight and I think I’ve found an area where my agent and I slightly diverge. For the most part, removing clauses and redundant sentences doesn’t bother - [Slow But Steady Progress - The Climb #155](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/26/slow-but-steady-progress-the-climb-155/) - Sunday 25th June 2017 I got out the house today. Throughout the whole weekend of sitting at my computer and editing, I’ve been focused on rewarding myself with a good sparring session today. Not only would that give me chance to socialise with people but it would also give me essential practise ahead of the - [The Least Interesting Person In The World - The Climb #154](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/25/the-least-interesting-person-in-the-world-the-climb-154/) - Saturday 24th June 2017 Today has been a lot of hard work. I’ve not even had chance to step outside the house I’ve been that busy. Days like this aren’t fun. I mean, don’t think I won’t be grateful down the road for the work I put in today. It’s an investment in the future. - [Whatever It Takes - The Climb #153](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/24/whatever-it-takes-the-climb-153/) - 23rd June 2017 I worked on the novel until gone 3:30am today. Part of the reason is that I could. I don’t have the day job tomorrow so I decided to keep going as long as I could. When I got to a question that I felt I needed more than a quick 2 minute - [Planning A Novel That Will Sell - The Climb #152](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/23/planning-a-novel-that-will-sell-the-climb-152/) - Thursday 22nd June 2017 Let me preface this by saying that there are lots of ways to write a book, not only in the actual writing but in the planning and plotting as well. If you look at this and think “I don’t work like that” it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. In fact, - [Feeling Glum For No Reason - The Climb #151](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/22/feeling-glum-for-no-reason-the-climb-151/) - Wednesday 21st June 2017 I’m not sure why, but today was a bit of a glum day. Everything is going super well at the moment, everything is progressing positively, I’m happy with what I’m doing and there’s no real major stress. But I just felt like I wanted to climb into bed and give up - [A Day Of Failures - The Climb #150](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/21/a-day-of-failures-the-climb-150/) - Tuesday 20th June 2017 Today was my biggest day of failure in a long while. Chasepalooza, like any holiday, cost a bit of money. It was certainly cheaper than previous years. I was working out the costing for my friend, Pat, who wants to chase with us next year if we do it (I’ll be - [Why I Don't Like Luck - The Climb #149](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/20/why-i-dont-like-luck-the-climb-149/) - Monday 19th June 2017 One of the things I always used to love to do was get into a discussion on social media. I am blessed with a load of intelligent friends and it used to be that you could have a really interesting discussion where no-one was right or wrong but you really probed - [The Unsexy Work - The Climb #148](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/19/the-unsexy-work-the-climb-148/) - Sunday 18th June 2017 Some days aren’t glamorous. Some days are about turning up and doing the fucking work. There’s nothing unique about the work, you don’t even believe you do your best work but you turn up anyway and you do it. That was my today. I went sparring this morning. It’s a 90 - [Bleeding Through My Eyes - The Climb #147](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/18/bleeding-through-my-eyes-the-climb-147/) - Saturday 17th June 2017 Today has been a tough day. Some days writing flows like silk, and some days you’re in a trench engaged in a land battle. Today has been the latter. After not getting any work done yesterday, today I’ve been trying to make up for lost time. I wanted to edit a - [Feeling Rough - The Climb #146](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/17/feeling-rough-the-climb-146/) - Friday 16th June 2017 Today was an odd day. I’m not sure if I ate something that disagreed with me, or I just naturally feel tired, or I’m mentally stuck on something but I spent the evening feeling totally exhausted and have decided to go to bed early. Worse still, I’ve not made any progress - [I Never Thought I'd Love This So Much - The Climb #145](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/16/i-never-thought-id-love-this-so-much-the-climb-145/) - Thursday 15th June 2017 OK, I never thought I’d say this but… editing is fun. I’ve done about 50 pages today. This puts me about 100 pages in out of 723. I say ‘about’ as I have to expand a scene and so I need to break from the line edits briefly to bring an - [Producing Something Of Quality - The Climb #144](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/15/producing-something-of-quality-the-climb-144/) - Wednesday 14th June 2017 This is the story of two different stresses that happened today. The first is stress about the novel. As you have seen over the last few days there’s a ton of work to do and things I’m not sure about. It’s possible it’s just me worrying about nothing, but I’ve been - [I Knew - The Climb #143](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/14/i-knew-the-climb-143/) - Tuesday 13th June 2017 There’s part of me that feels like The Climb is very repetitive at the moment. For what seems like a long time (but in reality is probably 3 or 4 days) I’ve been reporting on the edits, how I find it tough but also fun and how I am soldiering on. - [Editing A Novel Is Like Going To The Gym - The Climb #142](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/13/editing-a-novel-is-like-going-to-the-gym-the-climb-142/) - Monday 12th June 2017 Editing the novel is currently a bit like going to the gym. There’s a huge part of you that’s put off by the idea. It’ll hurt, it’s a lot of effort. But at the same time you know it’s something you need to do in order to reach your goals. And - [Making Some Hard Choices - The Climb #141](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/12/making-some-hard-choices-the-climb-141/) - Sunday 11th June 2017 Editing is simultaneously both fun and incredibly hard. Mentally, I’m deep into the line edits although in terms of number of chapters I’m still very near the beginning and I’m finding some of the changes really challenging. It’s not because they are difficult, per say, it’s just that they are making - [Lost Time - The Climb #140](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/11/lost-time-the-climb-140/) - Saturday 10th June 2017 Today was given over to writing, and yet I worked out I really only had 2 solid hours in which to get any work done. I woke late. My sleeping patterns have still not recovered since getting back from Canada and so I find myself going to bed later and waking - [Learning To Listen To My Gut - The Climb #139](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/10/learning-to-listen-to-my-gut-the-climb-139/) - Friday 9th May 2017 Some days are just unproductive, even though want of trying. Today’s plan was to get the ball scene done. In many ways it’s a simple change. Currently hero stumbles across information at the ball. Instead, he has to go seek it out. It should be a simple change but it’s going - [I Can't Believe How Scary This Is - The Climb #138](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/09/i-cant-believe-how-scary-this-is-the-climb-138/) - Thursday 8th June 2017 I’ve managed to do a lot more editing today, and it’s been very scary. For the first part of this week it’s been both scary and fun. Today it was just scary. Today I well and truly stepped outside my comfort zone. I needed to move a scene to another part - [Back To The Office - The Climb #137](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/08/back-to-the-office-the-climb-137/) - Wednesday 7th June 2017 Today has been a bit of a nothing day, but thanks to a productive day yesterday, I don’t feel frustrated by it. I woke late again, my body clock still not back to normal (thanks, fidgeting woman) but by the time I had breakfast and took care of a few things, - [A Different Way Of Editing - The Climb #136](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/07/a-different-way-of-editing-the-climb-136/) - Tuesday 6th May 2017 I’ve been editing in an entirely new way today. Usually, when I have a major edit to do, I’ll start at the beginning and work my way towards the end. I like working that way as it gives me somewhat of a sense of security. It means that I can check - [The Grind Starts Here - The Climb #135](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/06/the-grind-starts-here-the-climb-135/) - Monday 5th June 2017 You know that meme where someone is returning back to work after holiday wondering “how they got on without me?” They open the door to the office to see a post-apocalyptic wasteland, people running around on fire, others pulling their hair out screaming, you get the picture. This was my day - [Fighting Fit - The Climb #134](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/05/fighting-fit-the-climb-134/) - Sunday 4th June 2016 Today was my first time swordfighting since before Chasepalooza. I managed to wake up in time but still felt a bit out of it. So I really wasn’t expecting much. In fact, I reckoned I was so out of shape that it might be best to give today a miss. But… - [Absolute Lethargy - The Climb #133](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/04/absolute-lethargy-the-climb-132/) - Saturday 3rd June 2017 I was woken by my neighbour playing music in their garden. Bloody inconsiderate, I thought. Didn’t they think that people might need a lay in? Although I still felt tired, I was awake now so I got up… and then found it was Midday. Yep, I think I’m definitely suffering from - [Jetlagged - The Climb #132](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/03/jetlagged-the-climb-132/) - Friday 2nd June 2017 I’ve heard it said that jetlag doesn’t hit you for a couple of days after returning, and that would seem to be the case because today I’ve been absolutely floored. I’ve always been pretty lucky. I usually opt to take a red-eye and try to sleep when flying back from North - [The Journey Back | vlog0025](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/03/the-journey-back-vlog0025/) - Tuesday 30th May 2017 / Wednesday 31st Mat 2017 – Chasepalooza is over and now it’s time to fly home from Winnipeg, travelling via Calgary. - [Building My ToDo List - The Climb #131](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/02/building-my-todo-list-the-climb-131/) - Thursday 1st June 2017 Today was the first day resembling a return to normality. I woke up in my own bed and returned to the day job. Of course, now that Chasepalooza is over, I have a mountain of things to do – from the mundane such as unpacking all my gear and dealing with - [Packing My Case | vlog0024](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/02/packing-my-case-vlog0024/) - Monday 29th May 2017 – With a day free in Winnipeg before I fly home, it’s time to do some last minute shopping, pack the case and reflect on this trip. - [Flying Home - The Climb #130](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/06/01/flying-home-the-climb-130/) - Wednesday 31st May 2017 I wouldn’t call the flight from Calgary a total disaster but it certainly wasn’t one of my best flights. The main problem was that unlike my other flights this trip, this one didn’t have a plug socket. I’d planned to work on a short story on the flight back – laying - [Flight to Calgary - The Climb #129](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/31/flight-to-calgary-the-climb-129/) - Tuesday 30th May 2017 Today went past in a blur. In many ways I was glad it did. Endings are always hard and today I left Winnipeg to start my journey home. I’d got most of my packing done last night so it really was just a case of packing the electronics. But given that - [Chillin' In Winnipeg - The Climb #128](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/30/chillin-in-winnipeg-the-climb-128/) - Monday 29th May 2017 I am beyond shattered. In fact, I can’t remember ever feeling this tired - not after the sleepless nights at Toy Fair when I had to upload via dial up, nor after Leo conferences where we’d stay up all night to make Breakfast Club. I woke about 9am, and pottered about - [The 10,746km Road Trip | vlog0023](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/30/the-10746km-road-trip-vlog0023/) - Sunday 28th May 2017 – With our chasecation now over, we now drive the 16 hours back to Winnipeg non-stop, trying not to get lost on the way. - [The Long Journey Back To Canada - The Climb #127](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/30/the-long-journey-back-to-canada-the-climb-127/) - Sunday 28th May 2017 There was no time to reflection, there was no time for melancholy. No sooner did our chase end, we were on the road heading back to Winnipeg. From NE Oklahoma it was a 16 hour drive and the plan was to drive nonstop, swapping out drivers along the way. As the - [Explosive Conditions In Oklahoma | vlog0022](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/30/explosive-conditions-in-oklahoma-vlog0022/) - Saturday 27th May 2017 – On our last chase day, we head down to NE Oklahoma to chase what looks like it could be the perfect environment for some very dangerous storms. - [The Final Chase - The Climb #126](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/29/the-final-chase-the-climb-126/) - Saturday 27th May 2017 There’s been some debate about whether we would chase today or not. It’s a long drive back to Winnipeg and some people need to be back to work on Monday morning. I don’t fly home until Tuesday evening but I’m not interested in making that journey back to Canada later by - [Chasing Across Colorado | vlog0021](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/29/chasing-across-colorado-vlog0021/) - Friday 26th May 2017 – The team heads to Denver to get teased by a tornado warned storm and find some incredible structure. - [Outrunning Storms Across Kansas | vlog0020](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/29/outrunning-storms-across-kansas-vlog0020/) - Thursday 25th May 2017 – Today we drove all the way to Colorado to intercept some storms and chase them all the way back into central Kansas. - [Changing My Perspective - The Climb #125](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/27/changing-my-perspective-the-climb-125/) - Friday 26th May 2017 One of the things that has been bothering me the last couple of days are my technical woes. Anyone who has been following The Climb knows just how much work I’ve put in to try and make my plans flawless. And so when things go wrong, a part of me feels - [The Price Of Storm Chasing - The Climb #124](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/26/the-price-of-storm-chasing-the-climb-123/) - Thursday 25th May 2017 Chasing storms is unbelievably taxing. You wake early to check the latest models only to find that all the plans you made late into the night have suddenly been superseded by a new target necessitating a whole new slew of plans. These can get made over a hasty breakfast but usually - [Return To The Big Texan | vlog0019](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/26/return-to-the-big-texan-vlog0019/) - Wednesday 25th May 2017 – We return to the Big Texan to watch a fellow storm chaser complete the 72oz steak challenge, and I encounter some technical hurdles producing the vlogs. - [Driven To Drink - The Climb #123](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/25/driven-to-drink-the-climb-123/) - Wednesday 24th May 2017 Creating the vlogs every day is a challenge. Firstly there’s videoing the content. It’s about little things like bothering to take that camera into the diner with you as much as the large things such as remembering to video some event going on. The trick is to capture the moment and - [Acts of Vandalism | vlog0018](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/25/acts-of-vandalism-vlog0018/) - Tuesday 23rd May 2017 – On our down day, we go to the UFO Museum in Roswell, commit vandalism at Cadillac Ranch and set fire to things at the park. - [Supercell Hunting In New Mexico | vlog0017](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/24/supercell-hunting-in-new-mexico-vlog0017/) - Monday 22nd May 2017 – We added New Mexico to our list of states we’ve visited on this trip with a little Chase through some amazing countryside that got us to see a load of great supercells. - [Hunting Aliens In Roswell - The Climb #122](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/24/hunting-aliens-in-roswell-the-climb-122/) - Tuesday 23rd May 2017 Today was a down day. Down days are days when you aren’t chasing any storms. Sometimes this is simply because there aren’t any storms within driving range, but sometimes it’s because chasing a storm would put you out of reach for a better storm the next day. They’re also a good - [Sleep Deprivation in New Mexico - The Climb #121](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/23/sleep-deprivation-in-new-mexico-the-climb-121/) - Monday 22nd May 2017 Today we chased in New Mexico. The storms never produced any tornadoes but I managed to take a load of timelapses and got treated to some amazing sights. I’ve been in a bit of a bad mood today comprised of a mix of things. I lost a memory card last night. - [Chasing along the Colorado Border | vlog0016](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/23/chasing-along-the-colorado-border-vlog0016/) - Sunday 21st May 2017 – We drove up to the Oklahoma / Colorado border today to chase some storms. After a great chase we headed into Amarillo, Texas, to catch up with some old chasing friends over dinner. - [Exhausted In Texas | vlog0015](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/22/exhausted-in-texas-vlog0015/) - Saturday 20th May 2017 – We drove 7 hours to San Antonio, only to bust. Apologies for the short vlog today. My exhaustion caused a few technical issues on some clips. - [Close To Colorado - The Climb #120](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/21/close-to-colorado-the-climb-120/) - Sunday 21st May 2017 Today was another busy day of chasing. We know that the latter half of the week is going to be quiet so we want to grab every opportunity we can. We stayed overnight in San Angelo with the view that we’d go to Amarillo today. Texas is a big ol’ place, - [Busting in San Antonio - The Climb #119](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/21/busting-in-san-antonio-the-climb-119/) - Saturday 20th May 2017 Today felt the price of yesterday. After getting to bed at around 3:30am, I was up at 8am to get packed and ready to leave. I’ve noticed how tired I am but just how grumpy I am. I get like this when I’m truly exhausted. In many ways it reminds me - [The Longest Road Trip Ever | vlog0014](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/21/the-longest-road-trip-ever-vlog0014/) - Friday 19th May 2017 – Chasepalooza gets under way as we drive over 2000km in a day to get from Canada to Oklahoma in order to chase some storms - [The Race To Oklahoma City - The Climb #118](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/20/the-race-to-oklahoma-city-the-climb-118/) - Friday 19th May 2017 Let’s not make any bones about it… today’s travel has been the thing of legends. We drove over 2000km, possibly over 2500km. When we left Winnipeg at 10pm last night it was about 7 degrees. When we got into Oklahoma City it was almost 20 degrees higher. The reason for our mad - [Change of Plans | vlog0013](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/20/change-of-plans-vlog0013/) - Thursday 18th May 2017 – I get in some last minute shopping and geocaching as our plans take a dramatic change. - [Wandering Around Winnipeg - The Climb #117](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/19/wandering-around-winnipeg-the-climb-117/) - Thursday 18th May 2017 In my original plans, today would have happened yesterday. I would have spent the day doing all my shopping so I could then spend Thursday relaxing before the chase on Friday. But I lost Monday due to the cancelled flight and so I woke this morning knowing I should get everything - [Bracing | vlog0012](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/18/bracing-vlog0012/) - Wednesday 17th May 2017 – Arriving in Winnipeg I spent the day hanging out with friends ahead of our storm chase into the US - [Meeting Friends in Manitoba - The Climb #116](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/18/meeting-friends-in-manitoba-the-climb-116/) - Wednesday 17th May 2017 I never got much sleep. I woke around 8am and as that’s around the time I want my body clock to wake I decided it best to get up and check if the vlog had uploaded. I’d been worrying why videos didn’t seem to be being posted at the time I - [Travel | vlog0011](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/18/travel-vlog0011/) - Tuesday 16th May 2017 – Here’s the vlog I shot of my day of travel to get from London Gatwick to Winnipeg, Canada. - [Passing Through Toronto - The Climb #115](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/17/passing-through-toronto-the-climb-115/) - Tuesday 16th May 2017 It’s gone 2am in the morning, which makes it some ungodly hour in the UK, and means that since Sunday morning, I’ve had a total of about 8 hours sleep. As a result, my plan is to keep this edition fairly short and get some much needed sleep. I had to - [The Best Laid Plans... | vlog0010](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/17/the-best-laid-plans-vlog0010/) - Monday 15th May 2017 – So I jet off to Canada…. or do I? Apologies to people following publication via Youtube… the scheduling got messed up on this one. Vlog0011 is done and scheduled for 18:00 UK time. - [Not The Adventure I'd Planned - The Climb #114](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/16/not-the-adventure-id-planned-the-climb-114/) - Monday 15th May 2017 When I said I wanted an adventure, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. As I mentioned yesterday, I never slept, instead working on getting the vlog and The Climb scheduled. I worked out how to schedule video posts on both Youtube and Facebook so even at 3am in the - [Final Fight | vlog0009](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/16/final-fight-vlog0009/) - Sunday 14th May 2017 – In the final vlog before I head out to Canada to start my Chasepalooza storm chasing adventure, I get in some much needed sparring. - [Countdown To Canada - The Climb #113](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/15/countdown-to-canada-the-climb-113/) - Sunday 14th May 2017 I never sleep the night before a flight. There’s a worry that somehow I’ll oversleep and miss it, that I need to sacrifice that time to make sure I’ve packed everything. At the time of writing, I still have items strewn across my living room. I still worry I’m going to - [Packing For Adventure | vlog0008](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/14/packing-for-adventure-vlog0008/) - In today’s vlog we talk a little about adventure travelling and I finally get round to packing my bags! - [The Time Draws Near - The Climb #112](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/14/the-time-draws-near-the-climb-112/) - Saturday 13th May 2017 I’m at that stage where I’m panicking that I’ve forgotten something. Case in point today. I worried that I needed some more trousers. Whilst storm chasing , the weather can be very hot, it can be wet, it can be messy. And so the trousers I normally wear are not really - [Prepping The Macbook | vlog0007](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/13/prepping-the-macbook-vlog0007/) - In today’s vlog, we update the software on my Macbook ahead of my flight to Canada, and I get an update from my literary agent. - [The Edits Are Back! - The Climb #111](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/13/the-edits-are-back-the-climb-111/) - Friday 12th May 2017 *ALERT* *ALERT* The Edits Are Back *ALERT* *ALERT* Yes, folks, we’re on Defcon 1 here as I have received a large chunk of my editorial notes from my agent today. Oh, can you smell the fear? On one hand I’m really excited to get them back. These notes are a fantastic - [Cake Club | vlog0006](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/13/cake-club-vlog0006/) - Apologies for this being a little late going up, but it is nearly four times the length of yesterday’s vlog and covers our Cake Club meeting on Thursday night where we discussed writery stuff, and a lot about chasing tornadoes. - [The Royal Secret Cabal Of Cake Club - The Climb #110](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/12/the-royal-secret-cabal-of-cake-club-the-climb-110/) - Thursday 11th May 2017 Rather oddly, a few days before I travel to Canada and the US, I feel the need for a health kick. My diet has been pretty good for the last year but the major thing I did was give up caffeine. For the first couple of weeks I was a total - [Getting Charged Up! | vlog0005](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/11/getting-charged-up-vlog0005/) - In today’s vlog I start charging up all my batteries needed for storm chasing, plus I find time to go swordfighting! - [Stop Worrying About The Long Term Forecast - The Climb #109](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/11/stop-worrying-about-the-long-term-forecast-the-climb-109/) - Wednesday 10th May 2017 I woke up with a scratchy throat this morning and I wonder if this touch of illness has put me a little off colour today. This has been the first day where I really didn’t enjoy vlogging. Maybe the novelty has worn off but I found I was asking myself why - [Creating A Timelapse | vlog0004](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/10/creating-a-timelapse-vlog0004/) - In the latest vlog, I start getting stuff together for my trip to Canada next week and go about creating a practise timelapse. - [How to Progress Towards Goals - The Climb #108](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/10/how-to-progress-towards-goals-the-climb-108/) - Tuesday 9th May 2017 It suddenly feels like everything has kicked up a gear. I’ve been very busy over the last couple of days having started the vlogs, but yesterday, it felt like the only thing there was to talk about were the vlogs themselves. In terms of things actually happening, there wasn’t very much - [The Art of Storytelling | vlog0003](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/09/the-art-of-storytelling-vlog0003/) - Monday was a busy day so I didn’t get a whole lot of time to go out and film. So instead, I did a bit to camera on the art of storytelling, specifically pertaining to daily vlogs. - [I Became A Vlogger - The Climb #107](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/09/i-became-a-vlogger-the-climb-107/) - Monday 8th May 2017 And like that, I’m suddenly a vlogger! Whilst I’ve been filming content since Saturday, the first vlog didn’t go live until late last night. And I woke this morning to find the reception has been very positive. I’m very much framing this exercise as a precursor to chasing. I have no - [Running Late | vlog0002](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/08/running-late-vlog0002/) - In my second vlog, I go swordfighting and then go hunting for dinosaurs. Had a few issues with focus on this one but I’m really proud of the editing and think it’s an improvement over vlog0001 - [Dinosaur Chasing - The Climb #106](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/08/dinosaur-chasing-the-climb-106/) - Sunday 7th May 2017 I overslept today. It’s a bit ironic that I’ve been tired for weeks and the one day I want to be up early, I wake up late. I knew something was wrong when I woke up and didn’t hear the hot water on. That’s usually around the time I wake up - [Assembling Kit for Chasepalooza | vlog0001](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/08/assembling-kit-for-chasepalooza-vlog0001/) - So this is a little experiment with vlogging, intended as a companion piece to The Climb. Anyone who has been following The Climb will know that I’ve been wanting to experiment with vlogging and with my storm chasing trip coming up, I need to get some practise in! Let me know what you think in - [I've Got This In The Bag - The Climb #105](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/07/ive-got-this-in-the-bag-the-climb-105/) - Saturday 6th May 2017 Today was a busy and productive day although it was mainly focused on preparations for Chasepalooza! My first order of business was editing The Climb for today. I’d done the graphic yesterday so that was pretty quick to schedule, which is just as well as I had a bit of a - [Revenge Of The Fifth - The Climb #104](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/06/revenge-of-the-fifth-the-climb-104/) - Friday 5th May 2017 As you know, I’ve been watching a lot of vlogs recently. I quite like them because they’re easy content to have on in the background when you’re working on something else. I’m also fascinated by the storytelling element of them. Writing The Climb each day, I’ve been acutely aware that the - [May The Fourth Be With You - The Climb #103](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/05/may-the-fourth-be-with-you-the-climb-103/) - Thursday 4th May 2017 Happy Star Wars Day everyone! I spent my day still feeling a bit glum and restless from the post-novel blues. I can rationalise my petulance. Having returned home late last night and then had to get up early for the day job meant that I was tired most of the day, - [I Went to Hospital - The Climb #102](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/04/i-went-to-hospital-the-climb-102/) - Wednesday 3rd May 2017 The post-novel blues continued today. In fact, if anything, they got a little worse. It’s possible that health-related stress contributed to bringing me down, but I felt very despondent regarding my writing: everything I’m working towards isn’t going to happen, good things that happened were a mistake, I have a false - [Post-Coital Tristesse - The Climb #101](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/03/post-coital-tristesse-the-climb-101/) - Tuesday 2nd May 2017 The trouble with finishing a long project like a novel is that I suddenly find myself with time on my hands. And after months of conditioning myself to feel guilty whenever I procrastinate, I now find myself continuously restless because anything that’s not writing feels somehow wrong. It's like stepping off - [Milestones - The Climb #100](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/02/milestones-the-climb-100/) - Monday 1st May 2017 By my calculations, I have written over 20,000 words this weekend. That’s taking into account Friday’s drunken antics, Saturday’s social and Sunday’s sparring. But at the end of it, in this the 100th edition of The Climb, I can finally say it: The first draft of book 2 is done! As - [Nearing The End - The Climb #99](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/05/01/nearing-the-end-the-climb-99/) - Sunday 30th April 2017 Some days writing is a joy, sometimes it’s a slog and as we approach the end of this draft and I push to get it finished, today has been very firmly on the slog end of the scale. It used to be that crappy chapter drafts bothered me. I felt that - [Hangovers and Hard Work - The Climb #98](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/30/hangovers-and-hard-work-the-climb-98/) - Saturday 29th April 2017 I woke at 4am with the view that perhaps my strategy of having a ‘blow out’ before a weekend of writing was a bad one. I drank a load of water and felt queasy for about an hour, before falling back asleep. I woke at 8am, 12 hours after I not - [How I Write - The Climb #97](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/29/how-i-write-the-climb-98/) - Friday 28th April 2017 As you know, I like to write each edition of The Climb at the end of the day and then edit the next day. In the interests of full disclosure, this one was written at the start of the next day (for reasons you’ll find out). My current schedule is leaving - [I Need To Change This... - The Climb #96](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/28/i-need-to-change-this-the-climb-96/) - Thursday 27th April 2017 I dream of a day… I dream of a day when I can get more than five hours sleep before having to get up and ready for work. I dream of an evening where upon coming back from town I have the energy to do more than just sit and procrastinate - [I Am Wolverine! - The Climb #95](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/27/i-am-wolverine-the-climb-95/) - Wednesday 26th April 2017 I’m going to be so knackered tomorrow. It’s currently 1:45am as I sit down to start writing up The Climb and I’ve already had a really hectic day! Although saying that, it was a collection of a number of small, random and relatively insignificant events rather anything I can really get - [Countdown to Canada - The Climb #94](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/26/countdown-to-canada-the-climb-94/) - Tuesday 25th April 2017 It’s only the second day of the week and already I feel tired. Today has been another insanely busy day. I’ve done something to my lower back. It started a few weeks ago but it continues to play up. I’ve taken great care with it especially at the gym and thought - [Getting Bruised - The Climb #93](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/25/getting-bruised-the-climb-93/) - Monday 24th April 2017 I’m not sure if there’s something in the water or not, but there’s definitely an air of intolerance going around the SFF community I watched today as a discussion about the Gemmell Awards got a bit heated. It seemed to boil down to the fact that the public are stupid and - [Not Listening - The Climb #92](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/24/not-listening-the-climb-92/) - Sunday 23rd April 2017 There’s been a lot lost this weekend to procrastination / feeling exhausted and Sunday continued that trend a little. After scheduling yesterday’s edition of The Climb I got into the car and drove to go swordfighting. Despite having a couple of energy drinks I felt sluggish today and I think it’s - [Why Does This Always Happen At Weekends? - The Climb #91](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/23/why-does-this-always-happen-at-weekends-the-climb-91/) - Saturday 22nd April 2017 It’s been an interesting but slightly unproductive day. I slept in late because I really needed it. I’m exhausted after the last week. No way did it feel like a 4 day week. I got into a discussion online across several platforms on combat sports / martial arts. I’m actually surprised - [The Secret To Great Characters - The Climb #90](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/22/the-secret-to-great-characters-the-climb-90/) - Friday 21st April 2017 If there’s been a theme to today it’s been about character arcs. That and feeling totally exhausted. The main reason they’ve been on my mind is that I was thinking back to the greatest swordfight ever written that I drafted yesterday. Overall, I don’t think it’s bad but something was bothering - [Hold My Beer... - The Climb #89](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/21/hold-my-beer-the-climb-89/) - Thursday 20th April 2017 Today was a tiring day Despite a late night, I needed to be in an office early. This did nothing for my mood. It doesn’t take a lot of make me grumpy: lack of sleep, lack of food, lack of anything. I had two bowls of porridge in the hope it - [Blades Have Personalities - The Climb #88](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/20/blades-have-personalities-the-climb-88/) - Wednesday 19th April 2017 I woke early this morning, which was a little annoying given that I got to bed late. However, I suspect that because I had to be in the office early it was my body clock just being cautious. It was early enough to want to go back to sleep but late - [Turning Adversity Into Advantage - The Climb #87](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/19/turning-adversity-into-advantage-the-climb-87/) - Tuesday 18th April 2017 It always amazes me when people actively get in the way of your aims. I have a hard job understanding why. It’s almost as if they resent the fact that they acknowledge your progress. They’ll actively throw roadblocks in your way, sometimes under the guise that they think it will help - [Well, That Escalated Quickly - The Climb #86](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/18/well-that-escalated-quickly-the-climb-86/) - Monday 17th April 2017 Producing The Climb is a bit of a challenge. At its most basic it’s about writing a blog post every day. It’s about distilling your day into a theme or a story and then telling it. It’s about creating around 1000 words of content at the very end of the day - [The Last Convention? - The Climb #85](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/17/the-last-convention-the-climb-85/) - Sunday 16th April 2017 I’m wondering if this might be the last great convention. I’ve had a blast this Easter weekend, and it’s felt very business heavy (in a good way) but what’s been noticeable is the absence of pros. As we said to Steve, he’s probably one of the most high profiles names here - [Shit Just Got Real - The Climb #84](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/16/shit-just-got-real-the-climb-84/) - Saturday 15th April 2017 Two Years ago, Eastercon was held in London. I remember chatting to Cameron and Rob about their novels. Gollancz had an open submissions window and so I lambasted the pair of them for not submitting. They in turn, took issue with me and the manuscript with Black As Knight that I’d - [The Drunken Ramblings of A Man At Eastercon - The Climb #83](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/15/the-drunken-ramblings-of-a-man-at-eastercon-the-climb-83/) - Friday 14th April 2017 Today has been a fun day. I spent the morning doing some admin. I got The Climb scheduled (a minor victory in itself) and wrote over 1000 words on book 2. By this time friends had started to arrive at Eastercon so I went downstairs to catch up with them. Cameron - [Hitting The Road - The Climb #82](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/14/hitting-the-road-the-climb-82/) - Thursday 13th April 2017 This is the first time I’ve attempted to write The Climb whilst away from home and it’s proved a good test for when I go to the US. And by a good test I mean it’s proved bloody difficult. I realise the only software I have wth any form of wordcount - [Eastercon 2017](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/13/eastercon-2017/) - Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am at Innominate Eastercon 2017 this weekend. I don't have any panels this year (I was late sending in the form!) but you'll be able to find me in the bar for most of the weekend. Feel free to come up and say hello! - [A Waste Of A Work Day - The Climb #81](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/13/a-waste-of-a-work-day-the-climb-81/) - Wednesday 12th April 2017 Today was a complete waste of a day. It started well. Given the phone call I had with my boss yesterday evening I never got time to write. It’s rare I do any extracurricular work but with a few things going on I thought it would probably be best to make - [The Financial Reality Of Being A Writer - The Climb #80](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/12/the-financial-reality-of-being-a-writer-the-climb-80/) - Tuesday 11th April 2017 One of the big life aims of most writers is to one day earn enough from your writing that you could do it full-time. For most writers it’s the impossible dream. Even if you are able to get a book deal that pays you an advance, to earn one that actually - [I've Already Won - The Climb #79](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/11/ive-already-won-the-climb-79/) - Monday 10th April 2017 Today I learnt that I’ve already won. Now let me start by saying that we need to be clear about the definition of winning. For you, that might be interpreted as writing a bestseller or an award-winning book, but for me it’s subtly different. Winning is about ensuring that I’ve done - [Popping Into Focus - The Climb #78](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/10/popping-into-focus-the-climb-78/) - Sunday 9th April 2017 One thing has been on my mind all throughout a very busy day today. Plotting out these next two chapters last night, I had a problem where I need a secondary character to not be in the scenes. That sounds simple, right? Just omit him, or say he’s doing something. Trouble - [I Needed To Do This - The Climb #77](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/09/i-needed-to-do-this-the-climb-77/) - Saturday 8th April 2017 Today has seen some glorious weather. We’re finally into the season where you can go out in just a T-Shirt and not feel cold. It’s a sign that summer is well on its way. And how do I know this? Was it because I spent all day in the sunshine? Or was - [The Year Of The Offensive - March](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/08/the-year-of-the-offensive-march/) - February is always tough for me. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it takes me a month to get my plans for the year into action. Last year February saw me struggle with rewrites and decide to get my health in order. It signalled the start of a very tough year. This year, February once - [Positivity Challenged - The Climb #76](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/08/positivity-challenged-the-climb-76/) - Friday 7th April 2017 The issues with the day job that I talked about yesterday put me in a strange mood today. As a result I got very little day job work done. It also had the knock-on effect on my writing as well. I had a big Amazon delivery arrive today. I got a - [Video: The Chase](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/07/video-the-chase/) - It’s taken me almost a year to finally get together but in the last week I’ve finally finished the video compiled from the videos shot on my 2016 Storm Chasing adventures. Checkout The Chase below, and be sure to comment on what you think of it! - [The Path Of Least Resistance - The Climb #75](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/07/the-path-of-least-resistance-the-climb-75/) - Thursday 6th April 2017 The day job has been a bit annoying today. Every so often they do something that really stresses me out. Part of the problem is that their HR is pretty poor and the way they handle things is terrible. I’m trying to be a good employee whilst also going full-in on - [I'm Going To Upset A Few People - The Climb #74](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/06/im-going-to-upset-a-few-people-the-climb-74/) - Wednesday 5th April 2017 I usually stay away from debate on the internet. It’s not that I don’t care about certain causes, but I figure I have only a certain amount of mental energy and I need most of that to work on my own projects. I figure it’s also better for my sanity. But - [Something Has To Give - The Climb #73](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/05/something-has-to-give-the-climb-73/) - Tuesday 4th April 2017 I came to a realisation today that something is going to have to give in the near future. My original plan was that when the editorial comments came back I would take a couple of weeks off the day job and get them complete. After my challenging 2016, I want to - [The Calm Before The Storm - The Climb #72](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/04/the-calm-before-the-storm-the-climb-72/) - Monday 3rd April 2017 Today was one of those days where it felt like it was going to be a quiet day and then in the last couple of hours a few major things happened. So you get a bumper edition today (and that’s with a few things being pushed to tomorrow) Those who’ve been following - [I Was Afraid To Start - The Climb #71](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/03/i-was-afraid-to-start-the-climb-71/) - Sunday 2nd April 2017 One of the things that’s really occupied my mind the last few days is starting to film this vlog. I’ve been watching a lot of Youtube recently and mentally noting all the things I need to do: I need to get some proper lighting, I need to be doing something rather - [Can't Believe I Did This - The Climb #70](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/02/cant-believe-i-did-this-the-climb-70/) - Saturday 1st April 2017 I had a long list of tasks to do today, mostly brand related. One of the things I’ve been investigating is running a live poll as a way to build up your Facebook Fan Page. Inbetween everything else, I’ve spent weeks researching as technically it's quite difficult to do and earlier - [It’s That Stage Of The Novel - The Climb #69](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/04/01/its-that-stage-of-the-novel-the-climb-69/) - Friday 31st March 2017 I was having a really hard time plotting out this next chapter this evening and found myself wondering what was going wrong. Usually I’m pretty good at planning chapters out, both thinking about it and then putting it down. But my mind has been blank for a couple of days on - [A Day Of Marketing Work - The Climb #68](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/31/a-day-of-marketing-work-the-climb-68/) - Thursday 30th March 2017 You’d think waking at 10am would have resulted in me feeling rested. However, given the events of yesterday, I’m still owed about 6 hours sleep even after my 7 hour nap last night. On the plus side, my day job day was much shorter than normal. On the downside I still - [Sleep Deprivation - The Climb #67](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/30/sleep-deprivation-the-climb-67/) - Wednesday 29th March 2017 Today I have been a zombie. Or to be more accurate – I’ve been suffering with sleep deprivation You see, working late last night I had a sensible plan. I didn’t have to go into the office until later in the day and so could lay in. I could still get - [A Very Productive Tuesday - The Climb #66](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/29/a-very-productive-tuesday-the-climb-66/) - Tuesday 28th March 2017 Today has been an incredibly busy and productive day. I woke up late this morning. Thankfully I could pretty much start the day job by rolling out of bed. It’s probably a sign of just how tired I am. I logged onto my personal computer to find a load of comments - [Progress Over Perfection - The Climb #65](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/28/progress-over-perfection-the-climb-65/) - Monday 27th March 2017 I had a very strange drive home tonight. I’d taken the video camera with me to training to get some footage of me fighting. My gorilla pod turned up today and I put the video camera on the end. But I’m very self-conscious about filming in public and on the drive - [Fighting Time - The Climb #64](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/27/fighting-time-the-climb-64/) - Sunday 26th March 2017 I hate it that the clocks go forward. Not only do you have to change all your clocks (although with the advent of internet connectivity that is quickly becoming a thing of the past) but when you are working on The Climb at 2am knowing you have to be out the - [I Failed So Bad Today - The Climb #63](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/26/i-failed-so-bad-today-the-climb-63/) - Saturday 25th March 2017 Today was an absolute failure of a day and I had a great time. One of the downsides to the day job is that I’m often on call, needing to respond to emergencies. It pays extra money and our setup is such that we very rarely get called up. Except, when - [The Self-Doubt Of A Writer On The Verge - The Climb #62](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/25/the-self-doubt-of-a-writer-on-the-verge-the-climb-62/) - Friday 24th March 2017 Today was a day of doubt and a lesson in patience. The day job was a bit busy today. I seem to have run out of youtube videos from the people I follow, and so the day seemed to drag. I then had to go grocery shopping, cook dinner and get - [Doing Anything Worthwhile Is Tough - The Climb #61](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/24/doing-anything-worthwhile-is-tough-the-climb-61/) - Thursday 23rd March 2017 I came to a bit of an epiphany today doing my social media work. My Instagram has been going well and I’m slowly but steadily building up my followers. My diverse use of hashtags has connected me a number of really interesting people. I’ve got an inspirational one-armed guy who jury-rigs - [Quartermaster For the Zombie Apocalypse - The Climb #60](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/23/quartermaster-for-the-zombie-apocalypse-the-climb-60/) - Wednesday 22nd March 2017 It’s been a long old day, most of which has been spent shifting a large quantity of swords around. This morning was spent editing the last edition of The Climb as well as making plans for the day. I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to put my driving time to good use, - [Officially Badass - The Climb #59](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/22/officially-badass-the-climb-59/) - Tuesday 21st March 2017 I felt a little better today, and I think I’ve pinpointed the cause. Over the last few months, I’ve added caffeine back into my diet. This has usually come in the form of diet cokes or diet energy drinks. Considering I used to drink at least a 2 litre bottle of - [The Mystery Of The Lost Swords - The Climb #58](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/21/the-mystery-of-the-lost-swords-the-climb-58/) - Monday 20th March 2017 If I were a horse, I’m sure they would have turned me into glue by now. Woke up with my stomach still as bad as yesterday. Luckily, the medication I picked up yesterday went a little way to easing the symptoms but I still felt a bit crap all day. Add - [Sick As A Dog - The Climb #57](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/20/sick-as-a-dog-the-climb-57/) - Sunday 19th March 2017 I should have known that going out last night was a bad idea. Today my stomach has probably been the worst it’s been in ages and I’m putting it down to not letting it fully recover from last week before feeding it a ton of carbs in the pub last night. - [Great Review For Bastion](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/19/great-review-for-bastion/) - "The first story, Bastion by Adrian Faulkner, is a thoughtful tale of cultures and independence, personality clash and the fall of a great civilisation. It’s an excellent start to the anthology, and is possibly my second favourite story." You can find Bastion in the Summer's End anthology on sale at Amazon - [The Payoff Down The Road - The Climb #56](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/19/the-payoff-down-the-road-the-climb-56/) - Saturday 18th March 2017 I think one of the things that thwarts a lot of writers is the lack of instantaneous reward. If you bake a cake, you can pretty much eat it straight from the oven. If you rebuild the engine of a car, you can take the car for a drive. But as - [Scrivener for iOS Article For Fantasy-Faction](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/18/scrivener-for-ios-article-for-fantasy-faction/) - I have a new article up on Fantasy-Faction about Scrivener for iOS. If you use Scrivener (on Windows or Mac) for writing your novels you definitely want to check out this article. http://fantasy-faction.com/2017/scrivener-for-ios - [Pattern Recognition - The Climb #55](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/18/pattern-recognition-the-climb-55/) - Friday 17th March 2017 If you're trying to understand what I'm trying to do in this window between rewrites and submission, I think today's issue gives some real depth. Many years ago I worked for a youth voluntary organisation. I had some great times, met people who are some of my closest friends even to - [Levelling Up - The Climb #54](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/17/levelling-up-the-climb-54/) - Thursday 16th March 2017 First day back at work after my forced illness break and I ‘ve been feeling the worst I’ve felt all week. I feel like I have a head cold. My throat is so sore I’ve almost lost my voice and my eyes feel heavy with manflu. As I said to someone - [Execution Is Everything - The Climb #53](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/16/execution-is-everything-the-climb-53/) - Wednesday 15th March 2017 Execution is everything On day 3 of my forced sickness and I feel like the cold I’ve been suffering either lined up miraculously well, or that slowing things down for a few days brought it to the fore. I’ve actually made a lot of progress on the health front today. I - [Writers Are Inefficient - The Climb #52](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/15/writers-are-inefficient-the-climb-52/) - Tuesday 14th March 2017 I’ve discovered that most writers are incredibly inefficient. It’s a criticism I’m also guilty of. I’ve done loads of work over the last couple of years to change from a pantser to a planner – to go from winging the story as I write, to having a structure mapped out – - [Getting Nothing Done Deliberately - The Climb #51](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/14/getting-nothing-done-deliberately-the-climb-51/) - Monday 13th March 2017 I don’t do ill. I’m very practical when it comes to illness. I made a decision back during Leggedon that I had two choices, be a victim to illness or to fight it. Ever since that decision I stopped taking days off just because I didn’t feel 100%. That was just giving - [The Micro And The Macro - The Climb #50](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/13/the-micro-and-the-macro-the-climb-50/) - Sunday 12th March 2017 I had originally planned that issue 50 of The Climb would be my manifesto issue, where I would state my objectives and aims as a writer. But then I realised that my blog post on The Year of the Offensive was just that. And so I was stuck for what to - [Snatching Victory From The Jaws OF A Defeat Snatched From The Jaws Of Success - The Climb #49](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/12/snatching-victory-from-the-jaws-of-a-defeat-snatched-from-the-jaws-of-success-the-climb-49/) - Saturday 11th March 2017 Today say I snatched victory from the jaws of a defeat snatched from the jaws of success Today started well, got decidedly worse and then improved. I woke up to some non-writing news that was amazing, resulting in me being very excited. However, this quickly turned into a complete disaster and - [King of Headphones - The Climb #48](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/11/king-of-headphones-the-climb-48/) - Friday 10th March 2017 Today I am evidence that lightning does strike twice. You may remember, last week, my incredible bargain of picking up a brand new pair of Beats headphones for just £30. I’d thought at the time there must be some mistake but bought them anyway because I could afford to lose £30. - [Cake Club - The Climb #47](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/10/cake-club-the-climb-47/) - Thursday 9th March 2017 Today I went to eat cake but ended up bringing it home. Last year, myself and a couple of other up and coming writers formed a collective. The idea was to gather every couple of months, update each other on progress and help each other promote our careers. We met in - [Learning Not To Care What People Say - The Climb #46](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/09/learning-not-to-care-what-people-say-the-climb-46/) - Wednesday 8th March 2017 One of the things I’ve been reading a lot online in the past week or so, is that you have to learn not to care what people say. Critcism is a difficult thing for a writer. Art is subjective. What one person loves, another may hate. I have close friends who - [Swimming With The Current - The Climb #45](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/08/swimming-with-the-current-the-climb-45/) - Tuesday 7th March 2017 Today has been a series of cancelled appointments. I suspect it’s the universe telling me to get on with writing the big chase scene. Actually, I don’t really mean that. It’s just been a series of unpreventable events that has meant that a number of social plans have fallen through. As - [There's A Pattern To Success - The Climb #44](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/07/theres-a-pattern-to-success-the-climb-44/) - Monday 6th March 2017 After my spate of productivity yesterday I didn’t feel I got much done today. I did clear off a number of work-related tasks so I suppose there was that but I’m very much aware of how many things I want to be doing (finishing this novel, writing a couple of short - [An Insanely Productive Day - The Climb #43](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/06/an-insanely-productive-day-the-climb-43/) - Sunday 5th March 2017 I definitely think I’m starting to feel better as is evidenced by the insane amount of work I got done today. I woke up actually not feeling tired for the first time in ages, despite going to bed totally exhausted. I did a bit of editing on the latest version of - [The Year of the Offensive – February](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/05/the-year-of-the-offensive-february/) - In many ways, February was an odd month. Looking back I think my diagnosis at the end of January really affected me. It’s not that anything really changed. If anything my health has got better rather than worse over the last few years. But I still can’t eat beef without piling on a couple of - [Planning The Greatest Swordfight Ever - The Climb #42](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/05/planning-the-greatest-swordfight-ever-the-climb-42/) - Saturday 4th March 2017 Saturday is supposed to be my rest day but I’ve ended it feeling absolutely exhausted. However, unlike my recent fatigue, I can squarely put this down to having an incredibly busy day. I got up and made myself a big brunch in between doing some general writing admin. By the time - [People Are Contradictions - The Climb #41](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/04/people-are-contradictions-the-climb-41/) - Friday 3rd March 2017 Today, I had a bit of an epiphany. It’s that the fact that people are, by nature, contradictions. If they are x, then at exactly the same time they are also the polar opposite. If they are confident, then it is because they are also terribly insecure. If they say they - [Climb The Sky - The Climb #40](https://adrianfaulkner.com/2017/03/03/climb-the-sky-the-climb-40/) - Thursday 2nd March 2017 Today was a good day that saw me get a lot of stuff done. Not only did I make progress with the things I'm currently working on, but I kicked off one of the big side projects I wanted to start this year. As I predicted yesterday, I did not take the day off ## Pages - [Home Page](https://adrianfaulkner.com/) - 3112, 2025 2025 – The Year Of Foundations Gallery 2025 – The Year Of Foundations Health, Publishing, Reading, Swordfighting, Writing 2025 – The Year Of FoundationsBy Adrian|2025-12-31T11:27:58+00:00December 31st, 2025|Categories: Health, Publishing, Reading, Swordfighting, Writing|Tags: The Year of Foundations, The Year Of Growth|0 CommentsI realise I’ve been very quiet in 2025. I’ve not been blogging, or - [](https://adrianfaulkner.com/9071-2/) - [The Four Realms](https://adrianfaulkner.com/novels/the-four-realms/) - Shape-Shifting CephalopodsKick Ass Elderly ProtagonistsVampire GenocideShotgun Wielding CentaursDetailsHalf-vampire Darwin stumbles across a corpse on the streets of London, and in a pocket discovers a notebook in a mysterious language. Divided between human ethics and vampire blood lust, Darwin finds himself both condemner and saviour of a race who’ve never considered him one of their own. - [About](https://adrianfaulkner.com/about/) - Adrian Faulkner is a fantasy writer, a medal-winning historical sword fighter, and a storm chaser who’s been inside a mile-wide tornado and lived to tell the tale. Adrian’s first novel, The Four Realms, was awarded Fantasy Book Review’s ‘Book of the Month’ award in March 2013 and his short story, Jetsam, was given a honourable mention - [Bibliography](https://adrianfaulkner.com/bibliography/) - FICTION Novels The Four Realms - Anarchy Books (2012) Short Stories No Words - Holding On By Our Fingertips - Grimbold Books ( May 2018) Bastion - Summer's End - Alternative Realities (December 2016)Jetsam (audio) - Dark Fiction Magazine (November 2012)Jetsam - BFS Journal (January 2011) Professor Rosenkopf & The Quest For Cheese - SCAN - [Holding On By Our Fingertips](https://adrianfaulkner.com/anthologies/holding-on-by-our-fingertips/) - Anthology End Of The World Survival Stories DetailsAn anthology of science fiction and speculative stories exploring the many different reactions and experiences of people during the 24 hours leading up to the end of the world. Our base instinct is to survive, but when the end is nigh, do we simply lie down and die? - [Summer's End](https://adrianfaulkner.com/anthologies/summers-end/) - Anthology End Of The World Fall Of Civilisation DetailsSummer’s End wants to see the end of the world. It’s the country that can’t stand its own prosperity, the man who refuses to abandon his son, the rulers who refuse to give up their power or those who don’t know when enough is enough. Each and - [Anthologies](https://adrianfaulkner.com/anthologies/) - [Adventures](https://adrianfaulkner.com/adventures/) - In 2017 I created a vlog series of my storm chasing adventures, taking me all the way from Winnipeg in Canada to South Texas and back. It covers my preparations as well as my trip. It was certainly a challenge to travel the miles we did and edit a video every day but looking - [Swordfighting Medals & Accolades](https://adrianfaulkner.com/swordfighting-medals-accolades/) - 2019 Wessex Tournament Rapier & Dagger Bronze Wessex London Rapier & Dagger Silver Wessex Exeter Rapier & Dagger Bronze European Games 2019, Minsk - Final 16 2018 School of the Sword Spadaccino Wessex Tournament Rapier & Dagger Silver Wessex Winchester Rapier & Dagger Silver Wessex Cardiff Rapier & Dagger Bronze Wessex Taunton Rapier & Dagger - [Sample Page](https://adrianfaulkner.com/sample-page/) - This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger - [The Story So Far](https://adrianfaulkner.com/about/the-story-so-far/) - Firstly, welcome. Thanks for stopping by. Let me introduce myself and hopefully explain why you’ve found an interesting destination. My name is Adrian Faulkner. I’m a writer of fantasy fiction who’s steadily working towards mass market success and I’m inviting you along for the ride! Whilst like many writers I spend a lot of time - [Locations](https://adrianfaulkner.com/locations/) - CONTENTS - [Categories](https://adrianfaulkner.com/categories/) - CONTENTS - [Tags](https://adrianfaulkner.com/tags/) - CONTENTS - [My Bookings](https://adrianfaulkner.com/my-bookings/) - CONTENTS - [Newsletter](https://adrianfaulkner.com/newsletter/) - [mailchimpsf_form] - [Events](https://adrianfaulkner.com/calendar/) - [Latest Blog Posts](https://adrianfaulkner.com/blogpage/) - [vc_row el_position=”first last”] [vc_column el_class=”.blog”] [fusion_blog_listing temp_title=”Blog Posts” item_count=”6″ orderby=”date” order=”desc” post_status=”publish” el_position=”first last”] [/vc_column] [/vc_row] - [Interviews](https://adrianfaulkner.com/about/interviews/) - Writing March 2013 - Fantasy Book Review January 2013 - The Qwillery January 2013 - Head Space Podcast Episode 4 January 2013 - My Bookish Ways December 2012 - The Civilian Reader December 2012 - Manga Maniac Cafe Geocaching September 2012 - GeoGearHeads Video Interview August 2012 - The Podcache Show - [Novels](https://adrianfaulkner.com/novels/) - [Contact](https://adrianfaulkner.com/contact/) - [Links](https://adrianfaulkner.com/links/) - Authors & Writers Mark Charan Newton Sam Sykes M.D. Lachlan Adam Christopher Anne Lyle Laura Lam Reviewers NextRead - The amount Gav blogs and tweets puts my daily word count to shame! The Speculative Scotsman - Also of use to those south of the border My Favourite Books - Books reviews from Liz, Mark & - [The Tim Machine (2009)](https://adrianfaulkner.com/free-fiction/the-tim-machine-2009/) - John told Julie that if they were going to the dump they needed to leave early, but she insisted on paying her last respects. Consequently by the time they arrived a long cortège of cars was already snaking out of the gates. John simmered, biting back what he’d really like to say, as they crawled - [The Salt Of Life (2009)](https://adrianfaulkner.com/free-fiction/the-salt-of-life-2009/) - Roger McCallum was as normal as they came. This was despite the fact that he was made entirely out of salt: salt eyes, salt hair, salt arms and legs, salt fingers and toes. No-one questioned why, and after a few minutes in his company, people would forget it was even an issue. As a boy - [That Time With Mary By The Oak Tree (2010)](https://adrianfaulkner.com/free-fiction/that-time-with-mary-by-the-oak-tree-2010/) - “I can’t leave you,” I say. The sunlight filtering through the oak dapples her skin, like she’s coated in golden translucent stars. “This isn’t real,” she tells me, looking out from the mound the oak sits atop. “We’re not really here. Not now.” The wheat field around us sways with the wind as if nodding - [Neon Lights & Green Fire (2010)](https://adrianfaulkner.com/free-fiction/neon-lights-green-fire-2010/) - We stole the sports car that took us to Vegas - V12, 460 brake horse power. Vroom, Vroom, just a Goblin and an Elf speeding down the I-15, swigging cheap tequila as we drove. The little blue Goblin screamed for me to drive faster as his flopsy-dopsy ears trailed in the wind like the headscarf - [Free Fiction](https://adrianfaulkner.com/free-fiction/) - No writer website is complete without at least some free fiction, so I've added a few stand-alone short stories to the site. If you like what you read, you'd do me the greatest honour by letting other people know. Email, tweet, Facebook, post links to stories on forums, etc. I need the publicity, people! You ## Portfolio - [The Four Realms](https://adrianfaulkner.com/portfolio-items/the-four-realms/) ## Books - [Holding On By Our Fingertips](https://adrianfaulkner.com/books/holding-on-by-our-fingertips/) - An anthology of science fiction and speculative stories exploring the many different reactions and experiences of people during the 24 hours leading up to the end of the world. Our base instinct is to survive, but when the end is nigh, do we simply lie down and die? Or do we celebrate our life and achievements? Love, loss, forgiveness, revenge, or just that final goodbye… Gaie Sebold -- James Everington -- Sarah Higbee -- Charlotte Bond -- Kim Lakin-Smith -- Steve Carr -- Leontii Cristea -- Charlotte Strong -- Tabitha Lord -- Theo Graham -- Adrian Faulkner -- Phil Sloman -- C.A. Yates -- Ren Warom -- Terry Grimwood -- Scott Hungerford -- Courtney Privett - [Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History](https://adrianfaulkner.com/books/sci-fi-art-a-graphic-history/) - Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History traces the evolution of this popular art form from the earliest illustrations of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells through the classic cover art of pulp magazines from the 1920s and 30s, to graphic novels in the 60s and 70s, and right up to contemporary film posters, movies, and television shows. Chapters bring to light the most groundbreaking and talked about sci-fi art in media ranging from comic books, movies, and TV programs to art, posters, toys, literature, collectibles, board games and video games. Sci-Fi Art is a comprehensive compilation that reveals fascinating background information, anecdotes, ideas, and inspirations relied on by iconic artists from Chris Foss, Jim Burns, and David Mattingly to Moebius, Albert Robida, and Frank Kelly Freas. Illuminating analyses of these sci-fi masters' use of technique, tools, materials, and media are also featured. All images are richly illustrated and seemingly three-dimensional making Sci-Fi Art the perfect nostalgia book for sci-fi fans and collectors, as well as an inspiring resource for art lovers, designers, illustrators, writers and creative minds. - [The Fast And The Fallen](https://adrianfaulkner.com/books/the-fast-and-the-fallen/) - Available for FREE from Bookfunnel - [The Four Realms](https://adrianfaulkner.com/books/the-four-realms/) - This version of The Four Realms is a revised and updated version of The Four Realms, published by Anarchy Books, 2012 - [Summers End](https://adrianfaulkner.com/books/summers-end/) - Summer’s End wants to see the end of the world. It’s the country that can’t stand its own prosperity, the man who refuses to abandon his son, the rulers who refuse to give up their power or those who don’t know when enough is enough. Each and every story in this collection explores how golden ages end, how great civilisations fall. Featuring stories from award winning authors such as Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gaie Sebold, James Brogden and Sarah Cawkwell, this strange and wondrous collection of world’s ending will make you thankful for what you’ve got. ## Categories - [Uncategorized](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/uncategorized/) - [Awards](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/awards/) - [Comics](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/comics/) - [Events](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/events/) - [Featured](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/featured/) - [Food](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/food/) - [Free Fiction](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/free-fiction/) - [Games](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/games/) - [Genre](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/genre/) - [Geocaching](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/geocaching-2/) - [Health](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/health/) - [Hype](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/hype/) - [Interviews](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/interviews/) - [Marketing](https://adrianfaulkner.com/category/marketing/) - 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