Category: On Life

Posts about family, work, life, existential dread… the usual.

November Write Day: Autumn Swing

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

After a warm spell in Maryland, autumn returned just in time for Halloween, and we were able to really celebrate for the first time with our kids. Our new street put on an impressive display of Halloween decorations, and we joined in the fun. I also got to take the boys trick-or-treating for real for the first time. Our previous neighborhood never had many trick-or-treaters, and both boys were likely too young to really get into it. At five and two, they were excited to get candy, and we saw plenty of other families out and about.

October was a very strange month, but we had some fun at the Renaissance Festival, saw some family, and bought some much-needed furniture for our house.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. Exercise every day.
  3. Write long-form at least 10 days.

Read three books?

Nope, and right after I said this was automatic for me. I finished one book in October, and I’ve made good progress on another. I decided to read another nonfiction book, and these always go more slowly for me. So, I definitely need to make more progress on my two current nonfiction reads:

I’m enjoying both books, I just tend to read/listen to them in smaller snatches, and it takes a bit more of my focus to follow along.

I’ll likely pick up at least one fiction story in November, although I haven’t decided whether I’m going to start another ambitious series yet.

Exercise every day?

More or less. My yoga flow made it fairly easy to exercise most days. I also finally signed up for a membership with the gym five minutes up the road. In two-plus weeks, I’ve gone three times, which isn’t bad. I’m currently aiming to go to the gym twice per week until I figure out my routine a bit more. What I know is that I want yoga to remain a part of my routine week in and week out, especially as a way to spell weight-lifting or more intense workouts.

Write long-form at least 10 days?

Nine days! I was so close, but we’ve had some busy weekends. I feel like I’ve made some good progress on my current work-in-progress, and I feel less stressed about what comes next. After deciding not too worry too much about Publishing and Marketing (capitals intended) my fantasy duology, I’m able to just focus on the revisions.

The good news is that, halfway through revising the second of these two novellas, I really like both stories. They need some work, but I’m enjoying re-reading them.

Goals for November

  1. Read three books. I should be able to do this once I’ve figured out my next reads.
  2. Exercise every day and go to the gym twice per week. I’m forming a loose routine at the gym, knowing that I’ll eventually need to go three or four times per week to make it impactful. For now, I just want to get back in the habit of going after a four-year hiatus.
  3. Write long-form at least 10 days. Again, this includes long-form blogs and my revisions, or anything else I end up writing that is not a haiku. I feel good about making this goal this month, and I’m not concerned with trying to increase it, what with Thanksgiving around the corner.

Steve D

October Write Day: Steps

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

September was interesting. We spent a weekend at the beach, and both of our boys got their feet wet in the ocean for the first time. Work has been nuts for a variety of reasons, topped off by my best team member and good friend leaving for a new position. And we sold our old house!

It took me way too long to remember everything we did last month.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. Exercise every day.
  3. Write long-form at least every other day.

Read three books?

Yes! I read three books in September by powering through the remaining three installments of The Last Kingdom series. I should have posted my review of the final book last week, but totally missed my regular post. I did not finish my current nonfiction read, but I’m picking away at it.

I’m on the lookout for my next big series, but I’m content to pick away at my current to-be-read list for the time being.

Exercise every day?

No, but I think I’ve still improved my routine. I haven’t yet gotten a new gym membership, so to ensure that I can do something each day, I’ve just started building my own yoga routine. It’s basically a full-body flow that takes me about 10 minutes, for now. I’m slowly building on it, adding moves as I see fit.

Because it’s my own routine, it’s really easy for me to just step away from desk for a few minutes and work through the flow a couple times. Once I get a gym membership, my plan is to use this yoga flow on my off days, just to stay loose.

Write long-form every other day?

No. I only worked on long-form writing on seven days. Missing my blog post last week didn’t help.

Overall, I feel motivated to continue picking away at my writing–the issue is finding and dedicating time to do so week in and week out.

What I’m really questioning is whether I have–or should have–any medium-term goals aside from just getting my current stories to final draft status. I had always assumed I would publish them when I had them ready, but then I look ahead to my next project, and I don’t see that being publishable for a few years at least. I’m at the point where I just have stories I want to write, and I know I can’t publish new stories every other year. Is it enough to publish once every six years? Or, should I put more energy into just writing.

I may be exploring this a bit more in a blog this month.

Goals for October

  1. Read three books. This is about as close to automatic as any goal can be for me.
  2. Exercise every day. I’m going to continue with my current yoga routine, since it’s been working out for me. I’m not sure when I’ll add something else to my routine at this point, but I’d like it to be soon.
  3. Write long-form at least 10 days. Yes, I’m scaling back my writing goal. I always try to be realistic about my goals, and I haven’t made a writing goal in I don’t know how long.

Steve D