Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 7

Admin time was a little longer yesterday, 25 minutes instead of 15. I stopped when I started to get distracted again, and I closed down social media and webmail.

I don’t have notifications for my webmail anymore, and I never really had notifications from social media. Sometimes, when an app is updated on my phone or if I get a new phone, I forget and have to switch them all off as they come in for the first time. But generally, I don’t get any e-mithers (as the poet calls them), even when I’m working.

One of my clients uses Slack, “So you can add it to your phone and know whenever we send a message to you.” Er, no. It’s on my phone, sure, for when I’m working remotely. But I learnt a long time ago that I get much more done when notifications are firmly OFF. And until you’re paying me a full-time living wage, and unless it’s in my contract of employment, I’m not really at your beck and call. Sorry.

I don’t have Messenger on any of my portable devices either, and this is why I stop a lot of messages coming through on Facebook. There’s nothing more annoying than quickly checking in and seeing half a dozen messages in the notification bar, and when you go through all the rigmarole of seeing them, they’re chain letters or flashing bunnies or something not anything to do with work and certainly not urgent at all.

If it’s urgent, send an email as at least I check in a few times a day even if the notifications are off. And anyone with a genuine emergency has my phone number anyway.

Oh, I wonder where that lot came from? Apologies. 😃

Anyway, back to work.

Before I carried on with the novel, I checked a Birmingham city centre map to get my bearings and my geography right. Birmingham has changed such a lot in the years I’ve been gone (16 years – and I’ve lived in Yorkshire longer than I lived in Birmingham now), that it’s bound to be even more different than it was 46 years ago. (I suddenly feel quite old!)

Because I couldn’t confirm my recollection, I changed “Suffolk Street Queensway” to “Holloway Circus”, as the latter was a lot easier to find on the modern map. I’m still toying with the idea of using fictional places (I’m not sure how survivors will feel about me referring to the pub bombings, for a start), but for now I’ll carry on as though the story is definitely set in Birmingham.

Then I set my timer on both Toggl and NaNoWriMo, and off I tootled. I wrote 2,310 words in slightly over 1 hour and was very happy with that.

It’s all going the right way.

I broke for dinner, and then carried on with client work. I couldn’t do any overtime last night as we were shopping.

Today is my last writing day for the week. The update should appear on here first thing Monday morning. Have a great weekend!

word meter from Writertopia