I’m sensing a pattern here, in that each month seems to pass more quickly than the last.

This post is a week late because I wanted to finish “The Grand Mythos”, so we’re already almost halfway through December. Oh well.

November was solid. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and we had a nice time with family, but I’ve also taken some interesting steps on the writing front.

Not only did I finish publishing my mythic fantasy series, but I’ve also started writing my short story.

Last Month’s Goals

1. Write 20,000 words for National Novel Writing Month!
2. Go to the gym.

So how did we do?

Write 20k for NaNo?

No, but I made some great progress. I wrote about 5,000 words between The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy and my as yet untitled short story. That’s more than the last couple of months combined, which was really the goal of participating in NaNo.

If you happened to have been following my actual word count updates on NaNoWriMo.org, you may have noticed that my word count flat-lined after about two weeks. I promise I did not stop writing at that point.

With my short story, I’ve decided to write the first draft in its entirety in a journal, cover to cover. This allows me much more flexibility in when and where I write, and has already led to several casual writing sessions of a few hundred words while watching football or a movie or something.

This both prevents me from editing too much and keeps me motivated in a different way than my usual computer writing. I don’t know why, but with a journal it’s easier to write a few sentences, get distracted, write a few more, and by the end of the night realize I’ve finished another page.

Because I was at my computer less frequently during this time, I wanted to update my NaNo word count on the mobile site.

Unfortunately, I was unable to do so. NaNo’s newly designed mobile site does not scale properly, so when you open the drop-down window to update word count, most of the window is off-screen and inaccessible. And that’s the only way to update your word count on the entire site.

I don’t want to blast NaNoWriMo, because I think they’re a great organization, but that is terrible UI. It was so frustrating that I just gave up on participating in NaNo. I kept writing, but I stopped caring about updating my word count on their platform. I’m sure they will fix that, since there are complaints about their new site all over the internet.

Like I said, I kept writing and made some solid progress. I like where my short story is at right now. I have about 1,200 words, and I intend to finish in the 50-60k range. I’d still like to write at a faster clip.

Go to the Gym?

Uuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhh…

No.

I just can’t figure out my routine right now. It’s getting to the point that I’m considering dropping my current gym membership, which is close to my house, and finding a gym near my office, about 40 minutes away. That way I could at least work out during or right after work.

I don’t know. I haven’t even made it to the gym on the weekends because we’ve been so busy. This keeps bugging me, and I keep not getting my ass out of bed in the mornings. I need to figure this out.

Goals for December

1. Write 10,000 words between WoEL and my short story. I’m giving this word count a shot, anyway, even though I’ve come up short all year.
2. Go to the gym. I almost feel dumb for including this one. I have a couple of quieter weeks coming up at work, as do a lot of people, so maybe that will give me an opportunity to get to the gym a couple of times. I’d be satisfied with that at this point.
3. Enjoy our son’s first real Christmas. Technically his first Christmas was last year, but he was three months old. This year, I’m putting a stuffed animal in an empty tissue box and wrapping it up for him. He already plays with the empty box, and he has shown a propensity for ripping paper. I think he’ll enjoy ripping open a box and finding a new toy inside.

Steve D