Everyone lean back, take a deep breath, and have a few gulps of water (or maybe a whiskey). National Novel Writing Month 2020 is over. November was a packed month with a lot of different things going on, but I like where I’ve ended up, generally.

Last Month’s Goals

1. NaNoWriMo!
2. Yoga and working out.
3. Not lose my mind.

So how did I do?

NaNoWriMo?

I did not write 50,000 words, nor did I even come close to finishing part 2 of “The Herb Witch Tales. I did, however, write a smidge under 7,000 words, which is the most I’ve written in a few months, at least.

Despite the lackluster performance, I feel like I made really good progress with my story. My newfound strategy of taking loose outline notes a few pages ahead of my current scene paid off. It gave me something to shoot for, even if I felt stuck on a particular scene — especially if I felt stuck on a particular scene.

It also left me the flexibility to throw in a couple random encounters that will likely turn out to drive this and future stories further in terms of world-building.

Yoga and working out?

Yes, for the most part. I have definitely been doing longer yoga sessions of 30 minutes, and what a huge boost that has been. I really enjoy a lot of the longer, more intricate flows in these videos, which are really only possible during longer sessions.

I’ve kept up with my resistance training for the most part, as well. I’ll just have spells where I don’t do much exercise at all for a few days before getting back into it. I’d like to be more consistent in not missing too many days in a row.

Not lose my mind?

This month definitely started off with some intense nerves what with the election madness. I can confidently say that my general outlook has improved since then, however.

Work has been stressful, but I’ve been better about managing my hours. I’m also taking half days the next three Fridays in a row to burn PTO before the end of the year, so I’m looking forward to having those open afternoons before the holiday break.

Ugh, I need to do basically all of my holiday shopping still. At least I have some solid ideas.

Goals for December

1. Write 8,000 words for THW2. With a few extra hours to myself this month, I think I can hit this. I’d like to write way more than 8,000 words, but this feels attainable. This would be a solid way to close out 2020
2. Yoga and working out. Continue the endless climb.
3. Finish 4 books. I have one short audiobook and a full-length novel in progress. Since I’ve had trouble keeping up with my reading this year, I just want to finish strong, even if I don’t make my GoodReads Reading Challenge goal.

Steve D