“We begin in the heart of the darkness. Winter is full upon the Earth; snow veils the landscape, thin trees are brittle with ice, and stars shatter the black mirror of the sky.”
:: Michelle Morgan ::
November was a fairly good month, overall. I completed #NaNoWriMo, writing 50,000 words of a new novel in 29 days. This was my 8th year completing it, and my 14th novel; so I’ve kind of got the hang of it now.
At least, that’s how I often feel. I’ll be writing a full post about it later.
Autumn shifted towards winter, and my husband brought home a lovely cold-flu thing. Complete with aching eyes, headaches, dizziness and aches. Not to mention the feeling of glass shards in my throat for 4 days. Huzzah. This meant I got behind in my writing, then wrote nearly 4,000 words in a day, because I can actually type a little bite with my eyes shut. Yay for touch-typing.
Reflections on the Journey
i. Read 12 books: 4/12 – I’ve returned to reading, having finished #NaNoWriMo, but I am definitely behind on this goal.
ii. Edit second novel for submission: 1/1 – I always get a free pass on this goal in November due to NaNo. I’m realistic.
iii. Track my wordcount and aim for 100,000 words: 98,981/100,000 words – I wrote 50,038 words in November. Leaving me around 1,100 left to write in December.
iv. Build upon my wellness routine: November is always a bit of a stretching month. I don’t worry about my physical health, exercise and cleaning the house. I just write. Near the end, I got back into batch cooking for lunches, and focused on upping my fruit intake thanks to the flu-cold-illness.
I tried to make a mince hotpot earlier in the month, keeping up my “new recipe” streak, and 80% of was edible…
November’s Experience Collected
- 100/200XP
- 350/350XP
- 300/300XP
- 300/400XP
Total XP for October: 1,050/1,250
Total XP towards Level Up: 1,175/7,500
Smoke and Embers
By the end of this month, the cats were tick and flea free, and while my husband and I were ill, we spent 3 days in bed: and let them in for the rare-treat of hanging out on our bed.
They’re well and happy, and back to snuggling often now the colder weather is drawing in.
Jumping the Wall…
- I had a guest post over at Badassery Magazine‘s blog about managing overwhelm in 4 steps, with some actionable tips.
- I completed my NaNoWriMo novel!
- I even ran a discord server for writers in my fitness group, which led to lots of cat pictures and discussions of timezones.
- We had a date day at Pizza Express, just before we fell ill. They have an alcohol-free spirit which tasted like gin, which was interesting to say the least. If they ever make a whiskey one, count me in.
- I made it to THREE write-ins, beating last year’s two. I had tea, milkshake, hot chocolate and two waffles.
- We spent a day seeing an old friend and his little one, which was lovely despite being cold and bit rainy.
- Oh! I also graduated from my Post Graduate Certificate. As you do.
The Path Ahead…
- December is the reflective, planning month. I will be making plans for Jan-March for the business.
- We’re working out the plans to see family around the end of the month.