Goodbye, November

I finished my Nano novel yesterday, and met my personal goal of 51,000 words, despite some word count discrepancies from platform to platform. I know I have a decent piece of work there, but I'm not sure what it's worth. I'll come back to it in a couple months and re-read it, add in some scenes left scribbled on index cards, and make sure everything is consistent throughout. My gut feeling is that this is better as a short story. I've been saying I'll make it a novel since 2008, though, so at least I finally did that.


As far as my goals go… well, I'm not surprised with that outcome.

I wrote every day until the 3rd week of November, when I just got pretty damn sick of my novel. That's to be expected, though, and I still met my overall writing goal on time, so I'm satisfied with that.

Walking every day lasted two weeks, which is one and a half weeks longer than I expected. I tried to swap in working out for walking, but that didn't work, either. Thankfully December 1st is near, so I can resurrect that goal this month.

I didn't reach my goal of reading six books this month. Instead, I topped out at four and a half. It was a let down after reading twelve or more for the past two months, but I've always had a hard time juggling reading and writing. I can't do either in moderation - I have to read every free second, or write... when I have to.


Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman - A great collection of pop culture essays. My favorite had to be the one about the Sims, and how it's pathetic that we love playing such a boring game that is basically just fake versions of us living their own borings lives. We're trying to make them succeed in their careers and socialize with their neighbors while we're sitting in front of our computers. (Disclaimer: I used to be addicted to the Sims.) Basically, Klosterman is amazing and I kind of want to marry him. I've previous read Downtown Owl (fiction) and loved it. I have another collection of his essays waiting on my shelf to devour in December.

Hello, I Must Be Going by Christie Hodgen - This book cracked me up so much, which is a great feat considering the main character's father commits suicide (not a spoiler - it was written on the jacket copy). The book is very serious and realistic, so I valued the humor even more as it was cleverly, slyly done. Also adding to the realism is the lack of a happy ending, which I am always a fan of. I checked out the author and absolutely loved a short story posted on her website: Tom and Jerry. I love Hodgen's style; it might be egotistical of me to say, but it reminds me of my own.

The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King - A novel told by several different narrators, as many of King's works are. This one is about a group who have been friends since college, and are now entering their fifties. Very well written; each character's section is decidedly different and stands out. It's one of those books where you think you know how it's going to end, but you're wrong.

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy - An advice book on how to maximize your time and your productivity. It's broken down into 21 tips. A lot of them are very similar, kind of basic tips, but sometimes it takes reading them to realize you need to do them. I was pleased to notice I'd already started action on a few of them before starting this book, like cutting down on Internet time (drastically, hence my sketchy posting) and making lists of everything you need to do (I think I was born doing this one).

No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty - I started this last month, but the second half was to be read during each week of Nano. I'll admit I kind of skimmed those chapters, since I was too busy writing to really read them.

Shelby Farms Scenery

It's not like our weather is especially winter-y now, but Halloween was delightfully spring-ish. I ventured out to Shelby Farms to take some photos, but there was virtually no fall foliage, just blue skies and green grass.














Such a large flock of birds flying away all at once sounds like waves crashing over your head. It sounds amazing, and looked beautiful as they flew across the sun.

Writing up a Storm

Yes, I've been writing every day due to Nano, but doesn't mean I don't get blocked and have to express myself in some other way until the words come back.






But I must admit, I had to give in and start typing, or risk falling ridiculously behind... I'll miss you, comic book style pencils!