Did I Write 50K and Walk 100K in November?

Hey all!

So, just before the start of November, I had to challenges set for the month ahead. The two challenges were:

• NaNoWriMo - 50,000 words in November
• Walk 100K in November

NaNoWriMo

For many years I have been registered with NaNoWriMo and after the experience I have had writing for myself and not for clients on Vocal over the last couple of years, I decided 2023 was the year to do it.

For anyone has been hiding under a rock or in a cave or on a tropical island without internet connectivity, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and basically means you try to write 50,000 words for a novel or part of a novel.

Walk 100K in November

The other challenge was really for my wife, Ruth Stewart. As part of a two-fold "let's do something to get our fitness and health back in gear" and "raise some money for a wotrth cause" effort, we committed to walking 100K in November. The money we raise through a JustGiving page would go towards the Scottish SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) who rescue, rehome and rehabilitate animals across Scotland. So, you know, very good cause. Although it was Ruth's challenge, really, I was there as her walking partner and supporter and on days when we weren't walking, she was playing Just Dance to get her steps in.

So...how did it both challenge attempts go?

Let's deal with the NaNoWriMo business first.

Close But Not Quite 50,000 words

Okay, I will not keep you in suspense any longer. I didn't quite meet the 50,000 word count target. However, I did manage a hefty 44,716 out of the 50,000. Which works out at 89% complete.

Am I disappointed? - yeah, I would be lying if I said I wasn't gutted I didn't quite make it.

Am I going to let it get me down too much? - not at all. This was the first time I have ever written more than say 10,000 words on anything and more than about 5,000 words on a single, fictional story. So, to end the month at 44,716 words, feels like an achievement, even if it wasn't the achievement.

Will I do something with the words I wrote? - Yes! I am most likely going to tidy it up, edit it (after leaving it to rest for a while) and then either chapter it and publish it here on Vocal or self-publish it on Amazon.

Will I do it again next year? - unless I am too busy with other things, yes! I loved having a big target to work towards, even though I am admittedly not the most disciplined person in the world.

What is the story about? - that's difficult to say without ruining it. It is initially about Mike, an investigative journalist who loves puzzles and mysteries that has taken on the job of trying to prove a university professor was innocent of killing a student's father. He was convicted on killing him because the father found what he believed to be evidence the professor was having an affair with his 19-year old daughter, the professor's student, a girl named Terri, and tried to blackmail him.

There are a number of different narratives, epistolary sections like journal entries, interview notes and poetry. The working title is The Bracewell Case.

It was also a learning experience for me.

What did I learn?

• Well, 50,000 words, unsurprisingly is a lot of words. There were times when I thought I had wrote hundreds and thousands of words, only to find it was not a lot! Oh well!
• I should have started writing bigger chunks much earlier in the month. If you look at the image below you can see how I progressed across the month. Each bar represents an update I made on the site and the word count as it stood. What I was achieving was well below the word count I should have been hitting each day, so I already had my work cut out for me.

• It was both a good and bad idea to start the month without any preparation work completed. As it was a last minute decision, just days before the 1st, I started the challenge on day one with nothing. Not even a word or half a word. This meant for the first day, I was trying to work out who and what the story was going to be about. Having at least half a plot in mind or even a character or two would have probably helped me reach the target at the end of the month. It did show me, though, when pushed, without a prompt, I can come up with something worth writing.
• I can stick to something. I have problems with sticking at things. Normally if things don't go the way I plan, I have a habit of abandoning them or if I start to find them too hard, I give up. It's something I keep working on. There were so many times during November I actually hated the idea I was working on. I even thought about writing two stories at the same time and seeing which I liked best. That would have been a ridiculous idea, though. So, instead, I worked on the same story, which forced me to find ways to make it better and something I felt proud of.

Walk 100K in November

So, how did we do with our walking challenge. Well, look at the image below:

We smashed it!

Done, dusted and we had a carvery dinner last night to celebratr our achievement. I am so very proud of Ruth, who doesn't always have the best health - but she did amazing. She had to use a rollator, it's a walker with wheels basically. She nicknamed Johnnie (as in, Johnnie Walker) as she has a lot of knee and leg issues. So, it's even more impressive, I think!

Proud husband moment.

Not only was it a great achievement, but a wonderful experience. It meant we spent a lot of time together, outside of the house. Although some days, when the weather was not great, we would go to the local Asda supermarket or Braehead Shopping Centre and walk, other days were spent walking around the local neighbourhood.

It was just lovely.

In terms of raising money, we haven't quite hit the target we were aiming for, but that's okay.

Perhaps the best thing though is we have decided we are just going to continue doing it. As part of our weekly routine. We enjoyed it that much!

Today is a rest day, though.

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Thanks for reading!

Here is the link to Ruth's JustGiving page: