In spite of the fact that I was traveling for half of November and hadn’t been keeping up with my 750 Words writing for several months, I decided that I would attempt the annual NaNo challenge of writing 50,000 words during the month of November. I finished last night.

This year I focused on writing my Tartan book. Over the past several years I have been designing and making tartan quilts while also researching my family history and writing stories along the way. I’ve completed nine quilts and helped design another plaid that my friend Marilyn completed. This seems to be a unique idea so I would like to turn it into a book.

I’ve thought about this for a few years and decided now was the time to write a rough draft. I wrote my first 30,000 words while I was traveling, posting to the site whenever the Internet worked. I could write in Pages (Mac version of Word) and cut and paste when I had Internet access. Sometimes I wrote about my trip, and other times I worked on pieces for the book. I did a little research while I was gone, but not as much as usual.

When I was down to about 20,000 words, I decided to try to write the book from beginning to end in as many words. It seemed like a reasonable amount of words for book like this. I needed to write about 2,000 words per day to complete the challenge during these last two weeks, which I’ve managed to do in spite of jet lag, illness, and returning to work. I have no idea what will come of this, but it has been a fun challenge.

I feel focused for the future, though not at all sure where it will lead. I’ve enjoyed the discipline and look forward to pouring that discipline into some other areas of life. In December I hope to be divert the discipline towards a regular Quiet Time (sadly missing these past months) and in January, I’m hoping to be disciplined in diet and exercise (eating hasn’t been too far off balance but it’s been a long time since I regularly exercised. I’m thinking of going back to The Daily Method two times a week. It’s a pretty intense workout, and pricey.)

Over the past few years I’ve learned that I can be quite disciplined but that I can’t do everything. I can handle one or two areas of focus and that is all. And it’s okay too. As life changes–and oh, does it ever–my focus needs to change as well. The Teacher was right: “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

I’m also excited about taking a weaving class in December and a series of four classes in January. I’ve always wanted to weave and while I do not need another hobby, I feel that a short foray into weaving would help me understand tartans and contribute to the book. I’m hoping to weave a tartan cloth in January.