Day 16: 20,592 words and I am in the home stretch

I am in the very final stages of my novel. Only 4,400 or so words before my word count goal, and I think I'll be done in the next few days. I have the rest of the plot mapped out, and I'm going to try not to give too much away in the next few excerpts. It has been fun writing this year, with lower word count requirements, I'm finding more joy in writing and am less tired/burned out.

I'm finding it hilarious how many parallels between our novels and our real lives are manifesting. We are in the liminal phase of Week 3 of EsNoWriMo. The 'betwixt and between' reality and imagination. Our communitas is strong.

It would be nice if I could manifest Jake Kneiss joining me on my Hill Repeat run tomorrow. That would be much more pleasant than what has been "manifested" from my novel so far: an embarrassing gaff requiring an eyewash station, a flock of geese making me wish I had a sweat-wicking running cape, an actual dissertation about 'becoming marathon', and a fly flying into my mouth requiring me to talk about spitting while running (when I don't want to talk about spitting while running). Jake Kneiss is more pleasant than all of those things. 

Unrelated image of grizzly bears, to illustrate the concept of 'becoming grizzly' (not discussed)

To: Employees of the Bank of Nova Scotia

From: Chuck, Department of Human Resources

Date: July 15, 2025

Subject: Dissertation Reminder

It has come to my attention that only one employee has purchased Dr Gordon Toodie’s landmark dissertation Becoming Marathon: Breaking Through the Effort-Distance Paradox.

He asked me to remind you that it is still on sale for 50% off. It is only $19.99. That’s a steal! I am shocked that so few of you have been compliant with this request from your Senior Leadership Team.

So having said all that, I’ll remind you that the learning in this dissertation is not only mandatory, it is required.

You may be thinking that ‘mandatory’ and ‘required’ mean the same thing. And you would be correct. They do. I simply wanted to say it twice to make sure that you know that you ‘have to’ read the dissertation.

The sooner the better.

In order to facilitate reading the dissertation, Dr Toodie has been kind enough to create an ‘audiobook’ version, or ‘audio-dissertation’ if you will, that you can listen to during your runs. The author himself is the one doing the reading. It is a real treat. 

For today only, you can purchase a ‘physical’ and ‘audio’ copy of Dr Gordon Toodie’s mandatory and required dissertation for $45.99. That’s a steal! We here at The Bank of Nova Scotia believe in this work so much that we have acquired a physical and audio copy of the dissertation for each employee. They will be delivered to you this afternoon.

Sincerely,

Chuck

P.S. You will notice that $45.99 will be coming off your next paycheque.