3 out of 5
by
Richard
from
The United States | Aug 19, 2008
This book is the companion monkey, printed tour guide, and pocket personal adviser on how to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, written by no less than the founding father of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) himself.
The official NaNoWriMo is November. But you can choose any month you'd like and follow the advice in this guide. However, it's bound to be more fun when you know there are tens of thousands of other people all over the country—the world even—doing the same thing. You may even find time to connect with some of them via NaNoWriMo's forums or in person through your local Municipal Liaison. This thing gets bigger every year. There were over 100,000 novel participants in 2007 and more than 15,000 of them reached The End.
The book itself is an example of a work that's 50,000 words in length. Others are The Great Gatsby, Brave New World, The Catcher in the Rye, and Of Mice and Men. These are short novels by today's standards. Current popular fiction usually comes in at 75,000 to 80,000 words. But Baty advises what you're really writing is the first draft or your novel. The rewrite you may choose to do after NaNoWriMo concludes will likely add considerably to the word count before it graduates to a finished, polished novel. Or, just do it for fun, or to rejuvenate your creative reservoir.
Most professional writers advise the single most important thing for the novice to do is write, and write some more. So NaNoWriMo may be just the therapeutic immersion opportunity your writing aspiration needs.
In many respects this guide is a sales pitch to entice you to join the horde in November for the annual write-a-thon. Baty does a good job of creating excitement and enthusiasm in his appeal to the inner author, who's always wanted to write a book. But it's also a very practical guide that walks you through the obstacles and challenges you'll face along the way. It's all here, inspiration, support, life logistics and time management, the sweet smell of success, and a week-by-week self-help guide to get you over the most challenging hurdles.
You can read the whole book upfront to gain insights and tips about this wacky exercise, or you can use it as a personal adviser during the NaNoWriMo event itself, reading the individual weekly chapters at the appropriate time.
Baty writes in a friendly, humorous tone, never taking any aspect of the process too seriously except the goal (50K words) and the deadline (30 days). He writes with the conviction of someone who knows this territory inside out. Which is no surprise, since he's completed an impressive eight consecutive NaNoWriMos since starting this crazy marathon in 1999.
The book also includes a healthy batch of asides that offer additional advice related to the current topic at hand. Many are useful observations from previous "winners" who successfully wrote their novels in 30 days.
If you've ever mused about NaNoWriMo or writing a novel yourself, No Plot? No Problem! provides a quick, useful backgrounder into the process. They say the first draft is the hardest, so this may be just the kick-start you need to begin.
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