Friday 24 October 2014

no plot? no problem! the writing guide revealed...

Nanowrimo is just around the corner - the national novel writing month founded in America is now fifteen years old.  Author Chris Baty's 'low-stress, high-velocity guide to writing a novel in 30 days' uses a great deal of humour to support crazed creatives in their efforts to succeed.  Coffee, stolen time and getting rid of the inner editor are essential according to Baty, who says writers just need to keep moving forward.  Whether you plan on writing a novel in 30 days or not, this is a fantastic guide to getting started and a wonderful insight into the process.

Essentially, it doesn't matter if you don't have your novel mapped out from start to finish when you write that first word - the plot will reveal itself.  I felt myself falling into that trap last week, when I sat down to start my second manuscript.  I thought I needed to research heavily first, but then I realised I could write and research at the same time.  What I needed to do was to start writing - and have now amassed nearly 8500 words.  I highly recommend Baty's guide, forget about the 30 day deadline if you prefer, and concentrate on the content and many tips by fellow writers - enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It's just so good to get you started - handy with the second manuscript!

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  2. Replies
    1. I know! It's on mine too - this was from the library, but I would like to own it myself!

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