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No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty
jaklettke's review
4.0
A fun set of tasks to help you keep pace when writing 50,000 words in a month. :)
yiddish_anarchist's review
Decent intro to the nanowrimo process, and some handy noveling tips.
I imagine someone with no nano experience would be completely bewildered, and I myself will probably enjoy this a bit better during my November insanity.
I imagine someone with no nano experience would be completely bewildered, and I myself will probably enjoy this a bit better during my November insanity.
kibernick's review
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
Good if you really want to dive into the madness of trying to write a whole book (slash-first-draft) in a single month. Cute tips writing otherwise, sometimes too "american".
lattelibrarian's review
4.0
I've been wanting to read this for a while, and I'm glad I finally did! I'm sure this would have helped more when I was writing for NaNoWriMo, but alas, now I have lots of tips for next year. Baty's voice throughout this book is so great. This is probably the third or fourth book about writing that I've read in the past two years, and most of those books tended to be very dry. There was a lot about structure, grammar, revising--the really fine-tuned aspects of writing that we should all learn to become better writers. But Baty is here to tell you that it's okay if you don't know that stuff, and don't know your plot, and hey, it's even okay if you don't know your main character!
What Baty wants you to do is throw out your inner-editor, and let yourself just have at it. Write what comes to mind, even the bad stuff. Even the really bad stuff. Editing and revising can come later. What matters right now is that you do your hardest to get 50,000 words down on that page. And the best part about it is that he truly believes you can do it. He gives you some really helpful tips on how to structure your time, offers you advice given from NaNoWriMo winners, and gives you pep talks. What's even better is that he tells you the way to cheat your way to the top of his own contest: make people's names extra long, write about a weird tree in the park even if you know you'll edit that part out, stop using hyphens.
Honestly, I'm glad that I read this. Even if you're not into writing novels in one month, or you're not even remotely interested in NaNoWriMo, he offers some great advice, and puts a smile on your face while doing it.
Get the full review here!
What Baty wants you to do is throw out your inner-editor, and let yourself just have at it. Write what comes to mind, even the bad stuff. Even the really bad stuff. Editing and revising can come later. What matters right now is that you do your hardest to get 50,000 words down on that page. And the best part about it is that he truly believes you can do it. He gives you some really helpful tips on how to structure your time, offers you advice given from NaNoWriMo winners, and gives you pep talks. What's even better is that he tells you the way to cheat your way to the top of his own contest: make people's names extra long, write about a weird tree in the park even if you know you'll edit that part out, stop using hyphens.
Honestly, I'm glad that I read this. Even if you're not into writing novels in one month, or you're not even remotely interested in NaNoWriMo, he offers some great advice, and puts a smile on your face while doing it.
Get the full review here!
antisocial_auntie's review
4.0
Reading what the creator of National Novel Writing Month has learned about writing peaks and valleys was very comforting. Who would have thought my writing rhythm was normal??? Not thrilled with his repeated mention of stealing time and supplies from work though....