No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days

Rating:
Summary: Motivating
Review: Baty is a hilarious writer, who uses his keen sense of humor to motivate aspiring writers to work their tails off to get the first draft of a novel onto paper. The idea of writing 50,000 words in a 30 period seems ridiculous, and Baty admits the finished product is a long way from being publishable. However, the method to his madness is to find a way to compel the writer to put his or butt in the chair and start writing.

Basically, the book comes down to two premises: turn off your self-editor during the composing of your first draft; and, set definitive time and production goals that challenge you to put words to paper.

Like his suggested one month of production, this book is about 50,000 words long, and is highly readable. The first half of the book is dedicated to encouraging you to give the outrageous project a try, and the second half is broken into a chapter for each week of the month long writing project. Whether you actually commit yourself to trying this or not, the lessons of shipping your self-editor off to boarding school for a month, and challenging yourself to actually put some words down on paper, are highly valuable. Give it a try.


Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, Motivational Kick-in-the-Pants
Review: For everyone who's ever thought, "I want to write a book someday," this book is a great step to making "someday" happen NOW. Chris Baty is an engaging writer who tells you about NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month that he started in the late 1990s. The concept is simple: commit yourself to writing a 50,000 page novel in 30 days.

If you're someone who agonizes over every sentence, a project like this can free you because you KNOW there is no way you could write a perfect novel in that time. This idea says, "Stop worrying about writing perfectly, and just write!" Setting yourself a month-long deadline allows you to write without the internal editor that stops so many of us. For more experienced writers it can also help to get over a writing block.

I found this book inspiring, engaging and entertaining. I am signing up for NaNoWriMo 2005!

Rating:
Summary: No Thought, No Problem, No Use
Review: I am not sure this is the worst book on writing I've ever seen but it comes very close to it. The eccentric format of using dark gray pages with black fuzzy ink easily makes it the worst layout I've seen in a book on writing or anything else. The publisher should be excoriated for allowing this design and sent to layout jail for actively encouraging eye strain and headaches. The layout is only surpassed by the puerility of its content.

This is a gimmick book, the author sponsors a "Write A Novel A Month Contest" and offers very little advice for first time novelists on characters, plotting, setting, dialogue, theme and other trivia. Instead the author focuses on much more substantial literary matters like 'mass meals', totems, and writing in bars with friends. This advice should clue the reader what the authors expertise is in literary matters. His advice on revision is equally worthless but my eyesight gave out after the first paragraph.

I can summarize the authors advice in one sentence saving the reader the cost of the book and their eyesight:

Tell everyone your going to write a book in 30 days and write as fast as you can for 50 thousand words, quality, thought, planning be damned.

For heavier advice I'd suggest two Big Macs(tm) and a shake.





Rating:
Summary: Not as expected
Review: I read the reviews on Amazon for this book and was enticed to read it. I want to warn people that this is not a book that offers advice on the process of writing a book. The beginner writer will not find a how to in this book. The title mentions plot which is deceptive since this book does not tell you how to plot.

This book is geared more towards those who already write. It is basically a pep talk for procrastinators. He is right when he says sit down and write. I've heard that for years, and like Baty I've found that quantity is better than quality in the first draft. However, I do know other writers who would disagree. The writing experience is very individual.

I also agree the gray on black was very hard to read.

Basically what I got from the book is just write and get to the end of your story don't worry about editing, housework, kids, or anything else, which I'm not sure is practical for all of us. Also, he says plot your novel in 30 days. He is talking about a 50,000 word novel. Most novels I read are twice as long as that.

I'm not saying this book is bad. If you want a pep talk, it's pretty good, though I didn't find it funny.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Book
Review: I think this gives you an way to look at your writing at different angles.

Take what makes sense, forget the rest. Isn't that what we call learning?

Rating:
Summary: Great Advice for Competition Participants
Review: If you are participating in the annual November National Novel Writing Month event, this book is an indispensable guide for writing well - or at least "a lot" - in such a short period of time.

My first-ever novel-length first draft may not be Pulitzer quality, but no one's ever is. That's one of the things the book makes clear. Don't strive for quality from the word go, but get the quantity down so you have something to work with in the rewrite.

The tone of the book is conversational and light. Advice from former participants is sprinkled liberally throughout the book. In addition to general advice on how to prepare and what to do and not do while writing, four chapters are specifically geared to the challenges writers face during each week of the month. The most difficult thing I faced during the month was struggling with wanting to read the book straight through.

Baty performs two invaluable services for writers in the course of the book. He takes their inner editors off their hands for thirty days, and he gives participants the one thing they need to focus their attention laser-like on the task at hand: a deadline. Going into the month I had no idea how significant those two things would turn out to be. It was great to be free of self-criticism and -doubt and to have the deadline looming, becoming more ominous with every passing day.

The only drawback to the first edition is the gray tinted screens behind the sidebar items. They make the sidebars very hard to read. Word has it this will be corrected in the second edition of the book, so you might want to check edition numbers or printing dates before buying.

While the book suggests that you can write a novel in a month any month of the year, I'd recommend waiting until November. I found the support of dozens of like-minded lunatics a great help in making my novel-writing dreams a reality. With the combination of support like that and this book I was able to generate well over the 50,000 word target in thirty days. If you have ever dreamed of writing a novel, this book will make its first draft a distinct possibility.

Rating:
Summary: for every wanna be writer
Review: In found this book extremely helpfull. It got me motivated to actually start writing my book that I have been "writing" for 2 years now. Great for anyone who is having trouble getting that first word, sentence, pharagraph or chapter started.

Rating:
Summary: It's about motivation, folks
Review: In its essence, this book is about getting off your [...] and actually finishing your novel, which is always half the battle. You can tinker with it later all you want, and read all the hundreds of books already out there on how to create strong plots and such. At least you'll have something to revise and rewrite. Thank you, Chris Baty, for a fresh and inspiring approach to starting and finishing a first-draft novel. Your book sits on my bookshelf between "Bird by Bird" and "Sin and Syntax."

Rating:
Summary: Read it in a day
Review: This book is absolutely essential for anyone who knows how to write, can write well, and just hasn't yet. It's an infectious unnavoidable catapult into the world of "novelling." Highly highly recommended to anyone even possibly thinking about writing something of stature.

Rating:
Summary: This is a book about overcoming a challenge. Not writing.
Review: This is a book for writers, but anyone with a challenge ahead of them will benefit. Why? Because there is NO advice on how to write in this book, unless by advice you mean "write fast" and "write freely."

Baty leaves aside the standard "the craft of writing" talks and focuses on the nuts and bolts: how to prioritize and clear your schedule of the things that get in the way of your writing. How to set a goal and stay motivated. If motivation doesn't work, how to put the FEAR into yourself and get writing anyway!

The pep talks are helpful if you're writing your novel in any of the eleven months that aren't November. If you are writing in November, you'll get similar pep talks through the NaNoWriMo website, so you probably won't need them quite so much from the book. However, you *can* read ahead and see what Baty has to say about a 4-week creative process, particularly the ups and downs of embarking on a huge, sometimes daunting project.