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A review by kelly_
No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty
4.0
“There is no pressure on you to write a brilliant first draft. Because no one ever writes a brilliant first draft.”
This isn’t a book designed to give you the lowdown on how to write a bestseller. It is a short book designed to talk you into getting out of your own way and put words down on paper.
It serves as a reminder that sometimes the process of just writing can really help to get the creative juices flowing. It does not guarantee a great book at the end, but it does guarantee that you’ll find you’ll get steadily better, the more you write. You may even find something worth saving at the end, to spend a year or so editing, chopping, changing and improving it.
The main lesson this book focuses on though is the one that you’ll hear from almost any writer when they give advice to new writers: write more, write often, and you’ll get better. To stop being the person that makes excuses to not write or keeps saying “one day”. The more you write, the easier it’ll be to spot your strengths and weaknesses.
“The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It’s the lack of a deadline.”
Throughout the book there are basic tips on how to come up with and use an idea, but the main point we always come back to is the importance of setting and sticking to targets and deadlines. Don’t overthink, don’t procrastinate too long... make notes, carve out time, use whatever tools are available to you to generate new ideas along the way, but basically treat this as a directed freewrite.
“A good plot is less a matter of innovation and invention as it is one of creative re-use.” Basically, if you’re a consumer of creative material, you already carry the bones of a plot within you, you just need to practice drawing on it.
The second half of the book is a week-by-week pep talk that goes through some of the challenges other writers have faced during NaNo and what you could do to get yourself through it.
Finally, my favourite quote:
“A rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise.”
If you’re new to writing, you may finish this exercise hating every word (I’ve certainly felt that about my NaNo projects and other works too in the past). However, whether you’re new or seasoned, it always helps to remember that a draft isn’t meant to be perfect. I certainly need to remember that these kinds of exercises are helpful in getting my butt in the chair but that I can come back later and just cherry pick the arcs, characters, scenes etc that I actually want to work with, if any at all.
This isn’t a book designed to give you the lowdown on how to write a bestseller. It is a short book designed to talk you into getting out of your own way and put words down on paper.
It serves as a reminder that sometimes the process of just writing can really help to get the creative juices flowing. It does not guarantee a great book at the end, but it does guarantee that you’ll find you’ll get steadily better, the more you write. You may even find something worth saving at the end, to spend a year or so editing, chopping, changing and improving it.
The main lesson this book focuses on though is the one that you’ll hear from almost any writer when they give advice to new writers: write more, write often, and you’ll get better. To stop being the person that makes excuses to not write or keeps saying “one day”. The more you write, the easier it’ll be to spot your strengths and weaknesses.
“The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It’s the lack of a deadline.”
Throughout the book there are basic tips on how to come up with and use an idea, but the main point we always come back to is the importance of setting and sticking to targets and deadlines. Don’t overthink, don’t procrastinate too long... make notes, carve out time, use whatever tools are available to you to generate new ideas along the way, but basically treat this as a directed freewrite.
“A good plot is less a matter of innovation and invention as it is one of creative re-use.” Basically, if you’re a consumer of creative material, you already carry the bones of a plot within you, you just need to practice drawing on it.
The second half of the book is a week-by-week pep talk that goes through some of the challenges other writers have faced during NaNo and what you could do to get yourself through it.
Finally, my favourite quote:
“A rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise.”
If you’re new to writing, you may finish this exercise hating every word (I’ve certainly felt that about my NaNo projects and other works too in the past). However, whether you’re new or seasoned, it always helps to remember that a draft isn’t meant to be perfect. I certainly need to remember that these kinds of exercises are helpful in getting my butt in the chair but that I can come back later and just cherry pick the arcs, characters, scenes etc that I actually want to work with, if any at all.