I bought the book No Plot? No Problem last week because I'm considering taking part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this fall. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to produce a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This book is supposed to help you do this, but the author really has very little in the way of tips to offer.
It's not until page 85 of the 173 page book that he gives you the answer to the "no plot" problem. The answer, in case you want to know, is to make two lists. One list is a list of all the things that make a novel a good novel, in your opinion. The other list is a list of things you hate in a novel. The trick is -- get this -- you're supposed to use all the things in the first list and avoid the things in the second list.
Yep, that's the secret!
Oh, and based on the stuff you like, you will automatically have a list of characters in your head. Write down their age, gender, occupation, hobbies, where they live and what they were doing five years ago.
Boom, there's your story. The plot will automatically come to you as long as you write 1,667 words a day with no regard for how bad it may suck.
Woo hoo!
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2 comments:
I tried it this past year, didn't make it too far, but I'm going to give it another try next year. Is the book worth buying?
Naw. I've picked up Writing Fiction Step by Step by Josip Novakovich. I'll let you know if it's any better.
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