by Chris Baty
|
| List Price: | $14.95 |
| Amazon Price: | $10.17 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: | $4.78 (32%) |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $4.88 |
| Availablitiy: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
 |
|
Product Description
Chris Baty, motivator extraordinaire and instigator of a wildly successful writing revolution, spells out the secrets of writing—and finishing—a novel. Every fall, thousands of people sign up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which Baty founded, determined to (a) write that novel or (b) finish that novel in—kid you not—30 days. Now Baty puts pen to paper himself to share the secrets of success. With week-specific overviews, pep "talks," and essential survival tips for today's word warriors, this results-oriented, quick-fix strategy is perfect for people who want to nurture their inner artist and then hit print! Anecdotes and success stories from NaNoWriMo winners will inspire writers from the heralding you-can-do-it trumpet blasts of day one to the champagne toasts of day thirty. Whether it's a resource for those taking part in the official NaNo WriMo event, or a stand-alone handbook for writing to come, No Plot? No Problem! is the ultimate guide for would-be writers (or those with writer's block) to cultivate their creative selves.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Pep Talks!, 2008-06-30
If you're NaNo-er and you enjoy Baty's pep talks throughout November, then you'll like this book. If you're not a 'pantser' then this could help you break out of your comfort zone and just write off the top of your head. In any case, after reading it, my approach to writing was reinvigorated.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A Handsome Writer, 2008-05-01
I can honestly say it was worth the read. Chris Batty the author has a way of being funny and stimulating at the same time. His writing style seems pretty down to earth and easy to understand. He has sympathy for writers everywhere.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
The Perfect Companion, 2008-04-17
I love NaNoWriMo. It's the best way for any aspiring novelist to get their first draft complete, in their lifetime. I've been participating in this madcap program since 2001. So, when Chris Baty put his own thoughts about his program to the page, I had to have this book. Not only is the book a wonderful companion to this month's NaNoWriMo excursion but it's also a great stand alone writing book.
For those of you who want to try the NaNo experience but have way too much going on in November, I whole heartedly suggest that you get this book. It's jam packed with the same sass, intensity, whimsical prose and gentle prodding that makes participating in this event fun. Baty doesn't really help you write better prose, per se. Instead he focuses on the culture, the things that help you produce writing, give you time and help you turn off your inner editor and write uninhibited prose. Fast and uncensored. His goal, and it works as I can attest to this, is to help you write a full first draft of a novel, in little time. No Plot? No Problem! contains lots of suggestions, pep-talks, exercises and humor to help you get off your butt, silence the inner editor and learn to love counting words.
The first part of the book discusses the history of this writing phenomena, his own personal views on writing and what he thinks it takes to create a work within this framework. He really doesn't believe that it takes an original, perfect and strong plot to write a novel. Sometimes all it takes is an basic idea, maybe a character name, writing buddies and your family to keep you going and maybe a writing totem and the promise of hefty rewards when you reach particular goals. Therefore, this section dispels the myths behind writing alone, secluded without toys or rewords. Baty also sprinkles thoughts and articles written by other NaNoWriMo participants throughout this section that coincide with the topics he selected to write about.
The second half gives you a portable NaNoWriMo. Baty guides you week by week into writing and finishing your 50,000 word novel in 4 weeks. Amazingly, this guide captures the same feeling and style that actually participating in the competition every November has. Baty shares with you tips and tricks that you can use to help get you past the various hurdles associated with marathon writing. He also includes special pep-talks designed to keep you writing. And at the end of your 30 days, you too will have a complete draft of a novel.
I highly recommend this book, if only to compare the size of 50,000 words. The book itself, is about 50,000 words... if not a little bit more. Out of all the books I own on writing, or exercises to help me write, I can say that this is the one book that helps cheerlead me to a writing victory. This book is all about the passion, the culture and the insanity that happens to us writers when we go word crazy and silence the editor who tells us that zombies and romance should not coexist in a work of fiction.
[...]
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
IT WORKS!, 2008-04-13
I bought this book, and it definitely got me over the 50,000-word finish line. Highly recommended for NaNoWriMo writers!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Like Printed Caffeine, 2008-02-18
No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty is the printed version of that cup of jo you use to make it through Nanowrimo -- National Novel Writing Month. Officially set in November, this is the month literary lunatics everywhere attempt to write a fiction book (at least 50,000 words) in one month. And this is the book to read while you do it.
Baty's book isn't the first writing book you should read, and it isn't the last one you'll need, but his wry pep talks and Why The Hell Not? attitude are perfect for encouraging you. "The possibility of starting the month with nada and ending it with a book we'd written - no matter how bad the book might be - was irresistible. And though we never admitted it to one another, there was also the hope that maybe, just maybe, we'd yank an undeniable work of genius from the depths of our imagination. A masterpiece in the rough that would forever change the literary landscape. The Accidental American Novel. Just think of the acclaim! The feelings of satisfaction! The vastly increased dating opportunities!"
Enlightenment is overrated, says Baty. He originally thought he had to wait until he had accumulated the Wisdom of the Ages, and become and Enlightened Being, before he could write a novel. Of course, by then he'd probably be about ninety years old. Instead, while in his twenties, he and some friends just plowed forth into "the meager, gravelly soil of our imaginations" and began to write. In so doing, he discovered an important point. "The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It's the lack of a deadline.
In section one, he expands upon the need for a deadline and produce quantity without worrying about quality. He explains, all in the same breezy humorous style, how to find time ("Enter the Time Finder"), create a community to support your effort ("rallying the troops"), and how to find space ("A closed door with children in the house," wrote one aspiring novelist, "is nothing more than an invitation to bang, scream and cry." p.59)
In section two, Baty begins a week-by-week breakdown of your novel-writing month. The week usually starts out to "trumpets blaring, angels singing and triumph on the wind" p. 105). Nonetheless, some people falter already, daunted by such obstacles as The First Sentence. "The first sentence," he observes, "is, in many ways, a perfect microcosm of your novel. Meaning you're probably worrying way too much about it." (p.111) Other Week One issues include, What to Title Your Novel, and Knowing When to End Chapters.
Week Two problems tend to be more serious. Some novels are still flailing without any visible means of support from actual plot. Characters have staged coups. Obsessive Counting Disorder may set in. Inspiration flags. Time squeezes make it hard to keep on track. Week Two is a difficult week, but Baty has suggestions to deal with its traumas and tribulations.
Week Three may bring the wind back to some sails. It's a time, Baty suggests evaluating how far you've come. Are you halfway or more through your story? If so, "hallelujah. Great job. Continue full speed ahead." If not, "if you are still introducing characters and haven't yet sent them out in search of a plot, you should sit down and figure out where they're going now." That's right, it's time to get serious, and like the Better Business Bureau of the Novel, he will tell you how to escape "word debt" with such devices as "6,000 word days." (p.136) "These are much easier to pull off than you think," he reassures.
In Week Four, he has more great advice, such as how to steer every party conversation to your novel.
Writer: So what's up, partygoer?
Partygoer: Not much! I've been getting pretty sick lately with that flu that's going around, so I've just been laying low. Sleeping a lot, you know...
Writer: Oh, man! That's so funny you would say that. The protagonist in my novel had this moment where he thought about opening an office supply store that sold only wiener dogs.
National Novel Writing Month occurs during November, and for writers in the US, Week Four coincides with Thanksgiving. Baty doesn't explain what lunatic sadism made him decide to set Nanowrimo to coincide with the second busiest holiday in the US calendar (after December), but I have to assume it's in part because, as he was a single male in his twenties at the time, he probably didn't have many family obligations for Thanksgiving. As a working mother who is expected to help actually spend this "vacation" time drudging away over a hot stove rather than a keyboard, I would have picked a different month, I must say.
However, that's the wonderful thing about No Plot, No Problem. It's like a portable Nanowrimo, which you can use to carry your novel writing month from November (curse you, November!) to some other month, say, July. True, you won't have the knowledge that thousands of others are simultaneously typing away on their laptops at the same time as you, but you can still read their stories in Baty's book. No Plot, No Problem is filled with anecdotes of how other writers made it through the month to 50,000 words. If they can do it -- you can do it.
Christine,
Misque Writer's Retreat
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
|
Store Categories
|