My Plan To Write A Novel in One Month
Even though it’s not November, I’ve decided to write a full novel this month: beginning, middle and end.
To reach this goal, I’m aiming to write 2,000 words (or more) every day. My schedule varies greatly so there will be some days when this won’t be a problem and others when I’ll find myself wondering what I’m doing up at 5AM clacking away on my keyboard.
To help me, I’m using Jessica Brody’s phenomenal book Save the Cat! Writes A Novel.
While her beat sheet isn’t for everyone, I highly suggest at least giving it a look, especially if you want to write a novel in one month.
I started this project off yesterday, May 1, 2021. At the time I didn’t have much of an idea what the story was about. All I really knew was:
- The main character is a woman in her mid thirties.
- She has OCD (like me).
- The story begins with her meeting with her two sister and brother (our narrator is the youngest).
- As adolescents they made several low budget films together but never reached the success they wanted.
- Something supernatural is going to happen.
And that was about it. Honestly, I didn’t even know our narrator’s name until a few minutes before I started typing (it’s Riley).
On May 1 is started off with a bang, writing 2,751 words, WAY over my goal.
This morning (May 2) I wrote 2,121 words. So i still eliminated my goal no problem.
I’m still in the “honeymoon” period of this story where everything feels fresh and new and I’m still getting to know the characters. The opening scene and inciting incident is clear in my mind. I’ve written about starting new novels in the past and I’ve felt pretty confident that this was a story I wanted to tell and I’m putting off outlining (for now). The story is flowing out of me easily enough. We’ll see if this keeps up.
Things to Remember
- Always keep a separate document open so you can jot down changes you want to make in future drafts.
- Always leave off at a point where you know what will happen next.
- Don’t worry about knowing everything at once. Just keep writing and you will discover your characters and world. Yesterday I learned my narrator has been married twice, teaches middle school English, has two tattoos and when she was a kid kept blueprints for booby traps hidden under her bed.
- Salvage scenes/characters/names/ideas from other stories you have written you have no intention of publishing.
