The 90-day Novel: A Review

Have you ever wished you had a successful published novelist to hold your hand through the process of writing your first novel?  If so, look no further than Alan Watt’s book The 90-day Novel. Alan Watt is an award winning author and founder of the LA Writer’s Lab, and with The 90-day Novel he outdoes himself. This book is a must have for anyone struggling with the process of getting the words of that first novel onto the page. 

The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with process and preparation. The second part deals with outlining and writing the first draft, and the third provides helpful writing exercises.

Part one is an overview of the entire process in hopes of putting the writer in the proper mindset for beginning the process. Here Alan relates how The 90-day Novel came to be and the importance of freeing the creative process by letting ideas flow without the constraints of story. He prepares the reader for the process by providing exercises that help the reader to do the following:

• To recognize that he or she is qualified to tell his or her story.
• To reframe his or her fears and use them as a way into his or her story.
• To develop the narrative drive or underlying meaning that drives the plot.
• To develop a clear sense of the antagonistic forces t o keep from being in bondage to the fixed ideas of the story.

But what really sets this book apart is that part two is divided into weeks and days, providing a schedule that takes the reader on a step by step journey through the entire process of outlining and penning the first draft. For instance, the section on outlining is divided into four weeks of seven days each.  Likewise the section on writing the first draft is also divided into weeks and days, with writing the first draft taking two months instead of one. Each day he sets out a small goal along with exercises that get the writer one step closer to the finished product: the first draft. He also starts each day out with an inspirational quote such as this one by Sylvia Plath.

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

The valuable aspects of part three are the stream of consciousness exercises and the questions on structure which are the key plot points in the hero’s journey. 

So, stop feeling overwhelmed and get to writing with the help of Alan Watt and The 90-day Novel.

Establishing Your Writing Ritual for Getting Your Novel Written

So you have established the plot of your novel, and you have a pretty good idea about your characters and the parts they are set to play.  But, you are having trouble actually getting started and sticking with it in the midst of your busy schedule.  Perhaps your problem is a lack of routine or ritual. Anne Collett, a Publishers Weekly reviewer, wrote a chapter for the book The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing titled “How to Start” to help writers understand the importance of establishing rituals in their approach to writing.  She said that we often use rituals to get us from point A to point B and to help us stay connected with the past and the future.  In ritual, she wrote, we find reassurance. She talked to a number of authors to find out how they used ritual to tap into the creative process. Here are some examples of what some of the authors shared about their writing rituals.

I grab a book I love and saturate myself with someone else’s amazing words. That usually serves as a springboard for my own writing.

                      Elizabeth Garver, The Honey Thief

First I drive my son to school. Then I pour a cup of coffee, walk up to my study, and turn the computer on. I check my e-mail, then I either reread what I wrote the day before or the whole chapter I’m working on. Then I start.

                      Elinor Lipman, The Inn at Lake Devine

I have to send the kids out to daycare then drink a pot of coffee and play my guitar until I get so disgusted with myself that I have to write.

                      Tom Perrotta, Election

After squaring my three daughters away at school, I sit down at my computer, milky coffee in hand, and dip into my file. Face to face with the day-before’s work, we acknowledge one another, agree that the common goal is progress. I type one line, maybe one phrase that’s been turning just so in my brain, yank out a comma, put it back in. Having taken the upper hand, I get up once more and trail the sunlight through my house, come back to my chair and get to work.

                   Anne Whitney Pierce, Galaxy Girls: Wonder Woman

I’m an everyday writer, a café-and-restaurant writer. I need food and coffee and conversation in the background and a street and people to look at. If things are too quiet, I can’t concentrate.

                    Delia Sherman, The Porcelain Dove

I have to check my e-mail and then get writing by 10 A.M.  If I don’t get focused by then, I won’t have a good day.  Even if I start by 10:30, it screws me up. Somehow the number ten has taken on a magical significance for me.

                   Arthur S. Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Every author must establish his or her own routine or writing ritual.  When you are tackling the writing of your first novel, or even your second or third, you will need to determine what routine or ritual will help you get the job done.  Is there a time of day that is better that another time?  Do you need silence or the noise of a crowd?  Only you can decide what works for you and what doesn’t.