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116th out of 345 books
—
526 voters
First Draft in 30 Days: A Novel Writer's System for Building a Complete and Cohesive Manuscript
First Draft in 30 Days provides you with a sure-fire system to reduce time-intensive rewrites and avoid writing detours. Award-winning author Karen S. Wiesner's 30-day method shows you how to create an outline so detailed and complete that it actually doubles as your first draft. Flexible and customizable, this revolutionary system can be modified to fit any writer's appro...more
Paperback, 216 pages
Published
March 1st 2005
by Writers Digest Books
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This book has a persuasive title designed to grab your attention and sell copies. A more accurate title might be How to Write a Complete Outline for your Novel In 30 Days. But I can understand why they didn't go that way. Spending 30 days writing an outline doesn't sound very exciting.
However, when Karen Wiesner talks outline, she's referring to a scene-by-scene outline that's about one quarter as many pages as the finished manuscript to be. And when you finish an outline like this, writing the...more
However, when Karen Wiesner talks outline, she's referring to a scene-by-scene outline that's about one quarter as many pages as the finished manuscript to be. And when you finish an outline like this, writing the...more
Not so much about writing a first draft, but rather about writing a very cohesive and detailed outline which Wiesner claims takes the part of a writer's first draft. Not sure if I buy into it, but I'm giving it a whirl. I had some quibbles over her habit of repeating certain things way too many times (her website, for example - once would have been quite enough; by the 4th/5th time it felt like self-promotion, which was not the point of the book) and there was some clunky bits I skimmed, but ove...more
Jan 16, 2012
Margit Sage
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Aspiring novelists
Recommended to Margit by:
Highly rated on amazon.com
Shelves:
writing,
nonfiction
I followed this process pretty much during the month of October, 2011 to outline my first novel, although for the character sketches, I used some questions I found in other books in addition to the ones she suggests. I found the book and the resulting detailed outline incredibly useful when writing the actual novel during NaNoWriMo in November (I was able to finish my ~60,000 word novel on December 1st, having written the 3k word prologue the last few days of October, ~54k words in Nov, and the...more
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My first impression of this book was one of dislike. One of the first things you learn is that the title is misleading: you will NOT have a first draft in 30 days (despite the fact that Wiesner likes to call it a "first draft"—it's really just a long, detailed, intense outline. You still need to write the actual book).
And then I read the introduction which promises, in the very first paragraph, that by using the author's method you will write "quality novels—each and every time—that no editor in...more
And then I read the introduction which promises, in the very first paragraph, that by using the author's method you will write "quality novels—each and every time—that no editor in...more
This book helped me to get my first novel written -- I'm grateful that I found this book. I use a slight variation of the outline techniques discussed for all of my novels. It's worth checking out for anyone who wants to write their first novel or anyone who has already written several books. Everyone can learn something from this book.
2 likes · like · see review
My complaints:
The title is misleading. It is not telling you how to write a first draft in 30 days, it's telling you how to create a detailed outline in 30 days.
The font is tiny! I think it's Times new Roman sized 8/9. I'm short sighted and so the tiny font made it very hard to read.
The title is misleading. It is not telling you how to write a first draft in 30 days, it's telling you how to create a detailed outline in 30 days.
The font is tiny! I think it's Times new Roman sized 8/9. I'm short sighted and so the tiny font made it very hard to read.
This looks like a wonderful layout for writers needing lots of ideas for goals, outlining, planning, and scheduling. I had a couple "aha" moments and will try her pointers. I look forward to using her worksheet(s) for revising a couple older manuscripts.
I'm very much a type B personality, and this book has helped me SO MUCH in organizing what I'm doing and getting my book ready to go without having to do six or seven drafts of a full manuscript. This book is a lifesaver.
I found this book very helpful and applied many of the lessons it taught. The time frame is a bit compressed for me, but the steps make excellent sense. I will keep it in my library and will definitely refer to it each time a start writing a first draft.
Another great book by Karen Wiesner. I bought this while in the throes of National Novel Writing Month and was happy with the systematic methodology Wiesner offered as one way of power-drafting a first draft.
This is a great text for a writer who is just starting and wants an understandable format. It helped me put a lot of my thoughts on paper/file so I could move forward in a more sturctured and timely way.
I have found this book highly useful, but I can't say that it's perfect. Her terminology is garbled and her examples are often too straightforward to clearly express the points she's trying to make. Most of all, this is a book about detailed outlining of a novel. It actually has nothing to do with writing a first draft. The author claims that her outlines are so detailed that they count as a first draft, but I don't buy it and neither do most of her reviewers on Amazon.
In many ways, this book ha...more
In many ways, this book ha...more
How to write a (highly detailed) outline in 30 days. Not the book for me - I'm excellent at outlines but need the kick in the pants to actually do the writing.
Packed with goodness, definitely recommending to others if you are organized and can stick to your goals, otherwise forgetaboutit!
First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Wiesner is a treatise on outlining a novel. The methods seem as if they would be useful.
Great book, gives step by step advice for creating an outline for a novel. Very helpful for anyone who wants to write a novel.
I'm sorry. I couldn't do it. This is more a detailed outline than a first draft and I just don't think that way.
I borrowed it from the library. Read it. Thought about it. Bought it so I can have it for reference.
Go this when I did NANOWRIMO in 2006 and never opened it once. Passed on via Mr K's books.
Oct 02, 2009
D.
added it
First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Wiesner (2005)
I would add more stars if I could. :)
I've checked this book out twice wanting to like it, but the title is misleading and I don't have the patience for it. The title SHOULD be "First OUTLINE in 30 Days", because it talks about planning instead of drafting...
Aug 10, 2009
Stewart
added it
Bought at start of the year
good practical advice
This is a great book for writers who need structure or a place to begin. I started reading it while I was already well into my work-in-progress. I am using it as a tool to clarify my writing goals and to tweak my first draft.
The details it makes me explore give me a place from which to begin again when the dreaded blank page is staring me in the face. I enjoyed the idea so much that I have already purchased her next book - From First Draft to Finished Novel.
The details it makes me explore give me a place from which to begin again when the dreaded blank page is staring me in the face. I enjoyed the idea so much that I have already purchased her next book - From First Draft to Finished Novel.
I thought this was really improbable. It might well take more than 30 days just to understand what the writer is talking about.
This book was exactly what I needed to get my inspirational juices flowing, and it provided me with some much needed info and guidance to get my writing career going. Thanks, Karen!!!
For my style of writing this was the best method I've read
for keeping track of story line and research while writing. I'm using her system and it's working.
for keeping track of story line and research while writing. I'm using her system and it's working.
I don't actually use this book the way she intends it to be used, I use it in conjunction with Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method to help me flesh out some of my Snowflaking. His system just works better for a reforming pantser like me!
It was alright. I wish it included someone to write the draft for you! Instructions were clear and easy to read.
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