First Draft in 30 Days
by Karen Wiesner
List Price:
Our Price: $2.52
You Save: $17.47 (87%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.97 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Karen WiesnerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-03-05
ISBN: 1582972966
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Book Reviews of First Draft in 30 Days
Book Review: Thou Shall Not Spiral!
Summary: 1 Stars
A book about writing needs a gimmick to sell. In the case that you are a well published author, your name alone will be enough to sell the book and lends credence to your methods. In the case of "First Draft in 30 Days" Weisner uses a promising, result oriented title to sell her book.
The premise of the book is to avoid spiraling at all costs. Weisner proposes that by having a 60-100 page detailed outline that comprehends the accepted three act structure, one will be able to embark on their first and final draft with very little revision. This method will enable one to organize multiple story ideas, help them manage their writing career, and ultimately double their productivity.
Allow me to explain the method 30 Days proposes. It acknowledges the ramshackle, chaotic brainstorming of early story ideas. Good so far. Get a folder and file cabinet to collect your ideas. Start with a one sentence description of the story. Work this to several paragraphs; don't worry that it is disorganized and missing elements of a good story. Start brainstorming on specifics of character and setting, filling out the provided templates. Create a list of things that need to be researched. Cordon off an entire week to perform this research. During these initial activities, write down any poignant scenes or ideas on the included forms.
30-Days then gives a good discussion of story threads and the three-act structure. It asks you to expand the preliminary story description, character dossiers, and setting descriptions into a list of scenes, being mindful of the various story threads that make for good fiction. Brainstorm on each scene, filling in more details. Armed with the setting, character, and research templates you completed earlier, you can focus on the elements of story without having to worry about idea generation. At the point that you can visualize the whole story, accurately as if it were a movie, you have what she calls a formatted outline. She predicts this outline will be around 100 pages for a 100,000 word novel. Each scene represented by a completed template giving its detailed design.
Weisner asserts that your research should be done before your plotting. That character and setting dossiers need to be complete before plotting. That these activities will spark and support good plotting. Herein lies the problem.
I propose that the opposite will as often be true, that plotting your story will give you ideas about characters, setting, and things to research. That is the fundamental flaw of her method; it does not adequately comprehend the spiraling, chaotic method of idea generation and puts the act of plotting behind the supplemental activities.
If I were writing this book, I would have worked in the opposite direction. Start by stating the objective: A list of scenes that capture the main story and character arcs. Then instruct the writer to record details of character and setting that support their developing plot. Give them a list of questions to help flesh out characters and setting. Describe the three-act story format and explain story threads. Then ask them if their scene outline supports the elements of good fiction (plot and/or character driven) and is compelling enough to want to continue. Yes? Start writing! No? Spiral some more until the ideas work.
There is absolutely nothing that should preclude working on plot, characters, and setting in tandem. The only advantage of prescribing them in this order is to guarantee a finish (if they haven't taken up knitting instead.)
Ultimately, 30-days will appeal to writers with well developed left brains. The irony is that most left-brained individuals will have no problem decomposing the problem space and coming up with a list of design documents to arm themselves with prior to their writing journey. Left brained people are all about plotting. Weisner is preaching to the choir.
Right-brained individuals may have a difficult time getting through the material, most of it reads like a technical manual. It explains a concept, and then gives inline examples of using her templates. 60% Of the book's 200 pages is devoted to empty templates and examples showing their use.
The premise is largely correct. Writers should strive to avoid major changes once writing has begun. But spiraling during the idea generation and plotting phases is unavoidable. (Perhaps expected and welcome.) And while Weisner may feel more comfortable embarking on her writing journey with a 100 page outline, for others, this level of detail will preclude inspiration born from later writing, and may kill the joy of the process.
If you don't need the hand-holding that a "30 day" method provides, I recommend Scott Bell's "Plot & Structure" that describes various techniques for plotting (of which "30 Days" is one -- Bell calls this the "Borg" method of outlining), and that comprehends differences in author temperament. Combine with "Characters, Emotion, and Viewpoint" (Kress) and you will gain a much better treatment of characters and emotional arcs.
For those familiar with software engineering methods, Weisner is espousing a "waterfall" model.
EDIT (11/15/09):
I gave this book one star after reading this the first time and trying to adopt its principles. I have never done this before, but I am editing my review to give this book ZERO stars. This is the book that I wish I had never encountered. It reduces novel writing to a mechanical process, yet does not discuss what really makes fiction successful. I believe the author only has a cursory understanding of this subject. She should be writing technical manuals, not fiction.
To give you an analogy, if this was a book on getting married, it would discuss wedding dresses, invitations, band selection, gift registries, but it would say nothing about love or sacred vows.
This book will confuse and deflate beginning writers.
EDIT #2 (11/25/09):
I destroyed this book today; ripped it to pieces! The front and back cover are rather thick paper and needed to be separated from the rest of the carcass before shredding.
The problem with this book, for beginning writers is that it will impress upon you such a restrictive method of plotting that it will cause writers block and procrastination. The book does not contain much if any theory (explanation of whys), it gives you a cookie cutter recipe which may not apply well to your project. If you buy into the belief that you should be a plotter, fine. If you buy into the belief that you should be an _extreme_ plotter as espoused by this book, that is ok too, but please, if you are that a-retentive, please come up with your own methods! Buy a book like Bell's Plot and Structure or Bickham's Scene and Structure that introduce the _theory_ of story construction, then devise your own methods. (Or search the web for "Snowflake method" or chaeck out: [...]-- both are free and much more realistic.)
Ultimately, the spark of creativity, the idea that makes you want to write your story will be buried beneath a pile of charts, tables, and templates and the essence will be tested if not lost. There are better ways. Writing is not paint by numbers.
There is a mousy, middle level manager in your organization spamming everyone with powerpoint and excel charts, and making meeting dreadfully long. She may have written this book.
The book needed to be destroyed so that I would never again fall prey to it's mind trap.
Summary of First Draft in 30 Days
Many aspiring and experienced novelists throw out hundreds of pages (and waste valuable time) before they have a workable first draft of a novel. With First Draft in 30 Days, those days are over. In this guide, readers will find: A systematic method for completing a detailed first draft in just 30 days; Sure-fire methods to reduce time-intensive rewrites and avoid writing detours; Comprehensive, detailed and interactive worksheets to make the process seem less like work and more like a game; Flexible and customizable, this revolutionary system can be modified to fit any writer's approach and style.Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Masterby Martha Alderson
Adams Media; Published: 2011-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops:
90 Days to Your Novel: A Day-by-Day Plan for Outlining & Writing Your Bookby Sarah Domet
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2010-12-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.36
Price in other shops:
The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story withinby Alan Watt
The 90-Day Novel Press; Published: 2010-10-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.88
Price in other shops:
Write Great Fiction - Dialogue (Write Great Fiction Series)by Gloria Kempton
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.60
Price in other shops:
Writing the Breakout Novelby Donald Maass
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2002-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.96
Price in other shops:
From First Draft To Finished Novel: A Writer's Guide To Cohesive Story Buildingby Karen S Wiesner
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2008-09-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.26
Price in other shops:
Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction)by Nancy Kress
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2005-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.41
Price in other shops:
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writingby Evan Marshall
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2001-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.59
Price in other shops:
Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction)by James Scott Bell
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.83
Price in other shops:
Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Daysby Victoria Lynn Schmidt
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2008-01-28; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $2.64
Price in other shops: