Write a Novel in 30 Days?

Apparently you can write a novel in 30 days. Writer’s Digest says you can and has an issue dedicated to teaching you how to do it. I’ve read the entire issue and therefore, I should have the knowledge necessary to write a novel in a month.

There you go. Starting April 1st, I’ll begin the 30-day novel-writing process. I figure a 400-page novel might be a tad ambitious, so I’ll cut it in half. This will require me to write about seven pages a day on top of all the planning I’m to do along the way. Can I do it in two hours a day? Maybe. I’ll give myself the month of May to revise. There’s no way I can come out with a 200-page ready-to-publish novel in 30 days, right? Yeah, I don’t think so.

I see right now that day one involves writing a one-sentence summary of the novel, mapping act one, and mapping out the plot, characters, and scenes for the novel—also—writing seven  pages. That is quite a day. If that were all I was doing, it would be quite a day, but it’s not.

So here’s what I have to work with:
            Drive my children to school for 30 minutes a day
            Commute for 1 hour a day
            Work for 8 hours a day
            Rock the gym for 1 hour a day
            Write for 2 hours a day
            Hang with my children for 1 hour a day
            Read for 1 hour a day (sometimes I combine this with gym time)
            Sleep for 6 hours a day
            That leaves me 3½ hours to eat, shower, get ready and…do whatever else I do in a day.

Maybe I can squeeze a little writing in in the morning between running three sets of children to school and getting ready. You know, if I didn’t care about hygiene or appearance, I’d have an extra hour a day to write, but I’d probably spend that time cleaning, seeing as how I only clean on the weekends currently. I’ve had to ask dirt and germs to only exist for two days a week. Dirt and germs are not known for their obedience.

After watching the latest episode of No Ordinary Family, my son and I were trying to decide what our super-powers would be if we could choose. I would choose the ability to slow time down, or stop it temporarily. Time is the biggest obstacle I face—which is why it was the subject of both of my graduation speeches.

Adam would have the ability to shoot energy out of his hands, just in case you were wondering—and his Supername would be Zeus.

So I’m blogging about this process because it forces me to be accountable to those of you who follow this blog, and those of you who happen on it accidentally. Every Sunday in the month of April, I’ll report on my progress. Feel free to nag and ask me questions if you’d like. It’ll keep me motivated—and before I get started (on Friday), tell me about your writing process if you have one.

“For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it is a pity that we use it so little.” - Rachel Carson


I tend to be blunt in my writing. I never really use a lot flowery language, and my sentences tend to be. Short. It’s because I’m not fond of overblown language, but I love it when a writer says something in a unique way—like Stephen Crane, who wrote:  
A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

There is not one magnified word in that poem, but I’ve loved it for years. It’s impact is there in the simplicity of the language.

This week I’ve been thinking more about writing exercises that help me explore my creativity so I can begin writing about things in a different way. To do this well, I feel like I need to engage all my senses. Today I thought about our senses of smell and how they are often ignored in our writing, so I’ll share one memory with you….

Once a week, my mother would bake bread—a process that started with whole grains of wheat she’d grind into flour in a wheat grinder that looked like it was from the ‘20s. I remember the smell of freshly ground wheat and I remember watching her as she blended the ingredients together in a bowl, first using a wooden spoon and then using her fists. I watched her vent a lot of her frustrations on that dough, pounding it into submission in the name of dinner. The smell morphed to a less pleasant one as the yeast activated and made the dough swell. When the dough had risen to a brown mound in her giant silver bowl, she plucked chunks of dough out, shaped little bits into loafs and placed them in dark little loaf pans drenched in butter. The bread was amazing, but the leftover dough was made into something even more fantastic like cinnamon rolls or scones.

Enter Cynthia, home from a hard day at junior high school in Texas, worn from the classes, the walking across campus, the freakishly traumatic bus ride home. As I swung the door open, the smell would hit me like a wall of welcome home. Mom would barely notice that I was there half the time—elbow-deep in flour and dough—but I felt warm and I felt loved.

Next time, maybe I’ll write about the eating disorder caused by this feeling….

Speech is the twin of my vision - Walt Whitman


The curse of befriending a writer is that they may eventually be published if they’re lucky, good and persistent, or some combination of the three. And if they are published, you’re at risk. You know the saying: “Be nice to me or I’ll write you into my novel”? Well nice or not, it will probably happen anyway.

In my last blog I wrote briefly about what makes us individuals. To help me create more authentic characters, I’m always on the lookout for those qualities. If you’re my friend, I’ll ultimately write you piecemeal into one of my stories or poems if I haven’t already. Take it as a compliment. Maybe you won’t even notice it’s you. Yes, I might write in your nervous tics and your bad haircut, but only to capture what makes you…you.

When I was in high school, my boyfriend and I used to narrate other people’s conversations—a couple arguing across the parking lot or whispering sweet nothings down the hall. We entertained ourselves for hours with this game, and occasionally one of our phrases or words would match perfectly with a gesture. That was the big payoff. I find those payoff moments in my writing when my character does something that plays out perfectly like I planned it that way all along. Sometimes it takes my breath away.

When I was in college, one of the writing exercises suggested to me by my professor was to eavesdrop in a crowded room and write down as much of the conversation as I could. I wrote down bits of dialogue, and every once in a while I heard something I thought was brilliant. It helped me realize that not everyone speaks the way I do.  I tapped out the rhythm of their speech. I analyzed their word choice. I listened to the music to their sentences. And I try to recreate these details in my writing.

To those of you who are reading this blog—what are your pet peeves in a story, and what makes a story great for you?   

When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain


Last week I spent a lot of time in airports and on airplanes. When this happens, I find myself studying the people around me like they are all potential characters in a book. And I wonder—what makes them unique? What makes them lovable? What are their hang-ups and why? And as I pick apart their obvious characteristics—a giant forehead, a spitty lisp or a braying laugh—I wonder what lies underneath—how many subtleties compose each of us? After all, I’m a composite of everyone I’ve ever known, but I’m the only me I can think of.

This is not a philosophical blog. I’m an inevitable writer. And writers, I’ve found, are naturally creepy people. I’ve overcome myriad obstacles to get to the tenuous stability I cling to today—time, nature, and man—with a healthy side of economy. In writing—as in stand-up comedy—nothing is sacred and no one is safe.

I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on. As a child, I loved Nancy Drew stories and Shakespeare. As an adult, I love Kurt Vonnegut and Michael Crichton. Sometimes the genius of a writer is not in how she puts her words together, but in how she views the world. I’ve been touched by so many bits of writing, and it’s my delusion that I can touch someone with my writing too. This blog will poke fun at my successes and failures. This blog will expose my heartaches and my sanities in the form of musings, short stories and poems without taking myself too seriously. 

I invite your comments and suggestions. I welcome your wisdoms.