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.