Top Writing Books of 2015 - 9 Day Novel Series

The 9 Day Novel Series by Steve Windsor is a must read for beginning and even seasoned writers. The methods gave me the boost to start my first adult book series. Mr. Windsor's books are fun, informative guides with solid, practical, and ultra-usable advice.

For my needs, I read series out of order, focusing on the topic that I needed first, rather than the number of the book in the series.

The first book that I read in the 9 Day Novel Series was Auhorphobia - Laugh at Your Fear of Writing: Suck Less for Author Success, which is a humor-filled take on addressing writing fears.

The second one was the 9 Day Novel - Writing: How to Structure and Write Your Novel Faster. To solidify the structuring concepts and to improve my grasp of the outlining concepts, I dove into 9 Day Novel - Outlining Your Novel: Plotting Your Way to Success. (The book gives the most straight-forward, easy-to-understand, relatable explanation of story outlining EVER.)

Currently, I am reading 9 Day Novel - Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: Write Better and Edit Faster. Again, another incredibly helpful writing resource.

Thanks, Steve Windsor, for a most fun and informative writing resource series. Highly recommend!

 

In Training - Time to Write

I have resisted with much effort using a timer as a tool to accomplish my fiction writing tasks -- as in no-way-no-how-you-can't-make-me-do-this-dig-in-heels resistance. Yet, for the past week, because I am so much more productive writing in short stints, I have been training to write using a timer.

During the last several days, I have been applying a combination of Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writer Better, and Writing More of What You Love's ($0.99 Kindle Edition) and Ian Stable's Big Results in Less Time: The time management productivity plan that gets top results - How to get things done in the shortest time for the greatest results ($2.99 Kindle Edition) techniques.

As you can see from the tracking chart I've adapted from Rachel Aaron's process. Since I know that I draft better on the chaise lounge and revise better at the desk, I eliminated the location column. Instead of tracking # of words written, I track by chapter (for instance I might complete 1 1/2 chapters in 3 hours and 25 minutes).

 

With ten (10) chapters written in five (5) days, there's no denying that this the most prolific route for me to pursue. Writing more in less time is this writer gal's goal, so despite my great resistance, I must pursue what works and what assists me in achieving that goal.

First off, writing in timed blocks feels awkward and restrictive. Secondly, attempting to write within such short time-spans tends to be anxiety inducing. Thirdly, the fact that the technique works is supported by the tracking results. And finally, if it works, then despite my initial discomfort, I need to immerse myself in only allowing myself to write for fifteen minutes at a time.

Going into the second week to of this learning phase, this writer gal's gotta do what a writer gal's gotta do. Train and write.

2012's Fabulous Four Writing Books

2012's top four (4) writing books that have helped me most during my writing journey to write books and make a living doing the same include, in order of usage during the writing process, the following (Amazon descriptions provided):

Cathy Yardley's Rock Your Plot: A Simple System for Plotting Your Novel (Rock Your Writing) 

ROCK YOUR PLOT: A Simple System for Plotting Your Novel teaches a clear, flexible process to help you with your:

- Premise: test your premise for inherent conflict and sustainability.

- Characterization: create strong characters with urgent goals, understandable motivation, and tons of obstacles.

- Plot outline, turning points: use those characters to build logical and powerful plot points and complete character arcs.

- Plot outline, scene-by-scene: Develop a sequence of dynamic scenes that propels your reader through your story.

This book goes straight to the point, putting theory in plain language, adding examples from blockbuster stories, and finishing each section with exercises designed to help you work with your characters to write a novel that excites you… and your readers.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson's Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View

Dear Novelist: Would you like your readers to live your stories, not merely read them? Deep Point of View anchors your readers inside the point of view character(s) of your novel. This handbook shows you how to perform the transformation from ordinary narrative to deep narrative in clear, easy-to-master steps. I invite you to sweep your writing to the next level with a technique that creates immediacy and intimacy with your readers and virtually eliminates show/don't tell issues.

Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love

Have you ever wanted to double your daily word counts? Do you sometimes feel like you're crawling through your story? Do you want to write more every day without increasing the time you spend writing or sacrificing quality? It's not impossible, it's not even that hard. This is the book explaining how, with a few simple changes, I boosted my daily writing from 2000 words to over 10k a day, and how you can too."

Cathy Yardley's Rock Your Revisions: A Simple System for Revising Your Novel (Rock Your Writing)

ROCK YOUR REVISIONS: A Simple System for Revising Your Novel will show you a clear, easy-to-follow process for editing a novel. It will help you:

- Test for story structure on a macro level, providing detailed checklists for character and plot arcs.

- Test for story structure at the scene level, making sure each serves a purpose in the novel (and hopefully more than one!)

- Gain insight on the mechanics of the novel -- checking POV choice, dialogue, exposition vs. detail (showing versus telling), and more, with a systematic scene-by-scene approach.

This book goes straight to the point, putting theory in plain language, adding illustrative examples, and finishing each section with exercises designed to help you see how to not only edit a novel, but improve your reader's enjoyment of your book.
___________

All four books got me on track, helped me to gain traction and have jump-started my 2013 writing adventure. I would recommend each individually. Read and applied in conjunction with each other, these books provide a powerhouse of information and guidance to move any writer forward in their writing journey. Highly Recommended!

Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson is a keep-within-reach (not just a shelf-keeper) handbook that clearly shares and better explains the information I shared in my Alexa Writes Books Steping Out of the Way post.

The Amazon Book Description reads:

"Dear Novelist: Would you like your readers to live your stories, not merely read them? Deep Point of View anchors your readers inside the point of view character(s) of your novel. This handbook shows you how to perform the transformation from ordinary narrative to deep narrative in clear, easy-to-master steps. I invite you to sweep your writing to the next level with a technique that creates immediacy and intimacy with your readers and virtually eliminates show/don't tell issues. My Best to You, Jill."

This is one of those writing resources I wish I'd had access to years ago, however, since both the paper copy and digital version only became available earlier this year, the book is a welcome addition to my learning process. I highly recommend Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View!