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Do you think you could draft a book in about 30 days? Two authors say you can, and I plan to find out how effective each of their methods are.

I’m currently in the process of reviewing Karen S. Wiesner’s First Draft In 30 Days and Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s Book in a Month. When I finish reading and evaluating each, I’ll be posting head-to-head reviews here.

After reviewing each book, I’m also planning to put each process to the test personally. I’ve been itching to work on a fictional project, and had been trying to come up with something that had series potential first. A friend recently inspired me on that front, so I have a general idea which will keep the stories at least vaguely similar (which I think will help to make it a more effective test).

I’ve outlined a novel in the past using The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing. That outline and related work is shelved (and has been for a few years) until I decide whether or not to pursue it further. I have a feeling from first quickly looking through these two books that I’d consider the finished project more of an outline than really writing a book or draft as the titles suggest, but we’ll see. I’m interested to see how they compare to the Marshall Plan when it comes to keeping me motivated to finish (I spent about 3 months I think on that outline, working almost entirely during lunch hours at an old job, so I definitely think with some more daily time, you can outline a book in a month… as for a “draft,” I’m not sure yet).

I’m curious to know if any of you have used either of these books yet, and what your own feedback is – or, if you’ve written and published a novel (or even nonfiction book), what some of your own tips would be for staying motivated and hammering out that first draft or detailed outline.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Related posts:

1. Write a Novel in 30 Days – Two Reviews
2. 14 Day E-book Writing Challenge – Day Eight
3. The Scope of Writing a Novel – Rethinking Word Counts
4. Comparing 30-Day Novel Outline Plans
5. 14 Day E-book Writing Challenge – Day Eight

About the Author: Jennifer Mattern

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Jenn Mattern is a professional blogger and freelance business writer. She owns All Freelance Writing as well as several other sites and blogs covering PR, small business, and related topic areas. She is also currently writing a nonfiction book for freelance writers called The Query-Free Freelancer, and is the author of the Web Writer's Guide e-book series.