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    Writing a Novel in Seven Days: WMG Writer's Guides, #11
    Writing a Novel in Seven Days: WMG Writer's Guides, #11
    Writing a Novel in Seven Days: WMG Writer's Guides, #11
    Ebook65 pages50 minutes

    Writing a Novel in Seven Days: WMG Writer's Guides, #11

    By Dean Wesley Smith

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    About this ebook

    First, USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith shattered the myth that writing fast equals writing badly—or, conversely, writing well equals writing slowly—with his book How to Write a Novel in Ten Days.

    Now, Smith raises the stakes with this latest book, Writing a Novel in Seven Days. 

    Chapter by chapter, Smith chronicles his process toward writing a 43,000-word novel in just seven days. He writes about his progress, his feelings about the project, and how he approaches and overcomes obstacles.

    This WMG Writer's Guide demonstrates that setting an aggressive writing goal, and accomplishing that goal, can prove successful with the right attitude and tools.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWMG Publishing
    Release dateJun 27, 2016
    ISBN9781533772008
    Writing a Novel in Seven Days: WMG Writer's Guides, #11
    Author

    Dean Wesley Smith

    Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA TODAY bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres. He currently produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series staring Poker Boy. During his career he also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds.

    Read more from Dean Wesley Smith

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    • 5/5
      A joy and inspiration to read! I'm going to take on this challenge myself.

    Book preview

    Writing a Novel in Seven Days - Dean Wesley Smith

    PROLOGUE

    This is going to be fun.

    That’s how I am going at this new project and these chapters leading up to the challenge and the challenge itself.

    I will be doing a chapter a day on my blog through the writing of the entire novel, so anyone can follow along with the time involved, the thinking behind the idea to do a novel in seven days, the preparation, and everything else.

    And I will detail out the writing sessions as well as I start up.

    I am writing this prologue on a Tuesday night.

    I plan on starting writing on the novel Saturday night. So a decent amount of time to try to clear some decks and get ready.

    The Coming Challenge

    What is this challenge?

    Actually, a professional writer friend heard about some people trying this and after a long winter of not doing much writing, I thought it would get me back at the pace I want to write.

    But when I first heard the idea, I have to admit I just shook my head.

    And my first thought was, I could do that when I was younger.

    Not kidding, that’s what I thought.

    So as I describe this simple challenge, check in to see what your first thoughts are.

    Ready?

    The Challenge is Simple

    Day One: 3,000 words.

    And then each day after that add 1,000 words to the amount needed. Seven days, if my math is right, you will have a 42,000-word novel.

    3,000… 4,000… 5,000… 6,000… 7,000… 8,000... 9,000 words.

    7 Days.

    Yup, my first thought was that I was too old to do that. I’m 65 and working more than a full-time job at starting stores and working at WMG Publishing. So I initially just shook my head and tried to forget the idea.

    But this idea has a really bad mind-worm attached to it.

    And I really needed something to fire me up and get me back on my normal pace of writing. Back to pulp speed on the fiction.

    So for me, this challenge will work out just fine. Sort of attaching jumper cables to my sluggish writing battery.

    And I am not too old to do this.

    My Thinking

    Here is my thinking on approaching this challenge out in public on my blog.

    1. If I make it all the way through I will have finished another novel for Smith’s Monthly.

    That would be a win.

    2. The challenge and the run-up to starting it will focus my mind away from starting the new store and back onto writing where it needs to be. And where I want it to be.

    That would be a win.

    3. Since I can average about 1,000 words per hour, this will take about 42 hours out of my week. And another ten hours doing the chapters.

    That is possible, but it means I will have to be careful on doing other things. In other words, figuring out where I am losing time and bad habits and clearing that out. I will need to create new habits around writing as I go.

    That would be a win.

    4. Even if I only get 30,000 words done before getting sidetracked or ending face-down on my keyboard, I will have 30,000 words done and that is failing to success.

    And that would be a win.

    5. And if I can actually get through the seven days and blog about it here every night, just as I did with the book How to Write a Novel in Ten

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