Hatrack River Writers Workshop: A novel in 3 days??

This is topic A novel in 3 days?? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by EVOC (Member # 9381) on :

So as I was checking my Twitter account today, I came across this link posted by @AdviceToWriters. It shows an idea on writing a novel in three days.

While I find this a bit hard to do, I wonder if there is not some valubale advice in here to speed up our writing some. I would love to be able to turn out a lot more words.

So I thought I would share it here and get your thoughts.

[This message has been edited by EVOC (edited October 03, 2011).]

Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :

It has been done before. However, I feel it is more a matter of inspiration rather than any sort of regiment.

Posted by enigmaticuser (Member # 9398) on :

I don't know...could Michaelangelo put out an equivalent of the Sistene Chapel or David in three days?

I just wonder if merely putting out words is good enough? We all want to put out more words, but...I don't know, three days?

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

It's just a matter of tying up and gagging lazyiness for as long as possible. I've done it last week with my thesis paper. From 7pm to 3am. I got up only for dinner and toilet. If I could do that with my stories, I would be invincible though I cannot guarantee the quality of the text.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I once wrote a novel in five days, an attempt at a Harlequin Romance. It involved two things---(1) I did research and made extensive notes before starting, and (2) it was really, really awful.

Posted by EVOC (Member # 9381) on :

Quality may suffer. But I suppose if you had everything in place, and the planets were aligned just right, it could be done.

But the article still seems a bit deceptive. After all the research, outline, and prep work is done. Putting words on paper for 3 days. But isn't all that part of writing a novel?

Posted by redux (Member # 9277) on :

quote:
Robert Nowall:
I once wrote a novel in five days, an attempt at a Harlequin Romance. It involved two things---(1) I did research and made extensive notes before starting, and (2) it was really, really awful.

I've got to ask ... what was about?

Anyway, even with outlining and all the groundwork, I find being able to write anything publishable in three days preposterous. I do believe you can have a story at the end of those three days since his method appears to be a decent antidote to writer's block.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

quote:
I've got to ask ... what was about?

Girl meets guy, girl doesn't like guy, girl falls madly in love with guy by the last page.

Posted by redux (Member # 9277) on :

quote:
Girl meets guy, girl doesn't like guy, girl falls madly in love with guy by the last page.

har har

Posted by EVOC (Member # 9381) on :

quote:
Anyway, even with outlining and all the groundwork, I find being able to write anything publishable in three days preposterous. I do believe you can have a story at the end of those three days since his method appears to be a decent antidote to writer's block.

Yea, I would just be happy to turn out that kind of word count in month let alone three days.

quote:
Girl meets guy, girl doesn't like guy, girl falls madly in love with guy by the last page.

Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :

I think it depends on the writer. Dean Wesley Smith did something very close to that. Of course he had at least $10,000 waiting for him if he finished it on time and he is a pro with no day job. But even though he did it, it isn't something he is eager to duplicate even for that money.

I have heard of some Romance writers who can turn out books in a few days.

And I think I have heard of a couple of other pros who have done it. It depends on how they write and how long they have been writing. They know their writing style and what it takes to do a novel for them.

Actually, I could see myself trying it under the right circumstances. Not having to go to work would be one of those circumstances. A for sure sell would be another one. And maybe if I had at least part of the novel in my mind already.

But I think we can learn to write faster, or maybe to spend better quality time writing. There are ways to do scenes faster or spend less time looking things up, or just knowing and having confidence in our own writing can help, I think.

[This message has been edited by LDWriter2 (edited October 05, 2011).]

Posted by Jeff Ambrose (Member # 9437) on :

A couple of points.

First, if I remember correctly, Moorcock is talking about writing a 60,000-word quest novel with very specific elements.

Second, if you write 1,000 words an hour, it'll take you 60 hours to write a 60K novel. That's fifteen hours a day, which gives you nine hours to sleep. My brother-in-law, a lawyer, routinely works 15-hours a day. If writing is your fulltime job, then we're not talking about some inhuman effort.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I was reminded recently that writers like Walter Gibson ("The Shadow" pulp magazine) and P. G. Wodehouse made extensive notes and outlines for their novels beforehand and the actual writing of it could be accomplished relatively quickly. (I should try that again, like I did with the abovementioned Harlequin Romance...my last try at a novel petered out at a hundred thousand words, with me having no idea where to go from there. And it took a whole year to get there.)

Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :

I could do it.

I type really fast. If I could keep the idea engine going, I could do it in two 8-9 hr days. If I had issues with that (or carpel tunnel rears it's ugly head) I think I could still finish in 3.

But I don't necessarily WANT to. I go back to one of my main points, though...increasing your typing speed means increasing your productive butt-in-chair minutes. Just like a marathon runner runs a little bit every day (or every workout, whatever their schedule) - and does other activities to strengthen and prepare, it's not a bad idea for writers to engage in typing tutors and other typing practice if their productivity/speed matters to them.

Many don't care, don't feel like that's an important skill, but when I'm in it, when I've reached that place (they call it "flow") - my fingers move fast enough to keep up with my head. This is key. I can keep moving. My son can't do this and it frustrates him to no end, he constantly loses track of his train of thought as his eyes/brain have to be diverted to the keyboard to find the next letter or figure out where a punctuation mark is located. I don't have to look. Ever. (Unless I'm learning a new keyboard schema, which I do my best to avoid now that I'm addicted to my iMac awesome Apple keyboard which actively helps prevent my carpel tunnel issues, I'm convinced.)

At any rate, if this seems preposterous to you, have you ever calculated your wpm when you're really cooking? Do you ever get frustrated by your hands not keeping up with your ideas? Typing tutors are like calisthenics for the hands...

I'm not planning to put any real attempts toward a 60k book in 3 days anytime soon, but I might try to finish Nano early this year, instead of dragging it out like I usually do. I did a 45k book over the summer in about 40 days spending only 15-20 mins/day (one or two 30 min sessions mixed in.) If I can do it...

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

The story I heard was that C. M. Kornbluth had a deal for a novel where he had to turn an outline in three days later, but he really hated writing from outlines, so he locked himself and his typewriter up in a hotel room in New York and turned out the complete novel manuscript in those three days.

That is all well and good, but one reason I can't emulate it is that I don't have three days to spare---there are too many demands on my time, mostly covered by Things That Make Me Money, the rest often filled with recovering from Things That Make Me Money.

(When I wrote that abovementioned Harlequin Romance, I was a college student, and it was break time right after Christmas. I had the time then.)

Posted by redux (Member # 9277) on :

I did not know this existed:

http://www.3daynovel.com/

Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :

Yeah, I agree, it can be done. 60,000 words, about 30hours for me when I am really going. Haven't been going for a long time. But when I wrote the ending to my most complete novel, I wrote the last 12,000 words in 4 hours.

I right now would be happy with an hour a day again.

Posted by EVOC (Member # 9381) on :

KayTi, I agree with you completely. Typing is important. It took me a while but I type pretty fast too. It does help to turn out more words for what little time I get to write.

I think I type even faster when I am typing straight from my mind versus typing off a typing test. When I have a train of thought for whatever work in progress I am on, I can fly it on to paper and it usually keeps me going even once the one thought is recorded.

The best way I got to typing so fast was simply to keep typing. As I got to typing more I became faster.

I don't think a novel is physically impossible to complete in 3 days, just unwise. Maybe?