Article by Ann Ariel Wilson

Once you get the idea for a novel, start out even if you don’t have an idea about the title. You can decide it after finishing.

Day-1: The Plot

Creating the plot is the most important thing with quick novel writing. Especially when you want it done in 20 days.* Think about the story from the beginning to the end, twists, turns, thrills, etc.

* Write down the hints in a paragraph or two.

* Start numbering events 1,2,3… and split up what events should happen in each chapter.

A chapter ends and another chapter begins when the events need no direct connectivity. Better look at it from a reader’s perspective rather than that of yours.Go to sleep early! You need to be fresh and healthy on day-2 to begin.

Days 2-15: Writing-Really!

Write at least two to three chapters a day. Here is how you can do it:

* Wake up at about six or seven or when you feel healthy and comfortable and feel enough of sleep.

* DO NOT interfere with your Activities of Daily Living. You have to do them all correctly. Never skip meals or restrict water. You can use the ADLs as a break from your writing as your mind would be refreshed each time you come back to the pen/keyboard.

* Start writing! Think of what the characters would do in the given situations and elaborate according to what they would speak and what they’d do.

* Hopefully, you would feel sleepy sometimes as the brain is doing the work of more than one person at least. Take short naps in comfortable positions so that they’d help you recharge.

* You would have written a chapter or two each day. Depends upon the length of the chapter.

* Write until you go to bed. Early again as your brain and body needs to be fresh and healthy for tomorrow’s writing.

* Continue this until day 15 when hopefully you’d complete writing.

Day-16: Review

* Read all that you have written from the beginning to the end. Hopefully you’d need four to five hours to read a book that has less than 25,000 words.

* While doing so, correct the errors that are visible and now concentrate on the story and don’t deviate much into grammar, format, etc.

* Watch carefully for discrepancies. (You really don’t want the reader to find that out and write to you someday saying that a dead character appeared to talk again in a later chapter).

Day-17: Grammar and Format

* Read slowly and read as if you want to find fault with the book.

* You should do this. No matter how great you are with the language. There might be typo errors or even some unthinkable errors that you did carelessly.

* Watch carefully and correct any error that you come across.

Day-18: Take Rest

* This is very important. You don’t need to get tired or become insane out of the hard brain work all these days.

* You need to stay calm and do something that would make you entirely forget about what is inside the book that you had written.

* This rest is a must so that you could spot any errors while reviewing on Day-19.

Day-19: Review Again

* Read the story like a reader. Patiently. Take your time.

* Feel the pleasure it gives and see if anything goes wrong anywhere with the content, format, or language.

* This day, you will have to review completely and keep in mind that you are not going to do this again. Hence be a critic as well.

Day-20: Decorations and Indexing

* This is the day you would decorate your manuscript (in your computer rather) and take care of highlighting, font changes, etc.

* Then comes the page breaks, page numbers, title arrangement in every page, etc.

* When you are done completely that you wont change the content from one page to another, start indexing.

* (Optional) Create a wrapper if you don’t want your publisher to do that. There are a variety of freewares like Photoscape, GIMP, and Photoshop to help you out.

* (Optional) You can even draw sketches and scan them and then work on them with the software that you like later.

You are done! Your dream novel is complete in 20 days!

Go ahead and publish it. Will talk about that in another article.

If you have any questions, concerns, or if you would like to read Ann Wilson’s books for free kindly send a request via the contact page in her website: http://annarielwilson.com/

About the Author

Born: Chennai, India, 1984

Education: D. Pharm., B.A.

Ann Wilson is a young Indian author who had stepped into the realm of literature with beautiful ideas, like a promising tree. She writes in two languages, English and Tamil.

Visit http://annarielwilson.com/ for more information.

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