I recently finished reading a book that inspired me to want to be a better writer. It’s a rare experience that I read a book that I devour so quickly that it makes me want to sit down and write as soon as I’m done reading it, but that’s exactly what happened.

It was an advanced copy of a novel that hasn’t been released, so I’m not going to share the title since it’s not available yet. But it was actually a book about a book about a book!

Most of the book is told as if you are reading a memoir of one of the characters. Soon, you dive into a plot line of that character writing a novel about a particular event that happened to him. He calls it his “revenge novel.” You suspect that it must be the memoir, right? But you later discover you’ve been fooled and that a different character wrote the memoir that you had been reading. The book is full of other twists that kept the pages turning, so many, in fact, that I almost got lost in the end.

By the time I finished it, I started thinking “What if?” What if I wrote a revenge novel? The last time I had this epiphany and asked myself what would I write about if I had done this was when I penned the first draft of my book, Dickinstein, after the release of the movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I asked myself, “If I wrote a mash-up, what would I write about?” Well, I wrote the first draft in just 8 weeks. It’s the fastest I’ve ever written a first draft to date.

So, here we are.

Two weeks ago, on June 5th, despite the fact that I’m so close to finishing another book whose manuscript I’ve been struggling with since December, I opened up a new blank Word doc and started writing. No outlining this time. No notes. Just a character that immediately came to me who was stalking someone.

In the first few days, a more exact plot line and a cast of characters began to form. I even know how I want the book to end. It’s that kind or organic development that really excites me when I’m writing.

Soon I was averaging a thousand words a day. And I haven’t stopped. I decided to challenge myself. If I can average 1000 words a day, I can probably finish this first draft in 80 days – possibly less! Why 80, you ask?

A long time ago, I googled “How long should a novel be?” The result? Most novels average around eighty to one hundred thousand words, so I’ve set a goal of eighty thousand words with every one of my books ever since.

Also, in On Writing by Stephen King, he says, “You have three months.” King suggests that writing a good first draft should take the length of a season. Looking at the calendar, I noticed this year August has almost 5 full weeks in it, so I should hit 80K around the 23rd.

I’ve discovered I needed a break from that manuscript I have been working on. I’ve been struggling with it quite a bit, and have even taken some weekend breaks. As I mentioned, I’ve been working on it since December. That’s 6 months which feels way too long! But, in the past, it’s also taken me a few years to finish a piece after stepping away from it. I hope that doesn’t happen this time.

But for now, my focus is on my “revenge novel.” More updates to come…