21 Days to a Novel

by Michael A. Stackpole

21 Days To a Novel is a collection of exercises which will set any writer up to successfully start and complete that novel they've been dreaming about. The exercises hit hard on the critical areas of book design: characterization, world building, plotting, description, dialogue and more. The excercises likewise serve as diagnostics for when things aren't quite working the way you'd like.

Distilled from over twenty years of writing experience, and rife with examples, 21 Days To a Novel is a clear roadmap to setting you up for writing success. If you've always dreamed of writing a novel, and didn't know where to start, you've found that place. 21 Days To a Novel is the booklet that will give your dreams all they need to grow into a fantastic and strong novel.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, How To

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 12, 2009

Reviews

[Jaq Greenspon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great advice. As always with this kind of book, take what you can use and leave the rest. It misses some of the basics but a nice primer.

I just wish someone had proofread this before sending it out. Nothing does more to discredit the work of a writing teacher than bad writing.

[Mercedes Yardley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little book that gives you daily exercises in order to plan a novel and work on characters in 21 days. It is not a book about writing a novel in 21 days. I found it to be a good book with solid information and exercises that could be truly beneficial. It's a bit of a dry read, but many primers are. This would be a great choice if you're looking for something to jog your creative mind and are willing to put in the work. It's accessible and gentle enough for a beginning writer, and I feel the exercises would be useful for advanced writers, as well.

[Andy Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's no tackiness here that the title might suggest. '21' delivers broadly as promised: 21 clear steps laid out in detail. The exercises are varying lengths, and purvey character, plot, environment, all the principles. Michael is efficient in his teaching the business of story work, with engaging stimuli throughout. There's such professionalism in this that he doesn't let up until the final chapter when we get a peek behind the curtain to a warm and witty man, with stories of his own, hinted at with lure. If this review doesn't convince you, I have to re-draft.

I give this my rare five stars. I can't think of any good reason not to.

(Note: In my case, it took six months to finish (this slim volume) and it feels very worthwhile. So adjust your '21' to the degree you have the book in mind. You get out of this writing aid what you put into it.)

[Jery Schober · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I like Stackpole's novels, his way of creating a novel doesn't work for me. I'm all for character development, but this method of building a character from more and more sentences just doesn't feel right for me. I tried it, I failed.
Others may get a useful approach out of this method and be able to build a coherent plot this way.
I liked the bits around it - don't edit the first draft, keep writin, keep pushing and finish it before you think about revising it.

[Jamie Maltman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick little book of sequential writing exercises that build toward a novel. Well done, and a lot of fun. I'd recommend it if you have trouble getting your ideas out, or would be interested in trying a light version of plotting, disguised as daily writing prompts.

[Fiona Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from a few inexcusable proof-reading errors, this is a book filled with surprisingly helpful advice on how to outline a novel and get some great characterization started. I plan to use Stackpole's steps to start my next novel, since outlining is something that I struggle with.