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Ready, Set, Novel!: A Workbook
This writer's block-busting workbook guides authors through planning and plotting a novel before writing it from the initial idea generation and brainstorming through character, setting, and story development. Full of helpful lists, plot maps, character Q&As, field trips, writing exercises, inspiring quotes, and plenty of space to write and outline, Ready, Set, Novel! provides ample inspiration and guidance to first-time novelists and more seasoned scribes alike.
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
June 14, 2013
I bought this book ages ago when writing a novel seemed like just a pipe dream. Now one Nanowrimo under my belt and a brainstorm book full of ideas this has become my novel planning bible. Before using this book I created shallow characters. Now when crafting I can tell you every tiny detail of these invisible characters and their wants, needs and intentions even further then what would ever make it into a novel. I also loved the plot section as well, the book is broken down into so many steps that I’ve gone back and used sections for prep work on new pieces I’m working on. The prompts are great for days when you’re exploring your mind and need to get past writer’s block. Probably my favourite writer’s workbook/planner I’ve come across. Love!!
November 6, 2015
I bought this for my hubby who keeps whinging that I write so much and he just sits there twiddling his thumbs. This is his review really, since he has read it and I have just glanced through it.
This is a very interactive book, with a ton of exercises to get your creative juices flowing and a lot of ideas for building your novel.
So it does what it says on the tin really.
My hubby still hasn't churned out a novel. I don't think this should be a reflection on this book though. He procrastinates for England.
This is a very interactive book, with a ton of exercises to get your creative juices flowing and a lot of ideas for building your novel.
So it does what it says on the tin really.
My hubby still hasn't churned out a novel. I don't think this should be a reflection on this book though. He procrastinates for England.
October 9, 2012
An excellent workbook to help you get that novel out of your head and onto paper. Every chapter and activity in this book is extremely helpful. If not for this workbook, I would still be struggling with where to begin. I especially liked the chapter spent on fleshing out your characters. It allows you to get to know your people even better.
December 28, 2014
I didn't complete all the exercises because some of them weren't relevant to me (and also for a few I didn't have answers!) but this was such a great workbook to get the idea of what you want your story to be when you take on the challenge that is NaNoWriMo.
I would definitely use this again (well, a new copy!), except I would start it much earlier so I could get my planning done before NaNo started :)
I would definitely use this again (well, a new copy!), except I would start it much earlier so I could get my planning done before NaNo started :)
November 21, 2011
Another gem from the Office of Letters and Light. I need to buy another so I can keep one in perfect quality and another to write in!
January 8, 2024
If you're a writer, beginner or advanced, then this is a perfect book for you. This book gives clear exercises for you to carry out in trying to brainstorm ideas, how to build upon concepts such as the core and pitch of your book, creating characters and motives, setting/plot, and many other things.
I found the exercises very engaging and easy to understand. They're split into different sections and it gradually builds up your confidence in planning to write either a short story or a fully fleshed novel. I intend to use this book closely in the future to come as I want to write short stories and expand my creativity.
Overall, very helpful and informative. I'm so glad this book exists.
I found the exercises very engaging and easy to understand. They're split into different sections and it gradually builds up your confidence in planning to write either a short story or a fully fleshed novel. I intend to use this book closely in the future to come as I want to write short stories and expand my creativity.
Overall, very helpful and informative. I'm so glad this book exists.
October 2, 2013
This is not exactly a book to read from page 1 to the end, but I have read pretty much all of it. More importantly, I should say I have written on most of the pages. That's probably the first time I've been proud to say that!
The book is a really useful way to organising your thoughts and crystallising them into something that you can turn into a novel. In fact it starts from the premise that you don't actually have an idea to turn into a novel, but you want to write. It gives a variety of ways for finding stories, for sparking inspiration and then a pretty much step-by-step guide to structuring your masterpiece. There's even fun bits like a page with a hand for a pat on the back and one with a boot for the much-needed kick in the pants. There's plenty of room for scribbling ideas and even a useful little pocket at the back for scraps of paper with perfect bits of dialogue or whatever scribbled on them.
I gave it four stars because I found some of the exercises redundant, but that's maybe because it didn't necessarily fit my genre.
The book is authored by the NaNoWriMo people and follows that chatty friendly style of the website (www.nanowrimo.org) . I'd definitely recommend it if you're new to writing, or perhaps terribly jaded!
The book is a really useful way to organising your thoughts and crystallising them into something that you can turn into a novel. In fact it starts from the premise that you don't actually have an idea to turn into a novel, but you want to write. It gives a variety of ways for finding stories, for sparking inspiration and then a pretty much step-by-step guide to structuring your masterpiece. There's even fun bits like a page with a hand for a pat on the back and one with a boot for the much-needed kick in the pants. There's plenty of room for scribbling ideas and even a useful little pocket at the back for scraps of paper with perfect bits of dialogue or whatever scribbled on them.
I gave it four stars because I found some of the exercises redundant, but that's maybe because it didn't necessarily fit my genre.
The book is authored by the NaNoWriMo people and follows that chatty friendly style of the website (www.nanowrimo.org) . I'd definitely recommend it if you're new to writing, or perhaps terribly jaded!
August 8, 2015
This book is forcing me to write creatively and actually giving shape to what I hope will end up as a novel :')
I absolutely recommend it
I absolutely recommend it
July 10, 2018
While there is definitely no one-size-fits-all approach to writing a novel, this is brilliant when it comes to making the planning process easier. I wasted too much time planning my first novel, and this workbook has allowed me to still thoroughly plan out my second without the same excess.
It's got everything you need in terms of prompting you to think the right way about your characters, setting and story arc (and a few other things which I hadn't even considered). I also like the fact that it's designed to be filled in over a four-week period, even though that's not what I've done.
My only criticism of it is that there's not quite enough writing space in it!
It's got everything you need in terms of prompting you to think the right way about your characters, setting and story arc (and a few other things which I hadn't even considered). I also like the fact that it's designed to be filled in over a four-week period, even though that's not what I've done.
My only criticism of it is that there's not quite enough writing space in it!
February 7, 2019
This is a workbook for writers who usually participate in NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. The goal is a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.
But, for the faint-hearted there is Camp NaNoWriMo in April and July for those who want to set their sights lower (10K) or higher than 50K.
This work book, which I've copied for my numerous projects, helps writers plan their novels. Whether the writer needs help with basic story plotting, character building, naming their novel, or prompts to get the story going - this workbook is, in my opinion, an invaluable tool.
It is an easy to read and follow format, which I am still using today!
But, for the faint-hearted there is Camp NaNoWriMo in April and July for those who want to set their sights lower (10K) or higher than 50K.
This work book, which I've copied for my numerous projects, helps writers plan their novels. Whether the writer needs help with basic story plotting, character building, naming their novel, or prompts to get the story going - this workbook is, in my opinion, an invaluable tool.
It is an easy to read and follow format, which I am still using today!
August 4, 2022
An inspiring and highly entertaining workbook that helped me move on from writing short stories to planning a novel. I’ve been mulling a vague idea around in my head for some time. I now have a cast of believable characters, a workable plot and 10,000 words written up. One improvement I would suggest. As it is a workbook, it could be produced in ring binder form so it is actually possible to write in it. The book is quite bulky and doesn’t lie flat. Writing more than brief notes in it was difficult. For the exercises where you are expected to fill in a whole page I resorted to writing in a separate notebook. Other than that it is an excellent and fun resource for budding authors.
September 29, 2022
A book of pep talks, (light) novel-writing theory, and exercises to get the ball rolling for a new novel. This workbook is suitable for people who have only a vague idea for a novel or who have a rough idea that needs refinement. It contains exercises for character, plot, timeline, and setting, as well as exercises to help you see that inspiration can come from many different areas, help refine the project into a solid plan. A few spots are showing their age ("he" pronouns alone for the protagonist, references to a phone book, etc.) but overall I found it super helpful.
June 4, 2019
This is such an amazing and insightful writing workbook.
I've been doing the NaNoWriMo for four years now, and this book is a great help to planning, writing and editing a novel. There are solid tips and the writing activities are both fun and actually really interesting. You learn to plan and plot, to have strong and complex characters, and everything is meant for you to get inspired.
This is by far the best writing workbook I've ever had.
Highly recommend to every writers wannabe.
I've been doing the NaNoWriMo for four years now, and this book is a great help to planning, writing and editing a novel. There are solid tips and the writing activities are both fun and actually really interesting. You learn to plan and plot, to have strong and complex characters, and everything is meant for you to get inspired.
This is by far the best writing workbook I've ever had.
Highly recommend to every writers wannabe.
March 20, 2017
This is a great workbook for writers to help get stuff done. I didn't use this while participating in NaNoWriMo, but I know that it would have helped me tremendously if I had. Even after I have done NaNo, it is still a helpful tool in my quest to finish a novel. I's designed more for stories that haven't been developed yet, but it still works for stories in the middle of being written as well. Highly recommended!
Read
October 16, 2017Excellent, I needed some direction in character building and this was brilliant. It taught me so much more. Love it and recommend it
October 9, 2017
This book was super easy to follow, kept motivation high, and was highly entertaining. I plan on recommending it to all my Creative Writing students.
January 19, 2020
Fun for organizing and brainstorming, but not vital to the process.
May 10, 2020
An excellent workbook to get start on writing your first or second or third novel. From the people at National Novel Writing Month.
Read
October 29, 2020An excellent workbook, was surprised to be able to purchase this in the card section of the city bookshop...
October 26, 2021
A well-paced workbook with great activities to inspire ideas and put them together into a story.
October 23, 2022
Hugely helpful for brainstorming.
May 9, 2018
While I don't write in this book, I do revisit it frequently for page setups to help me organize the mess which is my mind. The timeline page I find more useful in retrospect during the NaNoWriMo process (I use my own timelines elsewhere), but many of the others (including the character bio pages) I find I use regularly. Overall, this book is a fun way of taking in ways you can organize elements of your story, rather than a hard and fast "you must do this in this order for it to work." So browse through it, use what you find helpful and ignore the things you don't.
January 19, 2024
[First Glance]
Woohoo! It's a NaNoWriMo workbook! I love workbooks!
In all seriousness, this was the last NaNoWriMo-specific book on my list. I mostly bought it to complete the NaNoWriMo mini collection.
[Positive Bits]
The NaNoWriMo team really did create a workbook for writers that fits the formatting of the event itself. These are the hands-on activities I said were missing in the previous books; in fact, I'm surprised they didn't make a combination set somewhere along the way.
I love the playful attitude of this workbook. There's a page that's literally a high five, and you're supposed to celebrate your successes by slapping the hand on the page. There's also a boot for your "kick in the pants" as needed. Silly, but cute!
For a newbie writer with little or no experience with creating characters from scratch, I think the activities focused on that process are particularly helpful. When I was younger, I basically kidnapped the personality of people close to me (while changing their names). The workbook gives you more thorough activities for character building.
[Less Enjoyable Bits]
I'm not sure this book is useful if you've written multiple stories in the past. Many of the activities are super simplified processes that you internalize as you grow, and that makes this workbook feel less helpful than I'd hoped it to be.
Workbooks, by their very nature, have little actual writing in them. There's tons of blank space for the person actually doing the work. That said, I sprinted through this book and found myself disappointed at how short it was outside of the times you were supposed to pause your reading and do an exercise.
It's a silly complaint, but I prefer workbooks that are bound in a way that allows easier use. The spine on this book (while new) is very stiff, so actually writing in the workbook itself would be irritating until you broke it in. There's not much to do about that, though, unless the publisher wanted to use the thinner paper and binding of a traditional school workbook instead of trade paperback binding methods.
Woohoo! It's a NaNoWriMo workbook! I love workbooks!
In all seriousness, this was the last NaNoWriMo-specific book on my list. I mostly bought it to complete the NaNoWriMo mini collection.
[Positive Bits]
The NaNoWriMo team really did create a workbook for writers that fits the formatting of the event itself. These are the hands-on activities I said were missing in the previous books; in fact, I'm surprised they didn't make a combination set somewhere along the way.
I love the playful attitude of this workbook. There's a page that's literally a high five, and you're supposed to celebrate your successes by slapping the hand on the page. There's also a boot for your "kick in the pants" as needed. Silly, but cute!
For a newbie writer with little or no experience with creating characters from scratch, I think the activities focused on that process are particularly helpful. When I was younger, I basically kidnapped the personality of people close to me (while changing their names). The workbook gives you more thorough activities for character building.
[Less Enjoyable Bits]
I'm not sure this book is useful if you've written multiple stories in the past. Many of the activities are super simplified processes that you internalize as you grow, and that makes this workbook feel less helpful than I'd hoped it to be.
Workbooks, by their very nature, have little actual writing in them. There's tons of blank space for the person actually doing the work. That said, I sprinted through this book and found myself disappointed at how short it was outside of the times you were supposed to pause your reading and do an exercise.
It's a silly complaint, but I prefer workbooks that are bound in a way that allows easier use. The spine on this book (while new) is very stiff, so actually writing in the workbook itself would be irritating until you broke it in. There's not much to do about that, though, unless the publisher wanted to use the thinner paper and binding of a traditional school workbook instead of trade paperback binding methods.
October 24, 2016
The Ready, Set, Novel workbook allows people preparing for writing a novel (whether NANO or in general) to work through everything they'll need, right from brainstorming basic ideas to character and setting detail, and all the nit-picky pieces that are needed.
I read this as a companion to No Plot, No Problem in preparation and over the first couple of weeks of Nano, and for me, who already had some of my plan worked out, I was able to pick and choose what I needed in order to successfully complete the plan for a novel. I could see the progression from start to finish that could be useful for the future when I'm starting from scratch so it can be used either way.
There were a few hints and tips at the beginning of each chapter, but I would recommend reading No Plot, No Problem with this for a complete overview of what you'll need to emotionally plan and write a novel.
I read this as a companion to No Plot, No Problem in preparation and over the first couple of weeks of Nano, and for me, who already had some of my plan worked out, I was able to pick and choose what I needed in order to successfully complete the plan for a novel. I could see the progression from start to finish that could be useful for the future when I'm starting from scratch so it can be used either way.
There were a few hints and tips at the beginning of each chapter, but I would recommend reading No Plot, No Problem with this for a complete overview of what you'll need to emotionally plan and write a novel.
December 12, 2017
So this was my second year doing NaNoWriMo and my first year using this book. Going into it I was not sure how much it was going to help me but by the end of NaNo I decided I need to buy a copy of this workbook every year from now on. The exercises in this book gave me a kick in the ass so many times and helped me work through ideas and character creation and gave me so much to write about. The book is structured in such a way where it helps you build your story from beginning to end as you go straight through, but you can just as easily work through the book in whatever order you want to build new ideas when you need them. I think it is such a great tool and am so thankful that I took advantage of it this year.
August 4, 2015
I have been using this book on and off for a year, and can highly recommend it. It's style appears informal at first but once you start scribbling its structure becomes apparent. It guides you very effectively through the stages of preparing a novel, creating characters, settings, themes etc. I had originally intended to use it with the Nanowrimo competition but instead used it as a guide for working things out for my 3rd Haldred Chronicles book throughout 2015. I would recommend for both budding novelists but also those struggling with writers block!
September 8, 2013
This workbook is amazing!! It truly helps you throughout the entire process of planning out your novel, from the plot, characters, title and opening chapter! It even has interesting pages with prompts to help fight off writer's block and to introduce new ideas for your book. I highly recommend this to anyone thinking about writing a novel!
May 31, 2014
Un workbook di scrittura.
Il metodo perfetto per concentrarsi sul proprio romanzo seguendo le indicazioni di esperti. Non c'è tecnica, solo dedizione e tanta scrittura, mettendo a disposizione schede tecniche per la realizzazione di personaggi, timeline e conquistare il climax adatto.
Un titolo eccezionale per chiunque voglia scrivere senza badare alla tecnica, ma andando dritto al sodo.
Il metodo perfetto per concentrarsi sul proprio romanzo seguendo le indicazioni di esperti. Non c'è tecnica, solo dedizione e tanta scrittura, mettendo a disposizione schede tecniche per la realizzazione di personaggi, timeline e conquistare il climax adatto.
Un titolo eccezionale per chiunque voglia scrivere senza badare alla tecnica, ma andando dritto al sodo.
October 17, 2012
A workbook with some fun exercises and some helpful exercises. You can tell that some of them aren't going to get you anywhere and are intended to get you excited about writing, which is valid. I liked the layout and the character building worksheets.
April 8, 2014
A helpful workbook for writers looking for assistance getting started in writing the book within by plotting the outline and developing the characters in that story. Exercises to expand a writer's horizons offer further assistance to assure the best book is the author's final product.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews