Planning, Plotting, and Progress: A Guide to Building Your Novel

by Mark Teppo

What's the most annoying thing about writing a novel? They don't write themselves.
What's the second most annoying thing about writing a novel? No, really, they don't write themselves.
What the hardest thing about writing a novel? Actually turning your sexy outline into a real book. With words, and stuff.

Sure, you've got a really awesome outline, a notebook full of character sketches, and your work space is overflowing with "research" materials, but that blank page is still staring at you. Getting ready to write a book is one thing, but actually putting all the words down on the page--in the right order, more or less--can be even harder than coming up with a clever idea or two. Especially when you might have a full-time job already or a family that wants to see you at least once a month or more. How do these writers do it? How do they find the time and the persistence to actually finish a book?

Planning, Plotting, and Progress is the guidebook for building your novel, and it will answer these questions and more. Questions you didn't even know were lurking out there, waiting to ambush you when you reach the fourth or fortieth or four hundredth page of your manuscript. Here are tips to get from Plot Point A to B to R without getting too distracted along the way, as well as methods to find a rhythm and make it yours, and all sorts of helpful hints.

The follow-on book to Mark Teppo's successful Jumpstart Your Novel , Planning, Plotting, and Progress is here to take your book to the next level.

Genres: Writing

132 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2016

About the author

Mark Teppo has written more than a dozen novels across a number of genres. He's a book-seller, paper-hoarder, and troublemaker. Not necessarily in that order.

Reviews

[Darin Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the good fortune of reading this in manuscript, and I highly recommend it. Teppo's engaging voice is both informative and amusing; this guide lacks the polemics and invectives common to some species of writing guides--those plodding, obvious collections of exercises without any useful direction. Teppo keeps his guide relevant by packing it with relatable analyses and down-to-Earth suggestions to help writers at any level.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 STARS
2016; ROTA Books
(Review Not on Blog)

An interesting guide on how to put together your novel. A good guide to keep at hand when writing.

***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***

[John D DeWeese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for planning a book, sparking your creativity , and motivating yourself to actually write. I especially liked Mark’s system for setting aside “glorious writing time” where you must block off set writing time each day. He is also very funny and more than a little irreverent which granted could be a turn off.

[no leek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially bought this because of the no bs and swearing. It did have some helpful tips and tricks for story structure.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

See how develop the plot of a fiction book with the help of tarot cards.

This is an interesting enough book about writing with some original ideas like the use of tarot cards to develop your plot. I found the author’s charts and diagrams with the shape and structure of a book a bit confusing. It has examples from Star Wars plot structure, an interesting point for those who are fans of the movies.
I received na Arc from Edeilweiss in exchange of an honest review.

[E.Y.E.-D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from a goodreads.com giveaway.

It took me a while to actually set aside some time to read this but once I got past the first few pages I finished it in one sitting. It was very informative and written in an easier to follow format than most of the other books I have read about writing. I would recommend this to anyone that has an idea and needs some help with turning that idea into words you like.