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90 Days to Your Novel: A Day-by-Day Plan for Outlining & Writing Your Book
Got 90 Days? Then You Can Be a Novelist...
Many famous authors write their novels in a matter of weeks. William Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying in six weeks. Joyce Carol Oates often cranks out two or three books a year. Stephen King believes first drafts should take no more than three months to complete. So, what's the trick? Novel writing isn't about inspiration. It's about the time, energy, and discipline to see the project to its finish.
With 90 Days To Your Novel at your side, now is the time. This inspiring guide will be your push, your deadline, and your spark to finally, without excuses, and in three short months, nail that first draft of your novel.
The difference between wanna-be writers and real writers is the difference between talk and work. If you commit to the schedule and the techniques within 90 Days to Your Novel and invest two to three hours a day for twelve weeks, you will complete your book. An outline will appear. Characters will take shape. A plot will emerge. Scenes will come together and form a story worth reading. And then the talking can begin!
This helpful guide provides:
Instruction that distills the elements of the novel - from crafting your outline to developing intriguing characters and believable plots
Strategies for gaining support from your family and friends
Motivating insights about writing and writers to minimize your inevitable moments of doubt
A schedule to keep you in the writing zone and keep you focused, creative, and working
Whether you're writing your first novel or your third, this guide provides the coaching, the planning, and the writerly commiseration to help get your book written.
Many famous authors write their novels in a matter of weeks. William Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying in six weeks. Joyce Carol Oates often cranks out two or three books a year. Stephen King believes first drafts should take no more than three months to complete. So, what's the trick? Novel writing isn't about inspiration. It's about the time, energy, and discipline to see the project to its finish.
With 90 Days To Your Novel at your side, now is the time. This inspiring guide will be your push, your deadline, and your spark to finally, without excuses, and in three short months, nail that first draft of your novel.
The difference between wanna-be writers and real writers is the difference between talk and work. If you commit to the schedule and the techniques within 90 Days to Your Novel and invest two to three hours a day for twelve weeks, you will complete your book. An outline will appear. Characters will take shape. A plot will emerge. Scenes will come together and form a story worth reading. And then the talking can begin!
This helpful guide provides:
Instruction that distills the elements of the novel - from crafting your outline to developing intriguing characters and believable plots
Strategies for gaining support from your family and friends
Motivating insights about writing and writers to minimize your inevitable moments of doubt
A schedule to keep you in the writing zone and keep you focused, creative, and working
Whether you're writing your first novel or your third, this guide provides the coaching, the planning, and the writerly commiseration to help get your book written.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
147 people are currently reading
861 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Domet
5 books88 followersSarah Domet is the author of the novels The Guineveres and Everything Lost Returns, and the craft book 90 Days to Your Novel. She is a professor and the coordinator of the MFA program in creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
September 14, 2014
Not a bad book, but not particularly useful for me. The book assumes that you would like to be a novelist, but have zero ideas for a book. The entire first month is brain-storming ideas. If you already have ideas, that's not going to help. The brain-storming exercises are also not helpful if you're writing any genre other than contemporary, since she asks you to draw from your own experiences. I haven't met with a lot of space bandits or wizards, so not gonna help me out a lot.
The subsequent exercise all depend on the completion of previous ones, so you can't just skip ahead. She has some good ideas - I liked the one about coming up with ten different first lines, for example. But unless you plan to follow the course to the letter, you can't get much out of it.
The subsequent exercise all depend on the completion of previous ones, so you can't just skip ahead. She has some good ideas - I liked the one about coming up with ten different first lines, for example. But unless you plan to follow the course to the letter, you can't get much out of it.
August 9, 2011
I ended up reading this writer's craft book straight through, but I'll have to try it out when I'm trying to truly write a story in 90 days (as opposed to 30 or 60). I think it's certainly a great book for beginning writers in terms of having concrete examples and exercises to guide the writer along for the ride in the 90 day cycle, but I realized as someone who tends to make my own process of writing a novel (placing characters first, shaping stories by scene, etc.) and personal pacing it is a little limiting and sluggish. However, I expected that to be the case for isolating certain elements of the story at a given time. It's good if you're looking for concrete things to do in a day and sticking to your guns when you're working on the time cycle, so I'll give it that. It also offers helpful tips on structuring your stories in three act structure. There may be some things here that the veteran writers gloss over slightly because you feel you already know what makes good dialogue or for good conflicts, but the exercises themselves are useful in pushing yourself along in the process, and I feel the author's advice is useful, practical, as well as encouraging.
By far, the most helpful part I took from this guide are the precursor chapters on outlining and structure that are included in part I. It gives a very nice summary of various ways you can prepare your scenes and gives examples as to how to format them. That was a nice touch and I could see myself using some of those methods to structure my stories before writing them.
Overall score: 3.5/5
By far, the most helpful part I took from this guide are the precursor chapters on outlining and structure that are included in part I. It gives a very nice summary of various ways you can prepare your scenes and gives examples as to how to format them. That was a nice touch and I could see myself using some of those methods to structure my stories before writing them.
Overall score: 3.5/5
December 24, 2015
I am enormously glad that I didn't try to do the exercises in this book without reading it first, because I think I would've been really frustrated. Far too much of this reads like "baby's first writing book", which isn't very useful for me. I have at least a basic understanding of how to write, and I don't want to waste 21 of the 90 days on random exercises that won't contribute much, if anything, towards my novel. I appreciate the author's focus on outlining, but her attitude is frustrating and condescending, both about outlines and writing in general. This is especially bad when she doesn't seem to have ever published a novel of her own. She's much to "my way or the highway" about things, and I've gotten tired of drudging through this to little benefit. There's no point to me trying to finish this book up, when I can spend my time reading far better writing books instead. Furthermore, I think the author is mostly focused on literary fiction, which isn't very useful to somebody like me who is more interested in doing genre fiction. She gives a few nods to genre stuff, but doesn't really expand on them. And she just doesn't shut up about The Great Gatsby, which really ticked me off. All in all, the idea of writing a first draft of a novel in three months isn't a bad one, but if I ever try, there's no way in hell I'm using this as my blueprint.
April 18, 2013
A good book - my main problem is not the process the author lays out for the reader, but the pace it prescribes, at least for me. I believe I write fairly fast, based on having several nonfiction books in print and having held a number of jobs in which writing was one of my main duties, but for me to accomplish some of the daily assignments within one day I'd have to spend the entire day doing nothing else and probably work into the night.
With that said, a lot of the tasks included are likely to be extremely useful for fiction writers. I'm glad I got this book, I'll be using it as a reference and guide, and I recommend it to aspiring novelists. My advice, though, is not to expect yourself to live up to its timetable unless you live alone and don't have to work at anything else for three months.
With that said, a lot of the tasks included are likely to be extremely useful for fiction writers. I'm glad I got this book, I'll be using it as a reference and guide, and I recommend it to aspiring novelists. My advice, though, is not to expect yourself to live up to its timetable unless you live alone and don't have to work at anything else for three months.
March 29, 2013
I love this book. This guide provided the blueprint for my last novel, and I'm using parts of it to plan my current project. The combination of specific daily exercises and pre-writing prompts provides an excellent start by the time you finally get around to writing the novel. The process even includes reviewing and analyzing your outline to help you cut out the boring parts before you spend the time writing them.
My one quibble is that the daily exercises seem a bit ambitious. I don't think I'm an especially slow writer, but several of these exercises take far longer than the recommended 2.5 - 3 hours. (It typically takes me at least 10 hours to finish the character sketches from Day 3.)
It's a well-written, clear, step-by-step manual for exploring your novel concept and creating a fleshed-out, yet flexible working outline. If you're developing (or fine-tuning) your own planning process, this book is a great resource.
UPDATE TO REVIEW, 3/29/13:
Okay, so I apparently stopped using the book halfway through. Once I had a good working outline, I set aside this book and put all my efforts into writing. It's a good thing, too. Otherwise, I probably would have hurled my Kindle across the room.
Did I mention that some of the exercises seem ambitious? Try this one: Week 8, Exercise 3 (of 4) tells you to write out all the scenes between the first and the final scene of your first act. Yeah. She's telling you to squeeze in the first 25-30% of your book in a few days. With the average novel ranging between 60K and 100K, this amounts to roughly 12K-20K words in less than a week. (Remember, we have three other exercises to cram in.) To put things in perspective, Stephen King has gone on record with his 2,000-word daily quota. Yet, Domet suggests that her daily exercises can be done in three hours, give or take.
The first half of the book is an excellent guide. The second half just ticks me off. While it's possible to write a book in 90 days, more or less, very few people will be able to produce the polished draft that Domet claims to deliver in that time frame - certainly not within three hours per day.
My one quibble is that the daily exercises seem a bit ambitious. I don't think I'm an especially slow writer, but several of these exercises take far longer than the recommended 2.5 - 3 hours. (It typically takes me at least 10 hours to finish the character sketches from Day 3.)
It's a well-written, clear, step-by-step manual for exploring your novel concept and creating a fleshed-out, yet flexible working outline. If you're developing (or fine-tuning) your own planning process, this book is a great resource.
UPDATE TO REVIEW, 3/29/13:
Okay, so I apparently stopped using the book halfway through. Once I had a good working outline, I set aside this book and put all my efforts into writing. It's a good thing, too. Otherwise, I probably would have hurled my Kindle across the room.
Did I mention that some of the exercises seem ambitious? Try this one: Week 8, Exercise 3 (of 4) tells you to write out all the scenes between the first and the final scene of your first act. Yeah. She's telling you to squeeze in the first 25-30% of your book in a few days. With the average novel ranging between 60K and 100K, this amounts to roughly 12K-20K words in less than a week. (Remember, we have three other exercises to cram in.) To put things in perspective, Stephen King has gone on record with his 2,000-word daily quota. Yet, Domet suggests that her daily exercises can be done in three hours, give or take.
The first half of the book is an excellent guide. The second half just ticks me off. While it's possible to write a book in 90 days, more or less, very few people will be able to produce the polished draft that Domet claims to deliver in that time frame - certainly not within three hours per day.
September 9, 2013
I picked up this book because I had grown tired of making excuses for why I "can't" at least finish a draft. There are quite a few courses out there that aim at the same goal. After sampling various of them, I felt that Sarah Domet was "getting" the problem best (her experience teaching ornery would-be novelists becomes obvious when she comments on your excuses before you even had time to make them), and she believes in the importance of creating a proper outline instead of just writing without a blueprint.
I'm convinced that the only reliable way to ever finish a novel (at least the draft of one, which is this book's target) is to follow a strict schedule, regardless of whether one "feels like it". The assignments offered here may partly seem irrelevant to what you want to write, or even tedious, but they are all cleverly designed and not only got me in the habit of writing daily and overcoming the "don't wanna!" barriers, but also trained my mind to think creatively even if I don't "feel" creative.
As of writing this pre-review, I'm still going through the assignments. I'm documenting my progress daily at http://www.tufted.org (in the "90-days novel" category).
I'm convinced that the only reliable way to ever finish a novel (at least the draft of one, which is this book's target) is to follow a strict schedule, regardless of whether one "feels like it". The assignments offered here may partly seem irrelevant to what you want to write, or even tedious, but they are all cleverly designed and not only got me in the habit of writing daily and overcoming the "don't wanna!" barriers, but also trained my mind to think creatively even if I don't "feel" creative.
As of writing this pre-review, I'm still going through the assignments. I'm documenting my progress daily at http://www.tufted.org (in the "90-days novel" category).
March 10, 2012
This book has made it to my top 5 favorite books on writing. It's packed with insightful advice and filled with exercises that concentrate on each area of writing individually, while striving to organize your ideas for your novel, culminating in writing it and re-writing in 90 days. I suggest reading this book with The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman.
November 8, 2012
has some good tips for sure, but i dont think that all of the exercises would really benefit me. i read it, took from it what is beneficial, and helpful and will go on to write in my own fashion utilizing some of the info from the book.
October 13, 2025
I think this book would be very helpful for someone who has never written a book before!
I personally didn’t love how it seemed to assume that you had zero ideas for your own book, which made it less of what I was looking for
I personally didn’t love how it seemed to assume that you had zero ideas for your own book, which made it less of what I was looking for
April 18, 2023
I think that this book could be a great tool for new authors and/or young writers.
Domet does a good job of walking you through the various concepts and ideas that you will need to think of when writing a novel.
I started this book having already planned out a timeline and scenes for my novel so I didn't have much work to do while following the first half of their assignments although there were a few that prompted me to add more items/concepts/themes/thought into my characters, plot and voice.
Domet has broken down novel writing into digestible bits although it is still a HUGE meal with an ambitious deadline.
If you follow this method you will indeed have your first draft completed in 90 days.
The only other comment I would add is that Domet seems to REALLY dislike people who write in coffee shops.
Overall, if you are looking for somewhere to start on your novel, this book is a great tool.
Even if you do not plan to follow this method step-by-step, I would still suggesting reading it in it's entirety. There is a lot of information, tips, tricks and food for thought in these pages.
Domet does a good job of walking you through the various concepts and ideas that you will need to think of when writing a novel.
I started this book having already planned out a timeline and scenes for my novel so I didn't have much work to do while following the first half of their assignments although there were a few that prompted me to add more items/concepts/themes/thought into my characters, plot and voice.
Domet has broken down novel writing into digestible bits although it is still a HUGE meal with an ambitious deadline.
If you follow this method you will indeed have your first draft completed in 90 days.
The only other comment I would add is that Domet seems to REALLY dislike people who write in coffee shops.
Overall, if you are looking for somewhere to start on your novel, this book is a great tool.
Even if you do not plan to follow this method step-by-step, I would still suggesting reading it in it's entirety. There is a lot of information, tips, tricks and food for thought in these pages.
May 12, 2020
90 Days to your novel is a great book. It's based on prewriting;in my experience it can really clarify where your novel is going.
I didn't write my novel in 90 days, but I did finish it a lot faster than I would have otherwise. I recommend it highly.
I didn't write my novel in 90 days, but I did finish it a lot faster than I would have otherwise. I recommend it highly.
July 9, 2023
This is a bit of a difficult book to rate.
On the one hand, I really liked that it was set up as a step-by-step, day-by-day guide. She does go over a few different types of outlining methods and encourages you to find the one that works best for you. She also gives you pros and cons for each. The advice is interesting and the exercises provided can be very useful, even if they're fairly typical of writing prompts or writing classes.
If you know nothing about writing, have no ideas on what to write, etc, this would likely be a 5-star for you.
On the other hand, though she goes through several types of outlining, including some that aren't as in depth, her books tosses you into a day by day in-depth outline making journey and provides no examples for anything less. As such, almost a whole month is taking by the outlining alone.
Also, the exercises suggested imply you have no ideas of your own to work with.
There is nothing I detest more than to be told "Write a memory from your childhood." Look, unless my childhood memory involves elves and vampires (spoilers: it doesn't, unless you count watching Interview With the Vampire or reading LOTR), I don't really care to write about it in any way, shape or form.
Could you adapt that to your own ideas? Yes, probably. But it would take a lot of tweaking as the following exercises build up on the previous ones.
So, overall, I think it's a great book; but sadly, it ended up not seeming very useful to me in particular beyond random bits of advice here and there.
On the one hand, I really liked that it was set up as a step-by-step, day-by-day guide. She does go over a few different types of outlining methods and encourages you to find the one that works best for you. She also gives you pros and cons for each. The advice is interesting and the exercises provided can be very useful, even if they're fairly typical of writing prompts or writing classes.
If you know nothing about writing, have no ideas on what to write, etc, this would likely be a 5-star for you.
On the other hand, though she goes through several types of outlining, including some that aren't as in depth, her books tosses you into a day by day in-depth outline making journey and provides no examples for anything less. As such, almost a whole month is taking by the outlining alone.
Also, the exercises suggested imply you have no ideas of your own to work with.
There is nothing I detest more than to be told "Write a memory from your childhood." Look, unless my childhood memory involves elves and vampires (spoilers: it doesn't, unless you count watching Interview With the Vampire or reading LOTR), I don't really care to write about it in any way, shape or form.
Could you adapt that to your own ideas? Yes, probably. But it would take a lot of tweaking as the following exercises build up on the previous ones.
So, overall, I think it's a great book; but sadly, it ended up not seeming very useful to me in particular beyond random bits of advice here and there.
July 22, 2017
I found this a useful tool for organising and planning my story. I had been working on a novel idea for an age and was getting a bit lost. This book helped get me back on the road with thoughtful insight and useful writing exercises. I didn't quite make it to the end as I found I was well and truly planned and ready to go. I also like the element of surprise when writing and felt I was beginning to lose that a little. If you are an established writer this will be of little worth to you but if you want guidance and a leg up I think this book helps.
I did not intend to write a novel in 90 days so I ignored the title, I just wanted direction.
I did not intend to write a novel in 90 days so I ignored the title, I just wanted direction.
October 12, 2025
Excellent guide for novelists, I just wasn't prepared to devote 2-3 hours a day to writing in my current situation (which is everyone's excuse, always), so I was a little shocked by the intensity and disappointed in my falling short. So, if you are serious about your craft, make sure you are ready to jump into it head over heels with no strings attached. As a teacher, I probably should have started this process over the summer, so I would have more time. I am still following the system, just at a much slower pace.
July 8, 2018
A good resource for learning how to write a novel. I bookmarked a few pages that I will likely use for reference. She really does not assume any prior knowledge about writing: she takes you through everything step by step. I still don't think I want to write a novel quite that quickly, but it does seem doable.
September 28, 2019
This is written more for new writers who need practice with developing writing skills. For more seasoned writers, there's tons of this that can be skipped. I ended up tossing it altogether as it didn't really offer me anything new. If I had read this 5 years ago when I started my writing journey, this may have been my favorite book. I guess we'll never know.
June 7, 2017
This was fine. Maybe if you use as prescribed (i.e. actually following the 90-day plan) it's more of an inspiration. For me, just reading through it, it didn't say much new, though there were a few gems I took away.
November 25, 2017
Great book! Very useful as a tool for getting past stuck places in my novel. By going back and following the day-by-day, then week-by-week plans for activity I was able to get done--though not in 90 days. That feels more like a goal you attain by book three or four.
February 9, 2018
One of the best books on writing process that I've ever read, Domet's work provides structure and examples to help new novelists understand exactly what it takes to sustain a concept over the length of 85k words.
August 4, 2021
Tiene buenos consejos, pero el plan de avance no me gustó. Más que como un paso a paso, yo lo leería para generar un checklist de lo que debo considerar al escribir y revisar los borradores. No terrible, pero no lo que esperaba para nada
July 17, 2018
This seems like a neat challenge, and I like the format and the advice of this book. I may try to actually rite a book in 90 days, but I’m going to finish law school first.
May 22, 2021
Excellent resource for writers who want to become authors.
July 23, 2023
I did not write a novel but I’m excited to go back one day and follow the 90 days closely. I love this book! It takes all the mysticism out of writing and gives a lot of good practical advice.
December 19, 2023
The book was encouraging and I love the detailed assignments. I didn't write my novel in 90 days (sorry author), but I created valuable scenes and a foundation for getting my draft done.
Currently reading
August 28, 2023I'm not done reading this book yet, but I have a lot of thoughts. I'm just starting the Week 4 section of the book, for reference. Also, this is very rambly and a bit more of a personal take, as I can't talk about this book without talking about my own writing process.
I've had this book on my shelf for years and, on a whim, I pulled it out and started it. For me, the 90 days does fall partway through NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month in November), so I'm still unsure how much of this book I'm going to do before I pause (and if I'm going to pick it back up once I start writing my novel). Just some caveats. I've basically been treating this as prep for NaNo.
As for the book itself, the author is VERY insistent on outlining. She makes this clear from the beginning, which almost made me put the book down, but I figured I would see how things went. (Spoiler alert, I still don't have a real outline.)
Also, I'll be very honest in that I skipped a lot of assignments or only did partial assignments. This book thinks you're coming in with basically nothing, whereas I'm not. So, if an assignment seemed pointless for my project, I skipped it. There were also a couple of assignments that dealt with drawing inspiration from the real world and... yeah, I don't really do that. So, I skipped those.
I did try on some of the scene/outlining assignments, but it was just me writing down some thoughts I already had. They are a little more solidified now just from the act of writing them down, though most of them are still vague ideas, and I just found myself frustrated at trying to write a scene by scene breakdown. It doesn't work for me. You CANNOT make me an outliner. The scene breakdowns just go into so much detail that I might as well write the scene but without writing the scene I didn't know what scene would follow next.
Plus, these assignments became really repetitive for me because my scene/plot ideas didn't really change, so I was just repeating myself from previous assignments.
Rather, these outline assignments/questions would be a lot more useful for me in revision.
Basically, while this book has a lot of great advice, don't be bullied into being a type of writer that you're not. Come into it with an open mind, but don't beat yourself up if you find yourself unable to use all of the author's methods.
Just from what I've read thus far, I think it is a good resource for doing prep work on a new idea, but that's with me picking and choosing what assignments I do. I also think it's going to be a great resource to focus on those outlining assignments for when I do revision.
So, what you get out of this book will depend on what type of writer you are and how well you jell with Domet's style of writing, but you can also ignore her strictness and use the book how it suits you best.
Though, I laughed at her attempt at motivation for only having 70 days left to write your novel (except I glanced at the next assignment and the novel writing isn't starting yet). If you do NaNo every year, that's nothing.
I've had this book on my shelf for years and, on a whim, I pulled it out and started it. For me, the 90 days does fall partway through NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month in November), so I'm still unsure how much of this book I'm going to do before I pause (and if I'm going to pick it back up once I start writing my novel). Just some caveats. I've basically been treating this as prep for NaNo.
As for the book itself, the author is VERY insistent on outlining. She makes this clear from the beginning, which almost made me put the book down, but I figured I would see how things went. (Spoiler alert, I still don't have a real outline.)
Also, I'll be very honest in that I skipped a lot of assignments or only did partial assignments. This book thinks you're coming in with basically nothing, whereas I'm not. So, if an assignment seemed pointless for my project, I skipped it. There were also a couple of assignments that dealt with drawing inspiration from the real world and... yeah, I don't really do that. So, I skipped those.
I did try on some of the scene/outlining assignments, but it was just me writing down some thoughts I already had. They are a little more solidified now just from the act of writing them down, though most of them are still vague ideas, and I just found myself frustrated at trying to write a scene by scene breakdown. It doesn't work for me. You CANNOT make me an outliner. The scene breakdowns just go into so much detail that I might as well write the scene but without writing the scene I didn't know what scene would follow next.
Plus, these assignments became really repetitive for me because my scene/plot ideas didn't really change, so I was just repeating myself from previous assignments.
Rather, these outline assignments/questions would be a lot more useful for me in revision.
Basically, while this book has a lot of great advice, don't be bullied into being a type of writer that you're not. Come into it with an open mind, but don't beat yourself up if you find yourself unable to use all of the author's methods.
Just from what I've read thus far, I think it is a good resource for doing prep work on a new idea, but that's with me picking and choosing what assignments I do. I also think it's going to be a great resource to focus on those outlining assignments for when I do revision.
So, what you get out of this book will depend on what type of writer you are and how well you jell with Domet's style of writing, but you can also ignore her strictness and use the book how it suits you best.
Though, I laughed at her attempt at motivation for only having 70 days left to write your novel (except I glanced at the next assignment and the novel writing isn't starting yet). If you do NaNo every year, that's nothing.
February 13, 2014
I picked up this popular book in hopes of jump-starting a writing project that I had stewing in my mind. I wasn’t under any delusions that I might actually have a viable draft of a novel in only 90 days, and after reading this book I’m sticking with that thought.
The book is laid out with a lengthy discussion and an exercise for each of the prescribed 90 days. The author is very set on having a detailed outline prior to doing any actual novel writing, so the first 30 days are exploration exercises aimed at helping you prepare an outline. She recommends that you allot two to three hours per day to complete each exercise, but most of them are pretty in depth and would take much longer than that to complete. Not to mention that while I understand the benefits of having a good outline to begin your story, spending 30 days exploring that outline in such incredible detail seems a bit overkill to me.
That being said, the exercises are aimed at developing character, brainstorming plot, and creating conflict, which are all excellent areas to explore prior to writing a novel. I found the book most helpful in reading it straight through and bookmarking the helpful hints, rather than trying to follow it day-by-day as a guide to getting a draft completed in 90 days. It’s very detailed in the opening outlining stages and then gives less and less guidance as you move along.
What really bothered me was the overly upbeat, pep-talky tone that the author uses throughout the book. I know she means to be inspiring and helpful, but when I read the line “Get to it, buster!” I nearly abandoned the book altogether.
I don’t think this book delivers its promise of helping you draft a complete novel in 90 days, but it is full of thought provoking exercises and hints that might be helpful as you move along at your own pace
The book is laid out with a lengthy discussion and an exercise for each of the prescribed 90 days. The author is very set on having a detailed outline prior to doing any actual novel writing, so the first 30 days are exploration exercises aimed at helping you prepare an outline. She recommends that you allot two to three hours per day to complete each exercise, but most of them are pretty in depth and would take much longer than that to complete. Not to mention that while I understand the benefits of having a good outline to begin your story, spending 30 days exploring that outline in such incredible detail seems a bit overkill to me.
That being said, the exercises are aimed at developing character, brainstorming plot, and creating conflict, which are all excellent areas to explore prior to writing a novel. I found the book most helpful in reading it straight through and bookmarking the helpful hints, rather than trying to follow it day-by-day as a guide to getting a draft completed in 90 days. It’s very detailed in the opening outlining stages and then gives less and less guidance as you move along.
What really bothered me was the overly upbeat, pep-talky tone that the author uses throughout the book. I know she means to be inspiring and helpful, but when I read the line “Get to it, buster!” I nearly abandoned the book altogether.
I don’t think this book delivers its promise of helping you draft a complete novel in 90 days, but it is full of thought provoking exercises and hints that might be helpful as you move along at your own pace
September 7, 2016
All you need is inner discipline, a willingness to succeed, and time to complete this ninety-day challenge. Domet’s action plan inspires you to put together the skills needed to create your first story. From outlines to themes, characters to plots; you’ll need to think about them from every perspective and rule out the drivel, keep your reader gripped and have the time to see the project through to the end. Domet uses a few famous examples of American literature to showcase how past writers have achieved their goals; but the overall assignments that are set are both practical and purposeful in their execution, and don’t require you to veer off on a huge reading list first. It’s a perfect plan for those who think that they have what it takes. So the question is; can you write a novel in ninety days? If it’s really that easy, I’d better start clearing out my to-do list and find some self-discipline.
June 17, 2014
Every once in a while I like to indulge in novels that talk about writing. Of course, as an aspiring writer I know that reading novels about writing doesn't make you a writer...writing makes you a writer. As a plotter, I was anxious to read this novel, and I didn't mind paying the $9.99 for it. Instead of following along with novel, and stopping to complete the exercises, I read the novel straight through. There were a few tips and exercises I found handy, but overall I didn't really enjoy this novel like I thought I would. It was okay, but if you're a writer who already have an idea of what you want your novels to be about, then this novel is probably not for you. The first few weeks were trying to come up with ideas, when I was hoping for more of a book about outlining.
March 8, 2016
I have read the book cover to cover and worked on some of the exercises. My problem was that it asked me to rely on my childhood for memories in creating a book--not something I want to do. Nor do I want to write in my relatives as characters. Finally, I was supposed to have a book synopsis on the fourth day. Still, I am doing the "reverse outline" with a book I've written and plan on working through all the steps in order to make my book even better. I think it's a good instruction book. It definitely allows you to get a lot done.
February 16, 2017
Wonderful book for a new writer covers the basics.
The book pretty much a rehash of the books I have been reading. The main thing I’d love to have are the exercises, but I have more to try. I have been reading a lot of how-to writing books
For me, I find the author’s voice very formal and don’t feel like I am getting with what or more how the author is talking.
This is a great book that can walk the new writer through the process of drafting a novel from idea to manuscript.
The book pretty much a rehash of the books I have been reading. The main thing I’d love to have are the exercises, but I have more to try. I have been reading a lot of how-to writing books
For me, I find the author’s voice very formal and don’t feel like I am getting with what or more how the author is talking.
This is a great book that can walk the new writer through the process of drafting a novel from idea to manuscript.
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