Two books promise to teach you how to write a first draft of your novel in just 30 days. Can it really be done? I put the novel writing programs to the test, and here I’ll review them and compare them side-by-side for you:
The Books
* Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
* First Draft In 30 Days: A Novel Writer’s System for Building a Complete and Cohesive Manuscript by Karen S. Wiesner
Common Highlights
There are a few high points that each of these books share, including:
* There’s a finite timeline involved, which forces you to focus.
* They both address issues of time management and writer’s block (First Draft in 30 Days does an especially good job with a thorough list of ideas to help you push through blocks).
* They each contain quite a few worksheets to help you organize your thoughts and map out your story.
Common Faults
The two books also share a few similar problems:
* Neither seems to really guide you in finishing what I would call a true “draft” (even a rough one) within a 30-day period. Instead, you’ll essentially have a very detailed outline. Maybe you’re comfortable calling that a draft – I’m not, and find the titles to be a bit deceptive in that sense. In the case of Book in a Month, it involves leaving out significant chunks of your story to get done in the time period allowed (one of the tips is to leave out subplots – how is that writing a real draft?). In the defense of First Draft in 30 days, the book does then offer advice on turning that formatted outline into an actual draft of a novel – I just find the title misleading in that it’s implied that’s a part of the 30-day program.
* I almost feel like the sheer amount of worksheets involved is a bit overwhelming, and found some of them to be rather vague. In fictional projects in the past, I’ve spent pages fully outlining the main character, villain, etc., trying to get into the head of the character and understand their motivations. I felt like some of the worksheets revolving around that in particular could leave your characters a little flat.
Now let’s talk a bit more about each of the books individually:
Book in a Month
One of the biggest problems I have with this book is the binding. It’s stiff, with a hard cover enclosing a ring-bound book. It’s difficult to quickly page through, can seem a bit clunky, and takes up a lot of space to lay out in front of you (you really can’t fold it back on itself). Another issue is the fold-out pages / cards at the beginning of each chapter. I think the chapter outline, and other information there is great, but the display feels awkward.
Speaking of those fold-outs, they do feature some highlights of the book. For example, during each week of the 30-day process, you’ll find a weekly mantra and writing meditation to help you stay focused and motivated. Your goals for the week are also laid out, and you’re reminded to celebrate each step of your progress. I just think the info could have been condensed onto a single carded page rather than the fold-out (perhaps others won’t have a problem with it though).
Despite my issues with other elements of the book’s format and layout, I love the vivid colors… black and white alone does nothing for me creatively, and when you’re working on a creative project like a novel (and potentially battling writer’s block), it can be refreshing.
I also love the fact that this book asks a lot of questions throughout its chapters, helping you get inside your own head, and again working to keep you motivated. I don’t really think they add much value to the book, but it also includes two sheets of stickers that you can use to motivate yourself, reward yourself, or even just check off things that you’ve completed.
The book itself urges you to buy a new copy for each project you work on. I think that’s ludicrous. Unless you’re crazy about those little stickers, there’s no need whatsoever to buy a new copy. You can photocopy anything that you need extra copies of for your own projects – and frankly, I think that’s smarter (if you make a mistake, just print off another page and work it out again). Nice try on the marketing gimmick, but I hope most writers don’t fall for it.
Overall, despite my complaints, I think the book was a worthwhile investment, and one I’ll enjoy using.
First Draft in 30 Days
I’ve already mentioned my biggest issues with this book, as they were shared with the second. In comparison, I would say the worksheets in this book are a bit more lacking, and unless I missed it there wasn’t a nice calendar layout here mapping out what you’ll do each day (although there are vaguer lists including date ranges). I would have liked to have seen that.
One thing I loved about this book is its section on outlining not only your novel, but outlining your career. This is a great addition for those authors with several fictional projects in the works, those who will be pitching one book while writing another, etc. If you want to be a career novelist, the advice and examples here are worth picking up a copy of the book for alone.
I also liked that this book has an adjusted 30-day plan for projects that were already in the works (I may use it to re-work a novel outline I did a few years back, because I’ll want to make some character and plot changes before moving forward with it, and I can definitely see the program adapting well to something like that).
Which Program Should You Use?
It’s a tough call on the better book here. From evaluating nothing but the methods and books themselves, I’d personally go with First Draft in 30 Days (because of the career planning chapter, nice list of writer’s block solutions, and the ability to tailor the project for new or existing projects easily).
However, if you’re a more visual person, or you like the extra nudges of probing questions to help you think and re-focus, Book in a Month will probably serve your needs better. I bought both, and don’t regret either purchase. There’s no reason I would suggest that you not consider one or the other, if this kind of project interests you.
Putting the Programs to the Test
I’ve outlined one novel in the past (using the Marshall Plan for Novel Writing), and I decided to do the same with these two books. I used First Draft in 30 Days to create a 70+ page outline for a book in the horror / supernatural realm, and I used Book in a Month as a guide for a similar-length outline for a contemporary comedy.
I didn’t follow every step of each plan exactly as laid out in the book (in part because I already had worksheets of my own that I was more comfortable with, and my previous outline gave me other ideas of my own to work with). Fortunately, both programs are designed to be used exactly that way – they make it easy to adapt the outlining / drafting process to your own preferences.
Both programs were easy to use. The first (First Draft in 30 Days) came to right around the 30-day mark for project completion (because I made a conscious effort to use the time allotted, without going over). I was able to outline the comedy with the second program in just nine days (although I followed it much more loosely – at that point having two other outlining methods in mind, giving me a lot of options to really work out more of my own outlining system).
I can’t suggest one over the other for all novel writing projects. What I can say is that I found Book in a Month to be a little more rigid, perhaps making it less ideal to stories that need more structural freedom, and perhaps making it the better option for writers who prefer that added structure to keep them focused.
I would suggest writers test each program (or at least read them both) for themselves, and do as I did – pull the elements that work best for you, and use them to develop a process of your own that enables you to work more efficiently.
Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer / Web content writer, blogger, and author of the *Web Writer’s Guide* to Launching a Successful Freelance Web Writing Career e-book. She runs several writing sites and a *freelance writing* blog devoted to helping readers find writing jobs and build more successful writing careers.
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