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I highly recommend Alan Watt’s The 90-Day Novel to anyone who is considering writing a book.
Watt offers a straight forward, practical approach for outlining a novel, explaining the arc of story-telling – from an opening line, on through the climax, toward a redemptive end.
His explanation of learning to shift perspective instead of getting stuck trying to fix unresolvable problems isn’t just helpful for writing – it’s good advice for life.
The book is comprised of ninety daily letters with helpful instructions, which both push toward the goal of completing a novel in ninety-days, and pat the writer on the back, to prevent total discouragement during this daunting task.
Judge This Book By It’s Cover
I’ve worked through The 90-Day Novel straight through for seven different manuscripts. The tattered cover of my copy says more than the words of this review ever could.
If you don’t want to get bogged down “reading about writing” this is the book for you. Most daily lessons are around two pages and provide plenty of inspiration to get typing.
As the Pages of My Copy of The 90-Day Novel Fell Apart, My Story Came Together
I had so many scraps and fragments of thoughts when I first started; but Al Watt’s book helped me bring them together.
I quickly came to realize that I didn’t just have the makings of a book; but material fit for a series, thanks to his explanation of “The World of the Story”.
I bought this book during a very painful time, just after losing three loved ones in less than two months time. It’s a wonder I didn’t electrocute myself sobbing and sniffling over the keyboard.
The 90-Day Novel didn’t just help me write a novel. God used it to help me work through a lot of pain and start piecing my life back together.
If you only buy one book about writing, I would make it this one.
Jody