Whatever happened to the 15-Day Challenge?

I didn’t do it. I failed. Miserably. Completely tangled up in an ever-changing plot and characters that somehow didn’t feel real. Plus bogged down with projects that I needed to complete (for the business I’m running).
No excuses. I failed and there’s no beating about the bush.
But I also learned a whole lot about writing by [...]

How (not) to write a book in 15 days – Day 10

Am stuck. Pressures of life intrude and shut down my writing. Am not confident that I would even reach the half-way stage of my novel.
Also, no one seems to be reading this blog. An odd friend now and then but haven’t got any messages from anyone so far. A writer’s life is lonely…but this lonely??? [...]

How to write a book in 15 days – Day 6

I’m on my way. Very few words on the page, going is very slow, but I’m persevering.
One key lesson I learned – before beginning writing, divide the book into scenes and write 2-3 lines describing that scene. Then, organize those scenes into chapters. Then put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).
It makes for much [...]

How to write a book in 15 days – Day 5

Hmmm…where did two days disappear in the middle? I didn’t write an itsy bitsy word, that’s why.
Need to look after my business too. I run an ePublishing firm and there were some long pending projects that needed to be completed. Pressures are still on but today I’m writing, no matter what.
I guess that’s a lesson [...]

How to write a book in 15 days – Day 2

I woke up quite late today.
Slept well but had an amazing dreamtime. Stunning villain – cruel, all-powerful, nearly invincible. Of course, I was the hero of the piece (aren’t we all in our dreams?) and – in the end – managed to kill the guy in a very gruesome manner.
Of course, just before I woke [...]

How to write a book in 15 days – Day 1 (Part 3)

Here’s the initial mind map I created for my book.
Just brainstorming without any set notions is really helpful in getting a deluge of ideas. Most will be discarded but some always stick out.
I’m continuing to brainstorm and will be developing some of the ideas this mind map has thrown up. Will not be publishing the [...]

How to write a book in 15 days – Day 1 (Part 2)

It’s 10 in the morning and I’m back.
I did not wake up with any ideas in the morning. So right now I just have the concept down and still not even the faintest idea of who the main characters would be.
I got to the concept through simple word play using a thesaurus.
Now I’ll force myself [...]

How to write a book in 15 days – Day 1

It’s a little past midnight on October 1st and I’m on my way.
The challenge is to write the book from scratch so I’m not going to be using any of my earlier ideas for the book. It’s going to be idea to complete book in 15 days.
I will be posting the method I’m following to [...]

The writing begins October 1st

The Write-a-Book-in-15-days Challenge begins October 1st.
My aim is to complete a full length novel (approx. 250 regular novel sized pages) in 15 days.
Along with regular updates on the blog about my progress, I’ll also be sharing some of the things about the writing method I’ve developed. I’ll be using this method to complete my novel [...]