"No Plot? No Problem!" a review

No Plot? No Problem!
A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
By Chris Baty
Published by Chronicle Books, ©2004
ISBN 0-8118-4505-2

The surest sign a reference book is a keeper is the desire to mark it up – to underline, highlight, flag, dog-ear – anything to make finding all the good parts easy. With No Plot? No Problem! that desire hit me. In force. I had a ridiculous number of page markers (over 20) for a book that is only 176 pages long, including the acknowledgements and index pages.

First, No Plot? No Problem! is not a how-to book. There are no step-by-step, follow-the-numbers procedures. There are no lessons on grammar and punctuation, character and world building, or rewriting and editing. No Plot? No Problem! instead provides a fun-sounding excuse to do what many authors find to be the hardest part of writing – getting out the pesky first draft.

Chris Baty is the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). You might have heard of it; that wacky, manic, self-competition to write 50,000 words in 30 days. No Plot? No Problem! is a travel guide through that world of noveling in a month. Everything from convincing your family and recruiting your friends before the month begins, to how to woo the skeptics and nay-sayers as the weeks wear on. From provisioning yourself with time and equipment, to provisioning yourself with food and caffeine. Baty walks you through what to expect story-wise and emotionally as the month progresses, from the enthusiasm and reckless creativity in the first week to the to tiredness and gelling plot-lines in the third week.

Many tips and hints are offered for this writing expedition. Most of the suggestions, however, can be used outside of the month-long event. My favorite of these are the two Magna Carta's. One is a guideline of what you like most in a story, and permission for you to do the same. The other is a thou-shalt-not list you create to remind yourself what you dislike most in novels.

Baty does not support excessive pre-plotting. "Past a certain point, novel planning just becomes another excuse to put off novel writing." This theme makes No Plot? No Problem! especially encouraging for those of us who are not major pre-planners or outliners. "Plot happens," Baty wrote. Get enough characters together, and work with them long enough, and a story will appear.

Through his engaging and enthusiastic style, Chris Baty reminds the writer that writing is supposed to be enjoyable. By recommending wearable "writing totems", a map making break, character building games, even an Inner Editor kennel, he shakes up the creative process and keeps the business of writing fun.

"Your novel is a spastic, jubilant hoe-down set to your favorite music, a thirty-day visit to a candy store where everything is free and nothing is fattening."

My only gripe with No Plot? No Problem! has to do with the sidebars. They are black writing on grey backgrounds, but the print isn't dark enough to easily stand out. This makes the sidebars difficult to read, especially for tired or bad eyes. But the sidebars are a lot of fun.

Now, I haven't tried to write the first draft of a novel in a month. Nor have I yet tried every suggestion listed in the book. However, NaNoWriMo gets thousands (that's right, double-digit thousands!) of participants from around the world every year. Something in Chris Baty's concept of writing a novel in a month must work. I am eager to give it a try.