Michelle's Mindworks

“I don’t understand why most writers don’t write more!”

~Joyce Carol Oates

I found 90 Days To Your Novel by Sarah Domet on a library bookshelf. Of course I checked it out! Three months to write a book? At that pace, I could write up to four books a year. I have so many ideas and project hopping after a few months of hyper-focusing on an single idea was one of my pitfalls. Domet’s tight deadline seemed like a good way to mitigate that.

But would it work?

Writers Write

The building blocks to Domet’s ninety day speed run are simple: writers write on a daily (or near-daily) basis, outlining is essentials, and novels are written scene-by-scene.

At a writing conference Domet attended in 2006, Joyce Carol Oates was asked what it was like to be such a prolific writer. Her response was “I don’t understand why most writers don’t write more!”

Domet’s insistence on writing two to three hours every day throughout her challenge were a game changer for me. I’m a writer, after all. I should be writing more!

And I do. The goal of writing two to three hours a day helps. But on average, I find myself writing ten to twelve hours on a good week, which is below the fourteen to twenty one hours she encourages. I find myself taking a day or two off a week or skipping a morning or evening writing session on the days I work.

I refuse to feel guilty for this. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that guilting myself for not meeting a goal makes me even less productive. Not more.

So I write nearly every day for two to three hours a day. I schedule writing sessions. And I type my manuscript on my phone on the mornings I can’t drag myself to my desk. Step one, check!

The Outline

After a crash-course in various outline techniques, Domet launches us into the ninety day challenge. Each day, she provides us with writing tips and an assignment. Some have to do with your current writing project. Others don’t. Each are meant to strengthen your writing skills. I’m not against strengthening my skills, but I’d rather do it in the context of a project I’m passionate about.

I’m also of the opinion that a lot of these assignments would be great if we were focusing on editing a second draft. The craft of writing is important. But if I worry too much about having too much or too little detail, using a specific reaction too much, or finding the perfect tone word, I get bogged down.

There seem to be two types of writers: those who find themselves needing to add details in their second draft and those who need to cut down on the details. I’m in the former category while the book seems designed for writers prone to the later.

I found myself skipping these assignments in favor of the ones that dealt with character building, conflict, and outlining. As a sci-fi/fantasy writer, I wish she included more assignments about world building, but that’s a genre specific note.

Domet is a fan of writing an incredibly detailed outline and then tackling that outline in order. I love outlining, but this strategy doesn’t work for me.

I need a loose outline. I need a general goal for each section of that outline. I need to know my characters and their world very well. But if I outline every scene, the perfectionist inside me takes over and I will never write a word. My frustration with this probably has to do with my focus in sci-fi and fantasy. As much as I world build pre-draft, those details are in flux until I write them in my manuscript. And it’s impossible to think of every detail of the world before hand.

The Actual Writing

After a week spent assessing our story and another spent deep diving into our characters, we finally get to write our first scene!

Week six focuses on act one. By week seven, Domet assumes you’ve reached act two. In week nine, you’re supposed to be at the end of act two and jumping into the climax. Week ten focuses on the falling action, resolution, and final scene.

I fully admit to skimming through this section of the book. I didn’t feel motivated by her insights or assignments. By this point, I knew her writing strategy wasn’t for me.

The Second Draft

As we come towards of the end of the book, Domet mentions the hard work ahead. “First drafts are seldom publishable as is” even if they’re well written and well plotted.

It wasn’t until Domet discussed turning the finished first draft into an outline that her scene-by-scene strategy clicked for me.

Outlining the scenes we already have written can help us see what’s missing, what needs rearranging, what needs cutting, etc. She also talks about using scene summaries and transitions to shorten the “dull parts” while orienting the reader in the time and place of the next scene.

When I get stuck, it’s often because I’m too focused on a transition. I try to summarize the dull events, but the dull events don’t feel right.

Now, instead of wasting time and energy with a transition I’ll probably rewrite anyways, I focus on the scene. Transition scenes are a second draft problem.

The Results

Writing strategies aren’t one-size-fits-all. Writers love to pick up books that promise a finished novel in X days. We fantasize about rising to the challenge. How many of us actually do?

Pieces of Domet’s advice stuck with me even thought I skimmed most of the exercises and failed her challenge. She encouraged me to write more often and helped me realize I can save scene transitions for the second draft.

One day I might write a novel in 90 days or less, but it’ll likely be after years of piecing together a strategy that works for me.

What’s your opinion on Domet’s writing strategy? Are you tempted to read her book and give it a shot?