I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 40.
Write a Novel in Ten Minutes a Day is a book I once promised myself as soon as the next person paid me. When that first payment came in on a Monday, I bought it. And I’m very glad I did.
From the Teach Yourself stable, it’s a useful little book, but not so much about “write a novel in ten minutes a day”, more “write a novel in ten-minute bursts, at least once a day if you can”.
As I’ve always been an advocate of 10-minute writing sprints, or 10-minute proofreading sprints, or 10-minute editing sprints, this suits me. However, I’ve never used it to do 10-minute housework sprints.
Until now.
And it really does work. I even have both versions – electronic and paperback.
There are four parts to this book. The first part is all about planning and organising your time. This is where the author explains her 10-minute bursts. The second section is on getting into the writing mindset. Section three is all about planning. This is where the regular writing advice fits in. And part four is all about the actual writing, then the revising, then the editing, then the publishing.
Whatever stage of writing the reader is at, s/he can dip into this book in any section. I’d recommend reading it through from start to finish, then go back and do the exercises. Some of the exercises are what I refer to as “exercises for exercise sake”. The rest build on your novel from the planning stage through to publication.
Write a Novel in Ten Minutes a Day by Katharine Grubb is from Teach Yourself Books and is available on Kindle for £8.99 (from $11.78) and in paperback for £12.99 ($16.89).
