The idea behind this book is identical to that of the internet phenomenon also founded by Baty: National Novel Writing Month, that is, writing 50,000 words of a novel in the span of a single month. There are no quality standards, and indeed you are discouraged from editing, rereading, or anything else besides increasing your wordcount. This book would more accurately be called The Joy of Writing. It's not exactly a how-to book, but rather an embrace-the-fun book, full of light-hearted encouragement and amusing asides. I will say that I never would have picked up this book had I never participated in NaNoWriMo. Its very subtitle sounds like a scam: "A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days." The thing is, this book is not about writing a polished, ready-for-publication novel in 30 days (though there are a few pages at the end on revising and rewriting after the month is over). It's about writing with wild abandon and how much fun it is. You won't learn much about writing in general, but you will learn a lot about what works and what doesn't in terms of your own writing habits. If you're fairly new to the writing scene and have always wanted to try your hand at a novel just for fun, pick this one up. On the other hand, if you are a serious writer who is looking for serious writing advice, you probably won't find much of use in here. ( )

I love reading this the week before NaNoWriMo starts. I don't use many of the writing tips, or follow the weekly motivations. I just know after I read it, my mind will catch on and I'll start coming up with ideas that I can't wait to write about. ( )

I find this book a waste of time. It's an example of mass production of literature without thought to the greater value to society. I admit it has a purpose but a very limited one which fails to be mentioned in the title or the cover copy. ( )

A writing guide for those of us who wrote 50,000 words in a month (National Novel Writing Month). Includes tips on location, setting, character development, plot ideas, etc, and also has a bit about editing and getting published. ( )

I picked up No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty when I signed up for the 2008 NaNoWriMo that Baty cofounded. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month in which one attempts to write 50,000 words in 30 days usually in November. As Baty explains in No Plot, 50,000 words is about the length of The Great Gatsby or Of Mice and Men. The whole idea of the project is to write without editing. No Plot walks you through the month week by week, offering pep talks and tips for success. Baty sprinkles wit throughout the book and it’s an enjoyable read. Will it make you a better writer? Not on its own. Some of the tips will be helpful to some people, while other tips will be helpful to others. The whole book is not going to resonate with you. In fact, you may think some of his ideas are completely wrong for how you approach writing. Still, I found reading each week’s section as I progressed through NaNoWriMo to be a welcome distraction from meeting that week’s word count. ( )