So, one of the books I got at the library yesterday was Chris Baty’s “No plot? No problem!” Its not a terribly long book (I think it might be over 50,000 words, a joke that will never grow old), just under 200 pages, so it was a quick read. If you don’t know who Baty is, he’s the founder of the original NaNoWriMo, and the book (though it doesn’t exactly mention it on the cover) is geared specifically at participants in the contest.
So much so, in fact, that the first half of the book is completely anecdotal stories about participating in the contest, where the contest came from, what the contest means in your life, etc., and it isn’t until the last half of the book that it gets to the business of writing.
Only, its the business of writing mechanics geared at writing a “novel” in 30 days, with very little guidance on the art of writing. There were a few helpful hints, to be sure, but this book doesn’t really attack the titular problem of feeling like you have no plot.
I would still recommend this book to folks interested in participating in Baty’s contest. The (somewhat brief) guide on how to tackle each of the four weeks of November would be helpful, and the post mortem of what to do after you hit 50k is definitely worth reading before you set out on the contest. Why? Because it retroactively points out the contest’s own flaws in perception, and that’s good to know before you head into it. There’s some good advice, and some reminders to the starry eyed participant that thinks come December 1, their novel will be complete and ready to go out into the world.