PROLOGUE

This is going to be fun.

That’s how I am going at this new project and these chapters leading up to the challenge and the challenge itself.

I will be doing a chapter a day on my blog through the writing of the entire novel, so anyone can follow along with the time involved, the thinking behind the idea to do a novel in seven days, the preparation, and everything else.

And I will detail out the writing sessions as well as I start up.

I am writing this prologue on a Tuesday night.

I plan on starting writing on the novel Saturday night. So a decent amount of time to try to clear some decks and get ready.

The Coming Challenge

What is this challenge?

Actually, a professional writer friend heard about some people trying this and after a long winter of not doing much writing, I thought it would get me back at the pace I want to write.

But when I first heard the idea, I have to admit I just shook my head.

And my first thought was, “I could do that when I was younger.”

Not kidding, that’s what I thought.

So as I describe this simple challenge, check in to see what your first thoughts are.

Ready?

The Challenge is Simple

Day One: 3,000 words.

And then each day after that add 1,000 words to the amount needed. Seven days, if my math is right, you will have a 42,000-word novel.

3,000… 4,000… 5,000… 6,000… 7,000… 8,000... 9,000 words.

7 Days.

Yup, my first thought was that I was too old to do that. I’m 65 and working more than a full-time job at starting stores and working at WMG Publishing. So I initially just shook my head and tried to forget the idea.

But this idea has a really bad mind-worm attached to it.

And I really needed something to fire me up and get me back on my normal pace of writing. Back to pulp speed on the fiction.

So for me, this challenge will work out just fine. Sort of attaching jumper cables to my sluggish writing battery.

And I am not too old to do this.

My Thinking

Here is my thinking on approaching this challenge out in public on my blog.

1. If I make it all the way through I will have finished another novel for Smith’s Monthly.

That would be a win.

2. The challenge and the run-up to starting it will focus my mind away from starting the new store and back onto writing where it needs to be. And where I want it to be.

That would be a win.

3. Since I can average about 1,000 words per hour, this will take about 42 hours out of my week. And another ten hours doing the chapters.

That is possible, but it means I will have to be careful on doing other things. In other words, figuring out where I am losing time and bad habits and clearing that out. I will need to create new habits around writing as I go.

That would be a win.

4. Even if I only get 30,000 words done before getting sidetracked or ending face-down on my keyboard, I will have 30,000 words done and that is failing to success.

And that would be a win.

5. And if I can actually get through the seven days and blog about it here every night, just as I did with the book How to Write a Novel in Ten Days, then I will have another short nonfiction book with these chapters that might help writers.

Or at least I hope to be entertaining in the silliness.

And that would be a win.

So all wins.

Where I See Problems

First off, I have online workshops to teach while the challenge is going on. The really rough night of those for March is Monday night. And in the challenge, Monday night is a 5,000-word night.

I can do that, but it will be a focus and not a lot of watching The Voice.

Also, I have recording to do of the last week of the Dialog workshop and the first few weeks of the Author Voice workshop. I’m going to do my best to get that done ahead of time. I’ll talk about that in the next chapter.

And I need to start the April workshops which is some work and that will be one of the last two days. Nothing I can do about that in timing.

I also have standard WMG Publishing meetings and my normal chores at my WMG job, so that will take time during the day as well.

And on Monday we have the last move of fixtures into the new store.

I’m sure I’m missing some things planned for next week. I know I will be done with this on Friday, one way or another because I have a party to attend in Portland on Saturday.

In the first chapter tomorrow, I’ll detail more about the challenge, and how to deal with so many of the problems. And how to even start to get ready for a challenge like this.

But I do have one thing set, something I don’t normally do. I know the book I’m going to write. (No real plot, just going to be writing into the dark.)

It’s a Thunder Mountain book and will be called The Idanha Hotel.

I wrote a short story in the Stories from July challenge by that name and Kris liked it and said it would be a great novel.

That comment has stuck with me since July even though I thought it worked fine as a short story and didn’t needed to be added onto. So I’m going to write that novel, even though Thunder Mountain novels are complex time travel novels and often take me more time.

Just another part of the challenge. (Can’t make this too easy, right?)

This will be fun as I repeat over and over I am not too old to do this.

CHAPTER ONE

My Reasoning

The Challenge Again

Day One: 3,000 words.

And then each day after that add 1,000 words to the amount needed. Seven days, if my math is right, you will have a 42,000-word novel.

3,000… 4,000… 5,000… 6,000… 7,000… 8,000... 9,000 words.

7 Days.

Why Does This Structure Work?

Going to see if it will work, but pretty confident it will if life events leave me alone.

And if you are reading this book in a paper or electronic book instead of on my blog, you will know it did work. I won’t be publishing this book about writing a novel in seven days if I don’t actually write a novel in seven days.

So this will either be a fun blog project or a book project.

A two book project, actually.

Why the structure works is pretty simple on the surface.

And yet, under the simple idea, the reasons are complex. So let me see if I can point three of the main reasons out. And in later chapters I’ll talk more about the deeper reasons this challenge can work.

Reason One: A daily writing deadline and pressure

This is the surface reason and it is very valid for many, many writers, me included. I work well under deadlines, while complaining about them at the same time. Yeah, human nature there.

And knowing a deadline allows a writer to prepare and plan for the deadline.

When I was working in traditional publishing, either ghosting a book or writing a media book, I would get a contract to write a novel with a hard, set deadline.

Actually, usually not a contract. I could write a book faster than any traditional publisher could issue a contract or cut a check. I learned after getting burnt a few times that they had to issue the check at least before I would even start writing.

Turns out when they needed a project very quickly, they could cut a check in less than two weeks. Shock, I know.

I would look at the project after I was hired, then figure out approximately how long I wanted to take to write the book, which was always worked backward from the deadline that the publisher needed it done by.

So if was due on June 1st and I was hired on April 15th, I would set my start writing date around May 1st like a sane person.

I would look at the length, the type of book it was, and other factors such as if it was a project that I loved or just one I didn’t mind and did for money.

Basically, I would figure out the time I needed comfortably to write the book and set that May 1st start date. More than enough room for emergencies built into that date.

Then I would be too busy with something else to start on the start date.

Or I forgot about it, more likely.

Or I just didn’t feel like writing it yet, being a pouty writer.

So I would look at the project again and come up with a second start date, one that would make me work harder, but still had some give in it. For a June 1st deadline I would try for May 10th start writing date.

And I would ignore that deadline as well, letting the clock tick down until I had to start the novel or I wouldn’t get the book done on time no matter what.

Then I started, often writing the book in seven or ten days, one draft, and turning it in on time.

I never missed book deadlines.

With this challenge, there is no missing the start date. This is a book backed against the deadline.

That’s part of the fun of this challenge for me. The start date is real if you want to do this challenge.

Reason Two: Focus

You can’t write a novel in seven days if you are not focused on writing a story and producing words.

No excuses, nothing to take my attention away besides major life issues, which I hope won’t happen. Focus is on the writing only.

And this, as with all my books, will be one time through only. (I don’t rewrite, remember?)

So if I run into a research problem, I have to solve it quickly. And I often do have research problems and time-travel problems in the Thunder Mountain series, since they are historical time-travel novels.

So the focus will be on the writing, no excuses, no playing in research. Get the detail I need and get back to the writing.

For a few days running up to the start of the challenge and the seven days of the challenge, my focus in life will be on producing a new novel.

(I do not outline. I write into the dark and I will talk about that in a future chapter as well. And why this challenge is suited for that as well.)

Honestly, being completely focused on writing like that is a ton of fun. I seldom get that freedom unless I force it these days with all the other things and jobs I do. (Just as everyone does.)

Reason Three: Ramp up of word count

By starting at 3,000 words on the first day, that allows a writer to start at an easily attainable word count.

If 3,000 words is too many for you in your normal writing, this structure is a bad idea.

But you could change the challenge to start at 1,000 and add 100 words per day. It will take a lot longer to write the novel, but it will get done in pretty fast order even so. Do the math.

For me, 3,000 words is very easy. But I am always slower at the start of a novel, so the start of the book at a slower pace makes up for the lower word count needed. I am figuring the first day to spend about four hours. Maybe more.

The second day deadline is 4,000 words. I should be into the book by then and up to speed, so I expect that to take around 4 hours as well.

The third day getting 5,000 words will be a push for me, since I have job and workshop related stuff that day. And movers coming to move stuff once again. And I don’t want to get too tired too early in this, so this will be the first hard focus day for me.

If I make it through day three, I don’t see day four at 6,000 words being much of a problem. I often write that much in one day and Tuesday, from the day job issues looks easier.

Days five, six, and seven are just going to be a push. Nothing else to say about them. Nice thing about getting that close is that it will be harder to miss.

And ends of novels always write faster for me than starts.

And on each day I will be doing chapters here about the day. So that’s even more writing.

Got a hunch the chapters on the last three days will be shorter and all about the structure of the day getting through that kind of word count per day.

But by then I will be completely focused on the writing and the story. The ramp-up nature of this challenge works perfectly there.

As I said in the prologue, this is going to be fun.

CHAPTER TWO

Writing into the Dark

Two days until I start writing. As I write this chapter, it is Thursday.

I plan on starting the novel on Saturday.

So am I planning the book at all?

Nope.

This book I have a rough idea, more than normal, because of the short story in Stories from July that I am jumping off from. But past that, I honestly am giving the book no thought at all. I’m just going to trust the process and sit down on Saturday and start writing.

Why Not Outline?

For me, if I pretend to make up some story idea in an outline, I am bored instantly. I love to read good stories and the fun for me in writing is very much like a reader. I love to explore the story and find out where it is going and how it will end.

If I know the ending, what is the point of writing it?

I write for entertainment and fun. I know that just flat shocks a bunch of younger must-write-to-market writers. Shrug. If they survive the next twenty years they can talk to me about how successful they have been writing to market.

Another reason I don’t outline is that outlining is from my front brain, my critical brain, and even though I can explain certain things about writing in workshops, my critical brain sucks at making up stories. Always has and is no better now than it was thirty years ago.

But my creative brain is damn good at it.

I write from the creative brain, and I just let that part of my mind play when writing. I basically sit down and say, “Let’s go play.”

And that’s what I am going to do starting Saturday and going for seven days.

I’m going to be playing.

But What About All the Writing Problems?

I expect the following:

—To be worried I won’t finish.

—And stressed.

—And afraid of getting stuck.

—And bogged down.

—And stuck in the plot.

—And all the other stuff that happens through the process of writing a novel.

Let me say that again. I expect all that.

Most writers have trained themselves to fear those things, to worry about all of them, to stress over every silly detail that might or does go wrong.

Me, I find those elements part of the process, part of the excitement of the process.

I can’t imagine writing an entire novel without most of those things happening at one point or another.

I think of it this way.

When I climb into a seat on a roller coaster, I expect to have ups and downs and twists and turns and thrills. If the coaster just went out and came around smoothly and stopped, I would ask for my money back.

When I write, when I sit down and strap in on Saturday, I expect a roller coaster ride through the novel. And I find that exciting.

I will detail it all, I promise.

And I want to be clear one more time here. This will be my only draft of this novel. It will go directly from these seven days to my first reader (Kris) and then to WMG Publishing to be in Smith’s Monthly and as a book later. I will not write sloppy.

So What Am I Doing to Get Ready?

On the writing side, nothing at all.

On the work side, I’m trying to get a few publishing and workshop things done early.

That’s all.

And strangely enough, Kris is helping because we’re watching a couple shows per night of television we are backed up on so that next week we can get backed up a little again.

So in other words, I’m not doing much at all except writing these chapters each night.

What Can Someone Else Do to Get Ready?

I have a hunch a number of people are going to try this challenge, or some extended version of it that fits each person’s world and life and family.

So what do I suggest for someone not as experienced as I am at this sort of thing?

Here are a few suggestions.

1. Make sure your friends and family know what you are going to try.

Critical. Get them on board and make sure your schedule is as clear as it can be.

2. Do some writing ahead of time on other projects.

Say if you are going to start on 1,000 words per day and add 100 words, then have a few days of 1,000 plus writing ahead of time on another project like a short story.

In other words, get used to sitting down and writing if you haven’t already been.

3. Figure out an area or a series or something you are going to write in.

Don’t outline, but instead know the series. For example, I know the series I am going to write into is Thunder Mountain and I know the book title, The Idanha Hotel, and I even have a cover for it.

All of that has got my creative voice wanting to play, to get going. I won’t spend any time when I am ready to sit down trying to figure out what to write. Off I will go.

4. Clear out negative thinking.

Expect problems, treasure them as part of the process. Figure out what day the one-third point will hit, or what general time.

We all know that 1/3 part of a novel is a bog-down point, so expect it. For a 40,000 word novel, the one-third point will be about 14,000 words in. That means on Tuesday I need to be prepared to go through that.

So clear out negative thinking and prepare where you can for the issues.

5. Repeat over and over and over that the challenge will be fun. And exciting.

And that you will have fun.

And now that I look back at my suggestions, I realize I have done them all as well. All but the word count on another project. Oh, wait… I have written over 3,000 words on this new book project already.

Guess I am doing all five as well.

So one more time: This will be fun.

CHAPTER THREE

Ready to Go

I’m going to start writing tomorrow. Honestly, I could have started today without much problem. But I scheduled starting tomorrow because of the workday outside of writing that I have on day three, where I will need to do 5,000 words.

Day three is full of a lot of work at WMG and on workshops. I don’t mind the work at all, just making sure I don’t stress the writing too much. So starting tomorrow makes that workable.

Attitude is Everything

For many people, putting deadline pressure on their writing actually feels like it will hurt you. If you are one of those writers, just sit and watch and see if you can pick up some things that don’t have to do with deadlines.

But many who claim to have problems with pushing their writing with deadlines often don’t. They just have attitude problems. (Oh, oh… I said that.)

Here’s why you might have an attitude problem.

Critical voice in all of us is designed to keep us safe, to stop us from doing things damaging, and to make us pay attention to coming problems.

Lawyers spend three years learning the law and making their critical voice extreme. That way, when a client comes in for them to do something, the lawyer can see all the problems that might arise.

In the arts, past a minor part, critical voice is deadly. Its normal job is to stop you, and yet in any art, including writing, the only way you can learn and grow and become a real artist is to practice and make mistakes and fail at times.

Artists, writers, learn from their failures.

But for some reason in writing, the myths have taught us that every word we type out is in stone, is sacred, must be perfect or at least rewritten a thousand times until it is perfect.

Myths are deadly to a writing career. I’ve done books of those called Killing Sacred Cows.

Instead of taking chances, the fear of failing overwhelms and the critical voice looks for a way to stop such thinking. So that comes out as not liking deadlines on the writing.

It’s one thing to have worked under deadlines for years and then decide to not do them anymore, but another problem when a deadline has not even been tried and is still feared.

That’s critical voice problems.

So the only real way to fight the critical voice in writing is to change your attitude.

Words and writing are fun.

Telling stories is play.

You have to take all the power away from the critical voice. When you believe something isn’t important, the critical voice goes off and is silent, letting your creative voice play.

That’s right, you have to make sure your attitude is that the deadline isn’t really important.

That’s why when I am asked about what I do for a living, I say, “I sit alone in a room and make shit up.” That job description can’t be important, can it?

Change your attitude about writing, about your writing having to be perfect, and you will tame your critical voice.

I am Going to Have Fun

That’s my attitude going into this challenge of writing a novel in a week.

I had a poor writing winter due to numbers of factors, so I am really, really, really looking forward to getting up to pulp speed for a week and then going from there into the spring and summer.

I have a lot of outside things cleared for the week.

I also know I want to write a Thunder Mountain novel about a baker in the Idanha Hotel in Boise, Idaho in 1902. It will be a time-travel historical western with a romance core, since my second character is a historical researcher from 2018.

I know all this because those are the characters in the short story I am jumping off from. But honestly, when I start they might not even be the same two characters. Don’t know and won’t know until I start writing tomorrow.

This will be the 9th novel in this series, so I know the world pretty well, but in the past these novels have taken three or more weeks for me to write. So bringing that timeline down to a week will be a challenge.

My attitude is solid.

I’ve cleared what work I can clear out of the way and I am excited to get writing and have fun.

Think of me strapped into the roller coaster car, right in the front, waiting for the car to jerk into motion and start up the slope.

So next chapter the book starts.

I’ll detail each day and talk about how the writing went and my mental state and so on.

I hope to make these chapters interesting as I go. We shall see.

Onward to Day One.

And a lot of fun.

CHAPTER FOUR

Day One

Here we go.

I’m going to detail out my day so that anyone reading this can extrapolate their own days and see how it works. The idea is to help others with similar challenges like this.

And help writers with just controlling their own fears and time.

Side Note First on Structure

On the comments on the last chapter, which will not be available in the book, I was asked how I was going to handle doing extra words on some nights, or was I going to just stop when I reached the world count?

I decided that this challenge is total word count. Finish a novel in seven days. I need at least 3,000 words done today, the first day, then adding 4,000 on the second, I need to be past 7,000 words total by the end of the second day.

And so on.

That way I don’t have to be worried about stopping exactly on some word count.

How I will deal with the ending if I am short or long on the novel I’ll talk about at the end. Not a clue at the moment, actually.

The Day

Started off by climbing out of bed at 1:30 p.m. and by the time I got around to leaving the house to run errands, it was 3 p.m.

I got to WMG offices a little after 3 p.m. and worked with Josh there for about forty-five minutes on the new store, then I went to my office and worked for an hour finishing loading up a Smith’s Monthly to the printer.

Then I worked until around 7 p.m. on workshop stuff.

So for those of you counting, about four hours at WMG and workshop work today away from my writing office.

I took a short nap when I got home, then cooked dinner and watched some news and such.

Got in here to my office around 8:30 p.m. to do e-mail and other things.

Finally, around 9:30 p.m. I moved over to my writing computer and started the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

I managed about 600 words before I had to go lay down because of a headache. (Eyestrain I think.)

Second Session:

Around 11 p.m. I was back in for another session. This time I managed 800 words starting up this novel before going to take a break and watch some television around midnight.

So two sessions so far for about 1,400 words starting up at just under two hours writing.

Third Session:

Around 1:30 a.m. I came back in to my writing computer and did another session of 1,100 words as the novel started to pick up speed.

Fourth Session:

A five-minute break at 2:15 a.m. and another 1,200 words before 3:15 a.m.

So stopping at 3,700 words for the day.

A perfect start.

Novel, as I said to Kris, wants to be written at the moment. No idea where it is going and the short story didn’t help much at all since I changed out the two characters from the short story and changed the focus right from word one.

Not sure why I did that. I never ask or question myself, I just type.

So, 700 words ahead going into tomorrow’s word count now. I need to be past 7,000 words on the book by the end of tomorrow night.

The Day in Summary

Four hours of work at WMG.

Just under 4 hours of writing time to get 3,700 words on the novel.

This chapter and the daily blog will take about an hour combined.

So 9 hours starting at 1:30 p.m. and going until 4 a.m. of structure time between my day job and writing fun.

The rest of the time was napping, cooking dinner, watching television, and other regular life things.

Onward to Day Two.

The novel is started.

That’s all that mattered today.

CHAPTER FIVE

Day Two

Once again made my goal for the night. Counting 3,000 words for Day One and 4,000 words for Day Two, I needed to be at 7,000 words or beyond.

Hit that.

The Day

Managed to crawl out of bed around 12:30 p.m. and get to the grocery store and then to WMG Publishing before 2 p.m. to open up the doors for the normal writers’ lunch. We met in the new loft area and it worked fine and then moved down to the new “living room” area and that worked fine as well.

So new layout of WMG seems to be working. Yeah!

Finished lunch a little after 4 p.m. and I worked in my office until 5:30 p.m. on workshop stuff until Kris showed up.

We headed to the mall to get dinner. I had to check in with a store there going out of business that we are buying fixtures from tomorrow afternoon. All set to go with the movers. Nifty display tables and waterfall displays. The new store is almost set for all the stuff to come out of the back room and be priced.

Got home around 7 p.m. and did e-mail, then went to work on workshop stuff, finishing around 9 p.m.

So for those of you counting, basically from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. I was doing work stuff and other things like a writers’ meeting and workshop assignments. Six hours taking out dinner.

Then finally for the night got back to the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

I had 3,700 words starting into the evening on the book. So 700 words in the bank as Kris called it.

I managed 900 new words by 9:45 before going to take a nap.

Second Session:

Woke up around 10:30 p.m. and got back to writing in about fifteen minutes, getting another 1,000 words by 11:45 before going to watch some television.

Third Session:

Made it back to my writing computer around 1 a.m. and managed 1,100 words by 2 a.m.

Fourth Session:

After a five-minute break, went back to writing and got 1,200 words by just a little after 3 a.m.

Fifth session:

Went back after a five-minute break and did another 900 words until about 4 a.m.

So stopping at 5,100 words for the day.

8,800 words on the novel total.

So for tomorrow, which I expect to be a long day, I have 1,800 words in the bank. That feels good and this novel is just flying along.

How Am I Feeling at This Point?

In one word: Great!

I love it when the characters of a novel just sort of tell me what to write. Nifty feeling I wish I could bottle.

Although as I told Kris, I haven’t had a chance to use any of the short story since I changed the characters almost immediately and everything went sideways on the plot yesterday in the second chapter.

So that short story is going to turn out to be just a jumping off point for the start idea and nothing more. The way it works sometimes.

But overall, so far, I’m feeling great about the challenge and the book.

But I have a ways to go yet.

The Writing of The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel

Day 1: 3,700 words. Total words so far… 3,700 words.

Day 2: 5,100 words. Total words so far… 8,800 words.

The Day in Summary

Seven hours of work at other things counting the hour to write this chapter and other blog post, and 4.75 hours of writing to get 5,100 words.

Just about 12 hours for the day total. The rest of the time was napping, watching television, eating dinner and other regular life things.

Onward to Day Three.

CHAPTER SIX

Day Three

Once again I made my goal for the night. Barely.

Counting 3,000 words for Day One and 4,000 words for Day Two, and 5,000 words for Day Three, I needed to be at 12,000 words or beyond.

Hit that once again.

I had 1,800 words in the bank before day three, but didn’t want to use the words today and it worked out that I didn’t.

The Day

I figured today was going to be a tough day and I was right.

I rolled out at noon and managed to get to WMG offices by 1 p.m. I worked there for a short time getting things ready and then the movers arrived at 2 p.m. and we headed to pick up some store fixtures from another store going out of business.

That’s it now. We almost have all fixtures for the new store. Now the real fun starts with all the inventory.

Got the move all done in about two hours.

Then I worked for another hour to get it all straightened around. Then I worked on workshop stuff in my office until 7 p.m.

Home for a quick nap, then cooked dinner.

Got in here to do workshop assignments by 9 p.m., about what I was hoping.

Got all that done by 11 p.m.

So about 9 hours of work today taking out the fifteen minute nap and short dinner. Add in how long it will take me to write these two blogs and it will be ten hours for the day total.

As expected.

Then finally for the night I got back to the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

11 p.m. I started and managed 1,250 words before taking a break to go watch part of The Voice. About one hour of writing.

Second Session:

Back in here around 1:15 a.m. and managed 1,300 words by 2 a.m. Just smoking along. One of my faster sessions ever I think.

Third Session:

Then the novel took a right turn once again (now a very, very long ways from the original short story) and it took me until 3 a.m. to get the next 1,200 words.

Fourth Session:

Short break, then 1,150 words by 3:45 a.m.

Fifth Session:

One more short break and then I did another 700 words before calling it a night at 4:15 a.m.

So I got 5,600 words, bringing the novel to 14,400 words total so far.

I needed to be at 12,000 words after today, so I have 2,400 words in the bank at the moment on the challenge.

But now the numbers of words needed each day start to climb into a much larger number.

How Am I Feeling at This Point?

Exhausted.

Today was a very crazy and busy day and from noon onward until now at right before 5 in the morning I have stayed focused. Had to or the day would have gotten away from me.

And that’s one of the advantages of this kind of challenge. It keeps me focused on the writing. Without the challenge, I doubt I would have gotten many words done today at all.

So a win all the way.

The Writing of The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel

Day 1: 3,700 words. Total words so far… 3,700 words.

Day 2: 5,100 words. Total words so far… 8,800 words.

Day 3: 5,600 words. Total words so far… 14,400 words.

The Day in Summary

Ten hours of work at other things counting the hour to write this chapter and the other normal blog post and 4.5 hours of writing to get 5,600 words.

Just about 14.5 hours for the day total. The rest of the time was napping, watching television, eating dinner and other regular life things.

Onward to Day Four.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Day Four

Once again made my goal for the night. Barely.

And wow was this a ton harder than yesterday. The next three days ought to be very interesting, to say the least.

Counting 3,000 words for Day One and 4,000 words for Day Two, 5,000 words for Day Three, and 6,000 words for Day Four, I needed to be at 18,000 words or beyond.

Hit that once again.

I had 2,400 words in the bank before today, but I didn’t want to use the words today and it worked out that I didn’t.

The Day

For some reason today, I wasn’t too worried about the challenge. So I slept in until almost 2 p.m. and then by the time I got done with business errands and other stuff and back at my desk at WMG Publishing, it was almost 5:30 p.m.

I worked there until 7 p.m., then home to take a short nap and cook dinner.

By the time I got into this office to do workshop assignments it was almost 9 p.m.

Again I was not thinking about 6,000 words. Not worried in the slightest and I should have been.

Got all the assignments done by 10 p.m. So about 7 hours of work counting the hour it will take me to write these two blogs.

Then finally for the night I got to the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

10 p.m. I started and managed 1,250 words before taking a break. About fifty minutes of writing. Novel is really powering.

Second Session:

Back in here around 11 p.m. and managed 1,300 words by midnight before heading to watch The Voice. Still powering along fine.

Third Session:

Got back in here right around 1 a.m. and now I was realizing I had sort of screwed up and not paid attention to how many words I needed today.

Oh, oh.

So from 1 a.m. to just before 2 a.m. I did 1,300 words.

But I took about three short breaks in that hour because I hit the one-third point and the entire thing just turned to suck in my mind. (Kris smiled at me wandering around muttering.)

Fourth Session:

Short break, then 1,150 words by 2:45 a.m.

Fifth Session:

Another short break to stretch and then did another 1,050 words by 3:45 a.m.

Made it.

So I got 6,050 words, bringing the novel to 20,450 words total so far.

I needed to be at 18,000 words after today, so I have 2,450 words in the bank at the moment on the challenge.

Tomorrow I will not underestimate how long it will take me to do 7,000 words. Almost messed up today by getting confident.

How Am I Feeling at This Point?

Focused now.

The next three days are the real test on this. I felt comfortable with 3,000 to 6,000 word days. Heck, I did that much every day in July writing short stories every day. But the next three days will require me to really stay on top of the time and the day.

Going to be interesting.

The Writing of The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel

(The number in parenthesis is what is needed for the challenge.)

Day 1: 3,700 words. (3,000) Total words so far… 3,700 words.

Day 2: 5,100 words. (4,000) Total words so far… 8,800 words.

Day 3: 5,600 words. (5,000) Total words so far… 14,400 words.

Day 4: 6,050 words. (6,000) Total words so far… 20,450 words.

The Day in Summary

Seven hours of work at other things counting the hour to write this chapter and other blog post and 4.5 hours of writing to get 6,050 words.

Just about 11.5 hours for the day total. The rest of the time was napping, watching television, eating dinner, sleeping in, and other regular life things.

Onward to Day Five.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Day Five

Once again made my goal for the night.

I paid a ton more attention to the challenge today than I did yesterday. Seven thousand words is a serious number of words in one day and I gave the writing of that much the respect it needed to make it happen.

Counting 3,000 words for Day One, 4,000 words for Day Two, 5,000 words for Day Three, 6,000 words for Day Four, and 7,000 words for Day Five, I needed to be at 25,000 words or beyond.

Hit that once again.

I had 2,400 words in the bank before today, but didn’t want to use the words today and it worked out that I didn’t once again. In fact, I added to the bank a little.

The Day

Wednesday for me is a typical meeting day and today was no exception. Managed to crawl out at 12:30 p.m. and make it to the first meeting for WMG Publishing business by 2 p.m.

Then another meeting at 4 p.m., and then more meetings on the new store until after 5 p.m.

So by the time I got done talking with people, it was almost 6 p.m.

I did some e-mail and other things quickly, then by 6:30 I got started writing on the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

6:30 p.m. I started and managed 700 words in forty-five minutes before taking a break for a nap and then dinner.

Second Session:

Back in here around 8:30 p.m. and managed 1,300 words by 9:15 p.m. Still powering along fine.

Third Session:

Stopped for a time to read Kris’s new blog (which is wonderful), then got back in here around 10 p.m. I did 1,400 words in just under an hour.

At this point the novel has really gone sideways completely. I am in a nasty time-loop type of problem in this book (Thunder Mountains are time travel if you didn’t know) which causes me all sorts of issues on the date of each chapter. I’m going to have to cycle back and make sure I have it all straight.

Fourth Session:

From 11 p.m. until 11:45 I got 700 words done before going to watch some television.

Fifth Session:

Got back in here at 1:15 a.m. and managed 1,400 words by just a few minutes after 2 a.m.

Sixth Session:

From 2:15 a.m. until 3:15 a.m. I managed 1,200 words.

Seventh Session:

From 3:30 a.m. until 4 a.m. I managed 800 words.

Made it.

Seven sessions.

I got 7,500 words for the day, bringing the novel to 27,950 words total so far.

I needed to be at 25,000 words after today, so I have 2,950 words in the bank at the moment on the challenge.

Tomorrow I’m going to have to be even more careful on time needed.

How Am I Feeling at This Point?

Very, very focused now.

And enjoying and challenged by this novel. Not sure what possessed me to write a Thunder Mountain novel for this challenge. It is a most difficult series to write by a long ways.

The next two days are the real test on this.

And no end in sight on the novel, so I’m at that scary point as well.

Going to be interesting.

The Writing of The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel

(The number in parenthesis is what is needed for the challenge.)

Day 1: 3,700 words. (3,000) Total words so far… 3,700 words.

Day 2: 5,100 words. (4,000) Total words so far… 8,800 words.

Day 3: 5,600 words. (5,000) Total words so far… 14,400 words.

Day 4: 6,050 words. (6,000) Total words so far… 20,450 words.

Day 5: 7,500 words. (7,000) Total words so far… 27,950 words.

The Day in Summary

Five and a half hours of work at other things counting the hour to write this chapter and other blog post and e-mail and 5.5 hours or so of writing to get 7,500 words.

Just about 11 hours for the day total. The rest of the time was napping, watching television, reading Kris’s blog, eating dinner, sleeping, and other regular life things.

Onward to Day Six.

CHAPTER NINE

Day Six

Once again made my goal for the day.

The goal today at 8,000 words was pretty much my focus for the day. I still worked up at WMG Publishing, but for not as long. (Yes, I still worked my day job, got my e-mail, and did these blogs while writing 8,000 words.)

Counting 3,000 words for Day One, 4,000 words for Day Two, 5,000 words for Day Three, 6,000 words for Day Four, 7,000 words for Day Five, and 8,000 words for Day Six, I needed to be at 33,000 words or beyond.

Hit that once again.

I had 2,950 words in the bank before today, but didn’t want to use the words today and it worked out that I didn’t once again. In fact, I added to the bank a little. Very little. 50 words actually, to make the bank after tonight 3,000 words even.

The Day

Thursday for me is a normal day. I work on workshop stuff up at WMG offices and I did that as well today. I got there, after a half hour of errands, around 2:30. I worked there upstairs in the new store and on workshop stuff in my office until just before 5 p.m. when I headed home. So basically three hours of work there.

I did some e-mail and other things quickly, then by 5:15 I got started writing on the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

5:15 p.m. I started and managed 800 words in forty-five minutes before taking a very short break.

Second Session:

Back in here around 6 p.m. and managed 700 words in another 45 minutes.

The weather at this point gave me a break. I find it difficult to write when the sun is streaming over the ocean and into my office. Even with the blinds pulled, it is hard to see my computers. But just after I started writing the fog rolled in and I wrote without a problem with the window open and the ocean crashing on the beach.

Third Session:

Another short break and managed 750 more words in another 45 minutes before stopping to take a nap and have dinner at 7:30 p.m.

2,250 words in three sessions. Book was going slow at this point because it was very complicated and I had to stop and do a quick check on facts a number of times. (Remember, I only write one draft. I never leave anything and I don’t write sloppy.)

Still, 2,250 words before dinner made me happy.

Fourth Session:

Got back in here around 9 p.m. after some dinner and television. By 10:15, a long session for me, I had 1,300 words more.

Fifth Session:

A little longer break and from 10:45 until midnight I got in 1,500 words.

Book is back picking up speed at this point.

Sixth Session:

Watched some television, so didn’t get back into this office until 1:30 a.m. From then until 2:15 a.m. I wrote 1,000 words even.

Yes, even on an eight-thousand-word day I worked, watched television twice, and took a nap. That ought to mess with some myths.

Seventh Session:

From 2:20 a.m. until 3 a.m. I managed 950 words.

Eighth Session:

From 3 a.m. until 3:45 a.m. I managed 1,050 words.

Made it.

Eight sessions.

I got 8,050 words for the day, bringing the novel to 36,000 words total so far.

I needed to be at 33,000 words after today on the challenge, so I have 3,000 words in the bank at the moment on the challenge.

Going to finish this tomorrow if life leaves me alone.

How Am I Feeling at This Point?

Very, very, very focused now.

I am on jury duty starting tomorrow, but I luckily don’t have to go in until next week.

That would have been fun.

So I am able to stay really focused going forward now, which at these longer word counts, I have to be.

It feels like this book will finish up tomorrow. Not at all sure how long it will end up, so I am planning on spending a real focused day on it. Nine sessions, which means I have to watch my time carefully.

Just wish I could see the ending. I think I have caught a glimpse, but it’s some words away. Or at least it feels that way.

Going to be interesting. If I have to write ten or eleven thousand words tomorrow to finish this thing, I will.

And then on Sunday night, I’ll do a final chapter on this nonfiction book that these blogs will turn into. I’ll talk about the challenge from a day’s hindsight and if such a challenge like this is worthwhile.

And so on.

But I need to finish the novel first tomorrow.

The Writing of The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel

(The number in parenthesis is what is needed for the challenge.)

Day 1: 3,700 words. (3,000) Total words so far… 3,700 words.

Day 2: 5,100 words. (4,000) Total words so far… 8,800 words.

Day 3: 5,600 words. (5,000) Total words so far… 14,400 words.

Day 4: 6,050 words. (6,000) Total words so far… 20,450 words.

Day 5: 7,500 words. (7,000) Total words so far… 27,950 words.

Day 6: 8,050 words. (8,000) Total words so far… 36,000 words.

The Day in Summary

Four hours of work at other things counting the hour to write this chapter and other blog post and e-mail and 7 hours or so of writing to get 8,050 words.

Just about 11 hours for the day total. The rest of the time was napping, watching television, eating lunch and dinner, sleeping, and other regular life things.

Onward to Day Seven, the last day.

CHAPTER TEN

Day Seven

Got the book done!!!!

The goal today was at 9,000 words and needed to be the focus of my day because I had no idea how many words I would actually need to end this book.

I had 3,000 words in the bank, so that helped the worry some.

Counting 3,000 words for Day One, 4,000 words for Day Two, 5,000 words for Day Three, 6,000 words for Day Four, 7,000 words for Day Five, 8,000 words for Day Six, and 9,000 words for Day Seven, I needed to be at 42,000 words or beyond to hit the challenge.

Hit that solidly.

The novel came in at 43,050 words.

Seven Day Novel Challenge Hit!!!

The Day

Friday for me is normally an errand day. I got out of the house around 1:30 p.m. and ran errands all over the place including banks, mail, the WMG store, grocery store, you name it, I was there this afternoon.

Got to the office around 4:30 p.m. and worked there until just before 5:30 p.m. before heading home.

I did some e-mail and other things quickly, then by 6:00 p.m. I got started writing on the novel The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel.

First Session:

6:00 p.m. I started and managed 700 words in thirty minutes before taking a very short break.

Second Session:

Back in here around 6:45 p.m. and managed 900 words in another 45 minutes.

Sun was out and I had to block the sun coming into my office, but managed to make it work. Book was going slow at this point because I honestly had no idea exactly where it was going or how it would end.

I also decided to take a nap at his point and then dinner and some television.

So starting tonight ended up slower than last night.

Third Session:

Got back in here around 9:30 p.m. and managed 1,100 more words by 10:15 p.m.

Fourth Session:

10:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. I got 1,200 words more.

Stopped to watch some television at that point. Yes, even on a 9,000-word last day I stopped and watched some television.

Fifth Session:

1 a.m. until 2 a.m. I got in 1,100 words.

Book is back picking up speed at this point and I know the ending now.

Thankfully.

Sixth Session:

2:05 a.m. until 2:50 a.m. I got 1,000 words done.

Seventh Session:

From 3 a.m. until 3:45 a.m. I managed 600 words.

Eighth Session:

From 3:45 a.m. until 4:30 a.m. I managed 400 words.

I also spent a lot of time going back over all 50 some chapters to make sure the dates at the top were right. Time travel and loops are really confusing, but for the most part, I got them all right.

So I printed up the book and put it on Kris’s spot to read.

Eight sessions.

I got 7,000 words for the day, bringing the novel to 43,050 words total. That’s about normal length for all my Thunder Mountain books.

How Am I Feeling About Finishing?

Relieved and surprised it wasn’t harder than it was.

I had to stay focused for the week, but I didn’t not do something.

I still worked and watched television and got regular night’s sleep. I didn’t really do anything differently except that I was focused on the writing instead of playing around with other things.

In the last chapter of this nonfiction book about the writing, I’ll list all the details about the challenge. How many hours it took me to write, how much I worked at my job outside of the writing, and so on over the seven days.

But I want to say this right now. I had thought that writing a novel in a week was a young person’s thing. I learned I am wrong on that.

I’m 65 years old and this didn’t even begin to stress me.

So now that excuse for me is shot out the window.

Back next chapter with a wrap-up of all this

Where Can You Read This Novel?

About the first week or so of May, this novel will be out in Smith’s Monthly #30. (That’s right, I will have done 30 issues of a monthly magazine with a full novel in every issue, plus short stories.)

Then in about four months after that, the book will come out in paper and electronic editions stand-alone.

Subscribe to Smith’s Monthly to not miss it, or support my blog on Patreon to get a copy.

Either way you can read this novel in just over a month from when I wrote it.

The Writing of The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel

Day 1: 3,700 words. Total words so far… 3,700 words.

Day 2: 5,100 words. Total words so far… 8,800 words.

Day 3: 5,600 words. Total words so far… 14,400 words.

Day 4: 6,050 words. Total words so far… 20,450 words.

Day 5: 7,500 words. Total words so far… 27,950 words.

Day 6: 8,050 words. Total words so far… 36,050 words.

Day 7: 7,000 words. Total words … 43,050 words.

The Day in Summary

Five and a half hours of work at other things counting the hour to write this chapter and other blog post and e-mail and 6.5 hours or so of writing to get 7,000 words.

Just about 12 hours for the day total. The rest of the time was napping, watching television, eating lunch and dinner, sleeping, and other regular life things.

All done.

A novel in seven days.

It was great fun.

EPILOGUE

Killing Some Myths

Myth #1 Shattered

First off, as I said way back in the opening of all this, my first thought when I heard this challenge idea was that I was too old.

For the record, I am 65 years old.

I had always read about how some of the great writers would do books about this length in a week or less. I always admired those writers and when I was going full force in traditional, I wrote at good speed for that system for decades.

But it was never close to what my heroes from the past had done. And as I got older and the new world of indie publishing started to open back up the freedom again, I just assumed I was too old.

So I went to something easy such as filling 70,000 words of my own magazine every month with only my stories. And including a novel every month and short stories and serial novels and features.

Easy. Uh, no.

I am the only writer in history to do that. Or even attempt it.

This novel I just finished will be in Smith’s Monthly #30. And I’m still going.

But I still thought I was too old for this sort of writing focus and speed.

Turns out that was a myth I was believing.

Total myth.

In fact, this wasn’t even stressful in the slightest. My hands didn’t get sore, my back is fine, everything I had been worried about turned out to be my critical voice trying to stop me on this.

Creative voice won that battle. Critical voice is whimpering in the corner.

Myth #2 Shattered

I hear all the time the excuse of “I have a day job so I can’t write like you do.”

Often I am insulted at that, but I never say anything. No point because it is a myth the writer is holding to help them not write. Their critical voice is winning completely and that’s not my fault they let it.

Not my fault another writer is not writing.

So what did I prove in this week of writing a novel about the day job excuse/myth?

Well, I worked 44 hours at my day job. In case some of you don’t know, I am the CFO of WMG Publishing and I am helping to start the store wing of the company. I do all the banking, errands, mail, and everything else, including teaching workshops and answering all the questions about them.

I usually work around 50 hours a week when counting the workshops I teach, but this week I got it down to only 44 hours.

So if you are using a day job excuse to stop your writing, you might want to start clearing out that myth. It’s just your critical voice finding an acceptable way to keep you from writing.

And if that makes you angry at me, might want to check in with yourself. You have some defense issues on this topic because trust me, your day job is no harder or easier than mine.

And at least you get paid for yours.

Myth #3 Shattered

I wrote a 43,000-word novel in 36.5 total hours of writing. (I’m counting another 7,000 words of writing nonfiction in the day-job hours.)

Just under 1,200 words of fiction per total hour of writing. However, I did all that in many, many sessions.

In fact, I did 42 sessions to write the 43,000 words. Or about 1,025 words per session.

Each writing session averaged .86th of an hour. Or about 50 minutes per session.

In other words, I typed at the blazing speed of 20.5 words per minute.

And that was all finished draft.

I printed up the book when I finished it and gave it to Kris to read. It will be turned into WMG Publishing for copyediting in a day or so. I’m not going to touch it again except to fix a typo or so that Kris finds.

So all the writers who think they have to write sloppy during NanoWriMo to get the words done in a month, I just showed you how to not do that.

Write, finish, and release.

And right there a bunch of writers are screaming about how they could never do that, or that I am a mutant so I can do this, or that my books have to be bad because I wrote it fast without rewriting it, and so on and so on.

Actually, doing this has to plow into a bunch of the myths I wrote about in Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing.

So if you are finding yourself making excuses about how you could never do this, stop and check in and ask where the belief system you are spouting is coming from.

Just trying to be helpful.

So, in Summary

A 65-year-old-man just took time around his 44 hours of day job to write 42 sessions and start and finish a novel in one week.

Without an outline, writing into the dark completely, only one draft.

And the old guy has the audacity to say it was fun.

And horrors of horrors, he actually took a nap every day and watched a lot of television as well. And he cooked dinner four of the seven days.

Horrors!

How can all that be possible?

Because it was fun, that’s how I did it. The writing was fun.

Will I do it again? Oh, sure.

But next time I won’t make any big deal out of it. Next time it will just be part of my regular writing, now that I have proven to myself that I can do it and cleared out the age myth.

And I hope I have proven that anyone can do it easily. You just have to get rid of all the excuses, the myths, the belief that you can’t do it.

You can do it.

With a day job.

When you are on Medicare and Social Security, and still watch television every day and get a nap and a full-night’s sleep.

I just showed you it is completely possible.

And it really is a lot of fun.

If you enjoyed Writing a Novel in Seven Days, you might also enjoy Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, available now from your favorite bookseller. Turn the page for a sample chapter.

INTRODUCTION

In 2010 I started doing short blog posts about the myths that hurt fiction writers that I had seen over my forty years in publishing. I honestly have no idea why I started these articles, but right from the start I called the myths of publishing “Sacred Cows.”

Over the next few years I wrote upwards of 50 “Sacred Cows” knocking down one myth or another, or at least attempting to. And then two years ago I went back and updated some of the myths as indie publishing started to take hold.

Then, over the last two months of 2013, I updated these ten again, picking what I thought were the ten most damaging myths that writers believe in modern publishing.

An Important Note About This Book

In this book, I am only talking about commercial fiction. Nonfiction often has similar problems, and fiction written as a hobby has yet a different set of problems and myths.

But for this book, I am talking to writers who want to make a living with their fiction and sell a lot of copies, either through traditional publishers or through their own indie press.

So Who Am I to Try to Kill These Myths?

I think at one point or another since 1974, I fell into one or more of these myths, sometimes more than one at a time. Before I fell for the rewriting and writing slow myth, I wrote and sold two short stories and a lot of poetry in 1974 and 1975. Then I went down into the myths taught by college classes and didn’t sell a thing for the next seven years.

Once I finally got out of those myths in 1982, I sold professionally over 200 short stories and wrote far more, and I have sold traditionally over 100 novels and written even more. I am considered one of the most prolific authors working at the moment.

During the years I was also an editor, starting as the first reader and publisher for Pulphouse Publishing in 1987, then staying a publisher as well as editing some lines for Pulphouse. I also helped my wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, at times as a first reader for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

In 1995 I started an almost three-year run as the fiction editor for VB Tech Magazine. Then in the late 1990s I also went to work for Pocket Books as the fiction editor for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I did that for ten years. Now I am one of the executive editors for Fiction River and often edit a volume myself. I was nominated five times for the Hugo Award for my editing.

And during all those years being a publisher and editor, I got to talk a lot with writers coming into the business. And all of them were dealing with one myth or another. Often a myth had them stopped cold.

In the late 1990s, Kris and I also started to teach, trying to help professional writers who were stuck to move forward in their careers. We’ve been doing that, as well as teaching online, since. Many, many of the writers we’ve helped were stuck in the myths.

So I hope this book helps you with your writing. I’ll be happy to answer questions on my website at www.deanwesleysmith.com. And I am writing more Killing the Sacred Cows chapters there, so stop by and join in the fun.

Two Important Points

I will repeat this over and over throughout this book. But I want to be clear right up front here.

1… Every writer is different.

2… And if you can’t enjoy your writing, what is the point?

Now off into the myths of fiction writing. There are a lot of them.

In this book I’ve tried to take a pretty good shot at the top ten.

Enjoy.

—Dean Wesley Smith

January 5, 2014

Lincoln City, Oregon

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith published far more than a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres.

At the moment he produces novels in several major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, a superhero series starring Poker Boy, and a mystery series featuring the retired detectives of the Cold Poker Gang.

His monthly magazine, Smith’s Monthly, which consists of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and offers readers more than 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.

During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, he wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.

He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.

Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing, where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as series editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series.

For more information about Dean’s books and ongoing projects, please visit his website at www.deanwesleysmith.com.

Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith

WMG Writer’s Guides:

Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing

Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing

How to Write a Novel in Ten Days

Heinlein’s Rules

Stages of a Fiction Writer

Writing into the Dark

How to Write Fiction Sales Copy

Sign up for the WMG Publishing newsletter to receive updates about new releases, bonus content and more at wmgpublishing.com

Copyright Information

Writing a Novel in Seven Days

Copyright © 2016 by Dean Wesley Smith

First published in slightly different form on Dean Wesley Smith’s blog at www.deanwesleysmith.com in 2016

Published by WMG Publishing

Cover and layout copyright © 2016 by WMG Publishing

Cover design by Allyson Longueira/WMG Publishing

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Table of Contents

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPILOGUE

Sample of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing

Newsletter Signup

About the Author

Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith

Copyright Information