Welcome to NOVEL MARATHON, a 26-episode podcast aimed at helping you write the first draft of an 80,000 word novel in about a year. We’re reading THE ONE YEAR NOVELIST by L. M. Lilly, STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron and THIS YEAR YOU WRITE YOUR NOVEL by Walter Mosley. To join, simply listen, do the readings and complete the exercises in the assigned chapters listed in the show notes. You can expect a new episode about every two weeks. I hope you’ll join us. Good luck with your novel-in-progress!
Novel Marathon
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Podcast Overview
Welcome to NOVEL MARATHON, a 26-episode podcast aimed at helping you write the first draft of an 80,000 word novel in about a year. We’re reading THE ONE YEAR NOVELIST by L. M. Lilly, STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron and THIS YEAR YOU WRITE YOUR NOVEL by Walter Mosley. To join, simply listen, do the readings and complete the exercises in the assigned chapters listed in the show notes. You can expect a new episode about every two weeks. I hope you’ll join us. Good luck with your novel-in-progress!
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1/8/2022
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Recent Episodes
June 17, 2023
Mile 8 & 9: Plotting with Post-its, plus: Writing with the ending in mind
🏃Welcome to Mile 8 & 9 of Novel Marathon – The 2023 Edition! 🏃 When it comes to writing styles, we talk about “planners” and “pantsers” as if they are two different species – as in “men are from Mars, women are from Venus.” 🙄 And maybe that’s true for some people. However, by and large, humans are more interesting than that. I was researching different tools for plotting and came across a medium post from author Julie Cohen, where she talks about how her method of using post-it notes can be useful when you’ve already written thousands of words – in fact, rather than using post-it notes to invent a plot from scratch, she uses them to DISCOVER the structure of what she’s already written. That’s right! Post-its can be as much an analytical as a generative tool. I was intrigued after reading the medium post above and decided to invest in Julie’s online class. It took me a Saturday morning to watch the short lessons and do the exercises, and it’s really changed my approach to plotting. The exercises in the course are simple, don’t take much time, yet were super effective at demonstrating the power of Post-its. Julie’s an excellent teacher – it shows that she has taught versions of this class many times. If you want to learn more about plotting, and your writing style is a mix of planning and pantsing, I highly recommend Julie’s class. And I don’t get paid for saying so! Since taking the class, I bought a mix of small and large post-it notes in different colors and have started mapping out my book – including making sense of what I’ve written so far. Personally, I’m using small blue post-its for regular story beats (stuff that happens, jotted down in a single sentence or word) and small pink post-its for structural story events (inciting incident, one-quarter twist, strong middle, three-quarter turn, plot twists, etc.) I arranged those post-its on letter-size printer paper which I’ve taped together with Scotch tape to form one long document that is multiple pages long. When I unfold it I can see the structure of my story, the story arc that goes from left to right. On the last two pages I use big yellow post-its for my characters (one post-it per character) and small green ones for the main locations where my book takes place. But here’s the real beauty of Julie’s method: You can use whatever colors, whatever sizes, and whatever structure that fits YOUR book. Taking the class has helped me see how flexible this method really is. That’s what makes it fun: You can make it your own. Writing a novel is scary. This method of using post-its allows us to tackle some difficult structural challenges with little colored pieces of paper. If you make a mistake no big deal, just toss out the culprit and grab a new one, you have a whole stack of ‘em! That’s the magic. I’m glad I stumbled over this plotting hack – maybe you’ll find it useful too! Lisa Cohen’s medium post: https://medium.com/novel-gazing/post-it-plotting-d886194bf375 Lisa’s class: https://novel-gazing-with-julie-cohen.teachable.com/p/using-post-its-to-transform-your-writing 📚 Required reading Ch. 17-20 in The One Year Novelist Ch. 10, 11 & 15 in Story Genius 🌟 Extra credit Pgs. 40-47 in This Year You Write Your Novel Pgs. 24-31 in Refuse To Be Done 👟 Explore using Post-its to structure your writing Lay out what you’ve written so far Use one Post-it per story beat. Lay it out however you like. Use a different color for key narrative turning points (inciting incident, one-quarter twist, etc.) 👟 Write with the ending in mind Fast forward: How will you end your book. Will your protagonist win? Will they lose? Will there be a partial victory, where they lose something but gain something else? Is there a big a-ha moment, when the protagonist faces a final choice or final battle? And once you know what the ending might look like, what scenes do you need to get there? For more writing prompts, go to: novelmarathon.com/newsletter 💌
May 20, 2023
Mile 7: Why do you want to write this book? Plus: Commit to 500 words, 5x per week
🏃Welcome to Mile 7 of Novel Marathon – The 2023 Edition! 🏃 The last couple of weeks have been a wild ride at my job. As in I wasn’t sure whether I still had a job! Which led me to think about compartmentalization, and the value of art. For me, compartmentalization is a way of separating different parts of who I am. There is the bringing-home-the-bacon part. There’s being a parent. And there’s my writing. Of course, compartmentalization has its limits. Especially when something really big happens. Trouble on the job front. Breaking up with someone. Getting broken up with. I’m not even talking about getting bad health news, that’s a whole ‘nother level. What is one supposed to do when the world comes knocking, demanding our full attention? Just forget about that novel you’ve been meaning to write? Snap back to reality? Kiss those childish dreams goodbye? The trouble with letting the world into our innermost creative sanctum is that two parts of ourselves suffer: In addition to things going south in real life, our creative pursuits are also in danger of taking a hit, and all of a sudden, our whole being is threatened. I’m not suggesting that real life problems can be perfectly kept at bay. We aren’t robots, after all, and whatever walls we attempt to erect between the different roles we play are ultimately as soft and porous as our skin. I take a lot of pride and ownership in my work. But ultimately, it’s work for hire. I’m as replaceable as any employee. But art is different. Our writing belongs to us. In case you’re wondering, it turns out I still DO have a job! But this experience has clarified a few things for me. When everything falls apart, my writing will still be there. I find that immensely comforting. It’s constant, waiting for me, a refuge I can turn/return to at any time. Protect your art. It’s worth it, and so are you. 📚Required reading Ch. 15 & 16 in The One Year Novelist 🌟Extra credit Pgs. 22-24 in Refuse To Be Done 👟Story spark Write a paragraph about the moment you had the idea for your novel and what attracted you to it. 👟Most importantly: WRITE! ~500 words, 5x per week. For more writing prompts, go to: https://novelmarathon.substack.com
May 6, 2023
Mile 6: Ready, Set… 🏁 WRITE!
Dear Novelists & Novelistas,<br> 🏃Welcome to Mile 6 of Novel Marathon – The 2023 Edition!<br> Guess what? All that planning you’ve been doing is paying off and you’re now READY TO WRITE!<br> Scared? Don’t be, because you already have the best tool for creating a compelling narrative in your back pocket: Scene cards.<br> Scene cards are a way to structure each scene in your book so you not only know what’s happening in that scene, but also what the scene is building up to, and what needs to happen next.<br> These scene cards become the blueprint for your writing. Fill out as many as you can, always asking “So what?” at the end. Why did you write this scene? What’s the next thing that needs to happen? If your scene cards build logically upon each other, chances are that your narrative will captivate the reader.<br> About that narrative… let’s talk about word count goals.<br> My suggestion is to shoot for ~500 words, ~5x per week.<br> You can pick a different goal. This is one that has worked for me in the past. What I like about it is that it doesn’t require perfection. It’s ok if you miss a day. Maybe you had a rough day at work – or a rough week! Well, you always have the weekend to catch up. But if you manage to write every weekday, you can have the weekend off, which is a pretty sweet incentive IMO.<br> I will be there with you, every step of the way. I’m sure I’ll stumble. I’m sure I’ll have to catch up at some point. Slow and steady wins the day 🐢There’s a reason this newsletter is called Novel Marathon 🏃<br> Now that it’s writing time, there will be some changes to this newsletter. Future newsletters will be a little shorter. I need time to write! I’ll still send out the readings & writing prompts, and I’ll share my progress with you along the way.<br> And here’s the homework for the next two weeks:<br> 📚Required reading<br> Ch. 11-14 in The One Year Novelist<br> Ch. 9 in Story Genius<br> 🌟Extra credit<br> Pgs. 65-68 in This Year You Write Your Novel<br> Pgs. 20-24 in Refuse To Be Done<br> ✏️ Your Assignment<br> 👟Opening scene<br> What’s your novel’s very first scene? Start writing!<br> 👟Write the islands<br> “Islands” is what Matt Bell calls the key plot points in your novel. Remember all those twists and turns you sketched out? Review your Story Spark, One-Quarter Twist, Mid-Point, Three-Quarter Turn, and Climax. Make sure you have scene cards filled out for each plot point and start writing the scenes that you envision most clearly. It’s ok to write out of sequence!<br> 👟Continue to flesh out subplots<br> Who are your supporting characters?<br> What are THEIR misbeliefs?<br> How are they changed, if at all, by the events of your novel?<br> 👟Most importantly: WRITE!<br> ~500 words, 5x per week<br> Aim for 2,500 words per week<br> Start May 8, finish an 80k word novel by the end of 2023<br> Previous assignments can be found at novelmarathon.substack.com<br> 👀 Watch & 🎧Listen <br> Follow Novel Marathon on YouTube or TikTok. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. <br> Newsletter 💌 and latest post<br> https://novelmarathon.substack.com More info💡<br> https://www.novelmarathon.com<br> Good luck & happy writing! ✍️
34 total episodes available
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This podcast updates daily.
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This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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