Review: Speed Improved 4x to 12x. STOP being in a Writer's Rut and GRAB this book!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2013
I am a would-be-author who was struggling for 18 months to complete my fiction story. My daily word count was poor and I was able to complete only few sentences a day. (if I wrote at all). At the start of January, I had only completed 40% of my story (btw, I didn't know it at that time) and I was starting to get desperate and wonder if I could ever finish the book. When I first started writing, I thought I would complete it within 6 months. 18 months later, I was floundering with no idea how much time it would take.Some time in early January I bought this book, hoping to find some answers, any answer to my vexation. And boy, this was manna! 2k to 10k showed me in a scientific and logical way, what I was doing wrong and more importantly, how to fix it.It took me a week to unlearn my current style of writing, and use Rachel's three-pronged approach to writing. Did it help me? From 13-JAN-2013 to 10-FEB-2013, I completed the balance 60% of the story which meant...YIPPEE! I had completed the FIRST DRAFT of my story! The story had literally blazed off the screen and my keyboard had became smokin' hot with the typing. Note that I now knew the dates I'd been writing plus the word count per day. With her method, I now knew exactly where I was in the story, what was going to happen next; and how much of the novel was complete.Now, I am writing this review in March and you might be asking what was I doing for the past 1 month. I was...Editing.I had meanwhile read Self Publishing for Fiction and it was a pretty good book. The challenge? It didn't tell you how to edit quickly. In the past one month, I was able to edit a grand total of 2 chapters. My pre-Rachel days loomed at me. I was back to square one with my hopes of Publishing still distant.I remembered that there was a chapter on Editing in 2k to 10k, but I had pooh-poohed through it, thinking that it wouldn't apply to my book. Now a month later, I went back and read through the chapter on Editing. And the scales fell off my eyes! I am using her three Editing Tools now. She said to use multiple colors to track threads. I tried that on paper, but found the highlighting feature in Word easier to do. I immediately found some continuity issues with my story and am now working on those toughest problems first.Final Thoughts: Rachel Aaron makes you so motivated in this book. You just feel like writing and writing. Its a short read, but I have gone through the book 3-4 times, and each time I have found something new and helpful. If you are stuck with your novel and don't know a way out, I PLEAD with you to read this book. My word count increased by 4x to 12x and I am sure even if you double your speed, you will be glad.If you relate to my story and can identify with it, say Yes below, then scroll up and grab this book. You will not regret it.