My name is Ali and I’m a 26 year old journalist, writer and sometime comicker based in Edinburgh. In 2011, I wrote the first drafts of 12 books in 12 months.
It all began with National Novel Writing Month 2010, when I wrote my first book (or 52,000 words of a first draft, if you wish to be pedantic) in 30 days. The Single Mum’s Aristocratic Library Assistant was supposed to be a pastiche of a Mills and Boon romance, although it went off in a few different directions (including SF and Fantasy). I enjoyed the experiment and found the daily target of 2000 words pretty easy to stick to – so much so that by December I felt a bit bereft at the lack of creative challenges.
I spent a lot of the year doing this face.
12 Books in 12 Months was the answer to this problem. I picked a different genre for every month and after midnight on the 30th / 31st day I moved on, whether I was finished or not. Unsure whether I would be able to keep up the momentum all year I appealed to the public through this blog, Twitter and Facebook to give me ideas for character names and genre tropes to work into each story. They were very supportive, as were local media types in Edinburgh, so that whatever other challenges I faced during the project I knew I wasn’t alone. That might sound trite, but I was genuinely overwhelmed by the level of support I received for what I described self consciously to friends as my ‘potentially really stupid idea’.
One year on I have completed the challenge, but it doesn’t stop now. In 2012 I plan to re-visit all my ramblings and start to edit them into something more akin to real manuscripts, at which point I will look at appropriate publication methods. I will also be writing a thirteenth book about the experience of writing 12 books in 12 months. Confused? You should be.
- I am taking January to have a bit of a break from novelling, to read books by other people, and to get back into the routine of pitching freelance articles to papers and magazines. But in February, the work begins again in earnest.
Book 13 will be about writing and attempting to publish twelve genre fiction books in a rapidly changing publishing industry. I will talk to proper authors about their approach, interview agents and publishers on what they look for, and ultimately create a literary equivalent of Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure. That’s the hope, anyway, and this website will be available throughout so that you, the internet, can follow it all.
Hope you enjoy the ride…
I was seriously impressed when I thought you were writing 12 books in a year but now that I know you’re writing 12 books in the year and working 35 hour weeks I am in AWE.
Well, if you can’t do something as silly as this in your mid twenties, when can you?! It’s really just a safeguard in case I get arthritis and have to stop…
Good on you, I have wanted to write for such a long time, but didn’t have any direction, so I was creatively constipated! I have just done my first written poo, my blog, and people like you give me hope that one day, I, too will write ‘that’ book, or even a few… Good luck, I look forward to reading them.
Thank you Sarah, I have looked at your blog and it’s good – I hope you have fun with it and keep going
I have to admit, I’m intimidated by your project’s success. i also plan on working on a follow-up memoir later this year. How does it feel to be done? I’m looking forward to it but also slighlt nervous. What is there after 12 books in 12 months?
It hasn’t really sunk in to be honest… I am taking January to get my bearings and read books by other people again, so at the moment I am sort of shell shocked but happy! I am sort of excited but nervous at the prospect of going back to things again – the main worry being that things i thought were good at the time might turn out to be awful!
I totally understand. A lot more people than I ever thought are asking to read my stories, and they seem to like them. Too bad I think they suck! I don’t know about you but I’ve discovered my voice and style and let’s just say I’m not a fan of either.
I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised with more than you expect. Enjoy your month off then enjoy a year worth of editing, rewriting, tweaking and working on that memoir!
Maybe my books will wave you your books in a bookstore one day! Fingers crossed!
This gives me inspiration to read more. Goodluck!
Thanks Kris
I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! I love your blog, keep at it!
Oh thank you! That’s really nice
Wow awesome! I like the look of your blog.
Thank you!
Ali, I’m impressed! You have discipline, girl. So many people say they’re writers but don’t write. I did NaNoWriMo last November and am currently editing that novel. But after I wrote the novel I thought, “I could do this every month.” AND YOU DID. Awesome. You’re definitely an inspiration to writers.
Thank you, that’s very kind! Although I always want to clarify that writing a book in a month isn’t the same as finishing it – I have so much work to do it hurts my brain…
Very inspiring! I feel as if I must go write something besides blogging. Thanks for the encouraging words and sharing your plan.
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Hey Ali, I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Check out the details here: http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-rules/
All the best and Merry Christmas!
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Thank you, I will check out those other suggestions too!
Thanks for stopping by and for the follow. Oh, and great blog!
Thank you very much
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Hi I have nominated you for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award
http://bookpolygamist.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/quick-write-something-inspiring/
I’m always in awe of what you have accomplished and hopefully it will inspire me one day to finally write my own novel
I nominated you with the Versatile Blogger Award! Please click this link http://kuyasnotebook.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/versatile-blogger-award/ for more about it! It’s amazing to see the work you’ve done, and it gives me inspiration to continue writing!
And besides, I love meeting other people who’ve completed NaNoWriMo!
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I am totally motivated and want to try this 12 book in 12 months project!
I’m really quite impressed.
12 novels in a year!! I’m impressed, I struggle to get 12 sentances down in that time!