The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the Story Within

Sensing my frustration with the book that wasn't getting written, a friend wrote the words 'Al Watt. 90 Day Novel' on the back of her business card and gave it to me with an emphatic, "Check it out." One of Al's workshops began the following week, and the next thing I knew I was writing the book I'd put off for over a year.
Part of Al Watt's gift is his ability to articulate the writing process from a non-analytical point of view. Much has been written about writing, but with few exceptions the desire to pin down the 'how to' ignores the alchemy that is key to the creative process. The 90-Day Novel acknowledges that alchemy and provides writers with advice on accessing it. Al charts a course with specific guidance, yet no hard and fast rules, and moves the process at a pace that discourages resistance and promotes progress. With it's daily support and benchmarks, The 90-Day Novel helped me to relax and hold my story loosely, thereby allowing the story to lead (and surprise) me while maintaining the connection to the idea at its center.
I highly recommend The 90-Day Novel to anyone who is blocked, stalled, short on confidence or otherwise staring at a blank page.

This book offers a structured approach to writing a first draft within 90 days - but unlike many how-to books I've read on writing, it does NOT utilize outlining and plotting. Through a series of daily exercises and questions, it engages the writer's unconscious and encourages the writer to "hold the story loosely" to allow deep and rich material to come forth. I was an experienced novelist before reading this book, but it has been a huge help in pulling the way I usually write into a daily, structured approach. I highly recommend it.

After graduating from a "prestigious" MFA writing program where I learned to write myself into a corner, I took a ten-year hiatus from fiction writing. Then, a friend suggested Al's workshop, which entirely changed the way I write and view the creative process. The 90-Day Novel approach focuses primarily on drawing on - and drawing out - the deepest, rawest parts of the unconscious through rigorous inquiry. What initially surprised me was how truly freeing and satisfying this was. Now, it's just part of how I work. If your goal is to learn to make the most of your own process and have a first draft of a novel by the end of ninety days, The 90-Day Novel will get you there. Highly, highly recommended!

I LOVE THIS COURSE, THIS BOOK, THIS APPROACH! I've been trying to be a creative writer for twenty-five years. I've worked as a freelance writer for eighteen years. I have file cabinets of poems and short stories and ideas that started strong but then ran out of steam. It wasn't until this course that I actually found a long story that engages me enough to want to spend several more months of my life with it to write a second draft. How cool is that?!?

This is an excellent guide for structuring one's time while planning a novel. It also takes the guesswork out of what topics to write on each day. If you find that structure helps you thrive, this is the book for you.

After taking several different writing courses and buying many different books on the subject, I finally found Alan Watt. For the past three years, I've taken his courses, the first being his 90-day Novel. For the first time ever, I felt really comfortable and was gently taught that the novel I'm meant to write is within me. There are no tricks. It's all there. And after each course, students would beg Alan to publish his nuggets of truths into a book, and here it is! Do yourself a favor and download this book. It's so simple. Writing a book in 90 days sounds insane but I've done it-TWICE!-using Alan's method. There are easy exercises that are meant to shed light on your characters and structure without being a formula. It's a perfect balance. And if you ever have the chance, take his course. It's available online and in person if you live in Los Angeles. He makes what seems an insurmountable task reachable and fun.

The 90 Day Novel is a savior!! Having never written a full piece before, I signed up for one of Alan Watt's 90 Day Novel Workshops and now am forever grateful!

I truly believe I never would have finished my first novel without the brilliance of the 90 Day Novels guidance. The structure it gives along with a 90 day time commitment creates an environment for creativity to freely flourish within the natural journey towards a transformation. The Daily Writing Exercises that stoke the fire of the imagination, along with the Structure Questions give a perfect balance through the writing process.

Now having experience how effective this way of working is, I am thrilled to begin my next project, and the 90 Day Novel will be there the whole way. This book is an inspiration, an illumination, and a solid instrument of story which allows anyone to play the beautiful symphony of their heart and mind toward a tangible creation. It's a must have for any writer, and after reading several other books on writing, it is my number 1 choice and recommendation.

For anyone interested in finally putting their novel down on paper, Al Watt's "The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story within" is a must-have. Using his infamous cleverness and wit, Al takes writers through the sometimes grueling, often frightening process of unleashing the story within. By utilizing a series of stream-of-consciousness writing exercises, clear story structure, and by giving writers permission to "write badly", Al's approach to novel writing removes the barriers that too often keep stories from being told.
~Jennifer E. Kocek (co-author "How Do You Grab A Naked Lady?")

This book is "The Artist's Way" for novel writers - it's not a book you *read*, it's a book you *do*. Every day you open it up and read Al's guidance and tackle the exercises and before you know it you're writing. It gets me through the daily hurdle of starting up again. It conquers the blank page.

This book should be the new BIBLE for EVERY writer out there. If you follow Al's day by day exercises and suggestions there is virtually no reason you will not have a draft done within 90 days. This is an absolutely brilliantly crafted, easy to follow, non-threatening piece of work that mimics Al's famous 90 Day In Person and On-Line Workshops. If you can't make it to L.A. or to the webcasts, take advantage of this, you will be delighted with the results!

The 90-Day Novel has deepened my appreciation for story - for books, for films and for my own writing in ways I never imagined. The book has taught me a whole new language of story that has helped me grow my writing beyond any other method I've encountered. The 90-Day Novel has assured me that my story lives fully formed within me and that I'm uniquely qualified to bring it out. It's taught me to connect with my unconscious, to write quickly without thinking and to trust my initial impulses. This isn't a book - it's a journey. Anyone who undertakes it will be amazed by the depth of the world they are capable of creating. And, most importantly - 90 days later.. i finished my draft.

Jon Reede

Al Watt has an accessible approach to writing with "The 90-Day Novel" and his method is deeply satisfying. Watt puts you in touch with your deepest source of imagination and gives you the tools and exercises to tap into that source to write your original story. Watt has reverence for the creative process and that humble approach and concise exercises related to structure allows students to write novels in 90 days!

I've had the incredible fortune of studying with Alan Watt. He has the unique ability to get you to write the story that is truly in your heart which ultimately is the best story. I haven't gotten his book yet but I can't wait to read it.