Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, with more than 30 million books sold, 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, a mystery series featuring the retired detectives of the Cold Poker Gang, and the Mary Jo Assassin series.

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.

How to Write a Novel in Half a Month by Dean Wesley Smith

Many writers seem to view writing a novel while working a full-time job as an impossible task.

USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith once again proves that notion false.

In this latest WMG Writer's Guide, Smith details out his days while he works at his publishing business, teaches online workshops, keeps fit, and writes the latest novel—all in 15 days. And enjoys doing it all!

Author of more than one-hundred-and-fifty novels, Smith shares his strategies for staying focused, keeping upbeat, and enjoying what he loves most—writing.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Once you've tried Stefon's method, challenge yourself to try Dean's. Dean has maintained a full-time writing career for more than thirty years. So many writers—writers with careers—believe that writing a good book fast is impossible. So in this book, Dean models how a writer can write a book in half a month…while having a life. – Kristine Kathryn Rusch

 

REVIEWS

  • "Dean Wesley Smith's blog gives both a slightly different view of the publishing world than I'd seen before and detailed hands-on "here's how to get from A to B" instruction."

    – Erin M. Hartshorn, Vision: A Resource for Writers
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Introduction

I have done numbers of these writing books, basically just showing in public (meaning on my blog) what it is like to write a novel in a certain amount of time.

And then I turn the daily blog posts into chapters in the book and put the book out so anyone can read it and follow along. Actually see what it is like for a professional writer to write a book fairly quickly and in final form.

The reason for doing this is because so many writers believe in the myths that writing novels should take a long time, that it must be difficult, and that you must rewrite whatever you have done until it is mush and no one wants to read it.

I write a single draft, with some cycling every so often, so that when I get to the end, I need to have it checked for typos and then off it goes into print.

So one of these fun adventures I wrote a novel in five days while traveling. I was on a guy's trip to play poker in Las Vegas. So why not write a novel along the way? And I did.

I have done novels in public in seven days and in ten days. Almost all of my novels are in the 40,000 plus word range that I have done in public. One, however, was an 80,000 word novel in twelve days that I was doing for a traditional New York publisher, the last one I ever did as a ghost writer.

This book done in a half month was while I was basically working a full-time job with the teaching and publishing and business stuff. In fact, one of the weeks I worked over sixty hours on other things besides writing.

It was a busy time.

So each chapter from here on out is a blog that is still on my website. Including the prologue. I would suggest you just follow the writing process along and when you find yourself thinking you could never do this or that, stop and check in with yourself. All of this I relay here is possible for a 70-yearold man like me, so it clearly is possible for you.

Enjoy.
Dean