Writing Book Review - No Plot No Problem

"No Plot? No Problem!: A High-velocity, Low-stress Way to Write a Novel in 30 Days" by Chris Baty is basically the NaNoWriMo handbook as written by the founder of said insane writing event.

This isn't a book about creating high literature or tightening your plot. No, this is a book about getting that novel idea out of your head and onto paper as quickly as possible. Everything else is for the editing stage.

I like this book. Chris Baty has an engaging way of expressing himself that makes it fun, and it's full of amusing anecdotes and tips from other Nanoers (not many writing books have tips for upping your word count).

It bears repeating - I really like this book. I read it a lot.

I just don't use it much.

With a few exceptions the tips I use from it I used before I read it, and the others don't suit me.

However this is exactly how a large chunk of NaNo winners write their novel - just not me. People who want to write a novel and struggle to get started could do worse than to give it a whirl. Even if you don't want it as a writing guide it's worth a look anyway for the fun factor. It's inexpensive and doesn't claim to be the one true way to write a novel - just a way.

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Before I go could anyone possible recommend a good writing book that deals with Short Story Writing? All the ones I home deal mostly with novels. Thanks.