Is that great novel still a seed in your mind, waiting for the right time to emerge? "Let the lawn get shaggy and the paint peel from the walls," Walter Mosley advises, because you can write your novel at any time, whatever your work and personal responsibilities may be. And with this essential book, Mosley promises that the writer-in-waiting can do it in just one year.

Offering both motivation and instruction, Mosley provides the tools needed to turn a novel idea into a first draft in only three months. He shows you how to create a daily writing regimen that will fit any writer's needs-and inspires you to stick to it. With examples you can wrap your fingers around, he teaches the fundamentals of fiction writing, from how to pick the perfect narrative style to fit your story, to hooking your reader with dynamic characters, to reading poetry for a sense of rhythm. With your draft under way, Mosley guides you through the art of revision, demonstrating how to turn the core of your story into a complete and vibrant novel-it might be the idea you set out with originally, or it might be something even better.

Eliminating your personal doubts and your writer's block, master craftsman Walter Mosley gets you past those hesitant first sentences and into the thick of your own creation, where you can write with abandon. This Year You Write Your Novel is an indispensable book of tips, tools, practical advice, and wisdom from the author of the bestselling Easy Rawlins novels and the acclaimed literary novels The Man in My Basement and Fortunate Son.