A pretty impressive endeavor. Jeff Vandermeer accomplished it with his latest novel, partly due to a bunch of schedule complications that enforced this timeline, but he decided to share some of his tips and tricks in getting a polished novel to the editor in just two months. I don’t know about you, but it’s usually at least a month of worldbuilding and development before I feel all that comfortable just to start, and then another three months to finish. Two months from beginning to end sounds a bit crazy, but let’s see what he says.
One thing to note is that he doesn’t just list off some writing tips, but reminds you that there are other people who are going to be involved in your effort, such as a significant other, plus potential folks you contact for research and questions. Make sure they are onboard for the next two months of madness.
Once we get to the craft itself, here’s one of his many good points (and I would argue some of these are just as applicable to any writing timeline, not just a short one):
(7) Don’t animate what doesn’t need to be animated. This might just apply to any novel, but it’s especially true when you’re under the gun deadline-wise. There’s a lodge in my novel and separate rooms for all of the guests, along with one common room. There’re maybe two scenes in the separate rooms and lots in the common room. So I spent my time detailing the common room and really didn’t describe the other parts of the lodge at all. There was really no point.
Read through the rest of his article to get some other great ideas to streamline your writing process. It does a great job of pointing out some essentials that could help keep you from panicking should you ever face this kind of deadline.
I see that smile.