This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

As a regular Nanowrimo writer, I was intrigued by this – to write a book in 99 days. Nano targets 50,000 words over the course of a month. Inkslinger has the same word count target, only over a 99-day period (or actually 80 since it sets out other days for planning and self-editing, whereas Nano is purely 30 days of completing your first draft).

The majority of this book is packed with helpful writing advice and guidance on all the different stages of beginning and completing a book. Most of the advice is things you can find elsewhere, but they are all packed into one useful guide here. In general, I think this is more useful for a new writer than someone who has already completed books before. It could also be a bit overwhelming as it is packed with chapters detailing every stage and basic ways of writing your way through them but it is a bit of an information overload in my opinion.

Based on the title of this book, perhaps I was expecting something a bit different. The actual write a book in 99 days concept strangely seems a little bit of an afterthought. It is brought in at the end but whilst there are some handy planning sheets included, for the 80 days of writing you are pretty much on your own. I understand the guidance is provided earlier in the book, and of course you can keep going back to the points made to help inspire on days when words are hard to find. However, to me I felt like it could have been structured a bit differently.

Packed with lots of good inspiration and motivational pieces, Inkslinger will definitely be a helpful book for a new writer. It is knowledgeable and inspiring with a gentle but encouraging voice. I am looking forward to trying it when I am ready to start writing my next story.

Good book for beginners, although I found the emphasis on 99 days to be less than I expected. The tone is nice and supportive, but I can't say it really stands out from other how to writing books in a particular way.

Inkslinger in a nutshell: In order to become a writer you need to write. You should preferably be inspired (and I am going to assume that this is where the process stops for many people). The first draft can be bad, as it can always be edited professionally later. Know your genre and your target audience: what do you want to write about and who do you want to read your book?

If you're writing fiction, outline the general structure of your story (eg. three acts or five acts) and the arc of your character (their change throughout your book). What are your central conflicts and how does the tension build up? Consider the point of view and tense you want to use and be consistent about your choices. What are your characters like? You should know their personalities, even those aspects that aren't explicitly detailed in the story. Try to make the settings vivid for the reader, and show more than tell.

If you're writing non-fiction the structure expectations will be different according to the genre and purpose of your book but it is probably a good idea to be explicit about the purpose of your prose in the introductory pages. What is it that you want the reader to learn from your book? Plan accordingly.

Everyone needs to do their research because you don't want your readers to point out the errors.

Then you need to find the motivation and persistence to sit down and write a certain number of words in a day to meet your goals. Afterwards it's time to edit. The author makes good points about overuse of, well, anything, which is frequently what pulls me out of the story.

The cover says this is a 99 day guided writing experience but really this is mostly just a regular writing guide and the 99 days come up as a suggested drafting, writing and editing schedule in the last part of the book.

For veterans of writing guides there will not be much information that is new but I have reviewed some authors who would definitely benefit from the editing tips here.

I received a free review copy from Netgalley. I read it in my Kindle app on my phone, and there are some quotes, worksheets and tables here that are impossible for me to read as the text is so tiny and it stays tiny when you enlarge everything else. The only way I could read them was to take a screenshot and enlarge it in the gallery. This is not ideal, but it might be just me and my app. I've had some incompatibility problems with Netgalley arcs in Kindle format before.

Apropos of editing, this is mostly well edited as befits a writing manual but "they have more of an affect fiction writing" seems unintended and the meaning of illicit is different from elicit.

This is a voluntary, free review.

First of all, I have to say, I hate the cover. I would not have bought this book in a store and I would have missed out on the content as a result, I know that a lot of this content would have been based off of the back of the previous work by the author but as someone new to their work I wasn't part of that customer journey and was attracted by the content rather than the cover.

This will be a good book for novice authors but I was hoping for a bit more. The main part of the book is a basic primer on fiction elements (though nonfiction topics are touched on at times too). I expected a 99 day layout from the title but only the end of the book provides this format for the 99 days -- You have about 5 days of planning the book, with a downloadable worksheet for each one (one day you plan the whole outline, for instance, another you plan the characters) and then it's 80 days of writing on whatever schedule you want and about 10 days of editing. The goal is to have a 50,000 word book by the end, which is a short novel size. That's also the size of NaNoWriMo books IIRC, and I think you'd probably find many more tools on their website for free (assuming that NaNoWriMo is still a thing?).

I've written a full children's fiction book in the past (unpublished and not submitted, still waiting to see where to go with it) and I have published several nonfiction books (my system there is one that I find easier than hers and works well for me) and a poetry picture book for kids. I'm working on a fiction book right now that has a lot of characters and moving parts, and I was hoping this book would help me pound it into a better writing system and finish it sooner. This is way more basic than that, and won't work for me. That said, it will be a good guide for many beginners who are feeling overwhelmed with how to start at all.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.

This is a great book for beginners. Experienced writers looking for productivity tips beyond, "make a writing plan and stick to it" won't find a lot to recommend this book, but it covers a wide variety of basic writing advice in a conversational, easy-to-follow format that will guide someone who has never written a book before from idea to completion in 99 days.

This was hard for to me to follow and get along with. The guided experience wasn't the best and I couldn't continue along with it.

Not Quite What I Thought, But Good

Titles set up expectations. I fully expected to open this book, and after a brief introduction, see 99 days laid out for me, one after the other, helping me to write a book, with specific hints, tips, and tasks for each day. But this book isn't like this at all. In fact, the author doesn't get to the “99 days” until nearly the end of the book. Instead, this book is a mini crash course on how to write fiction and nonfiction with a 99-day plan at the end. Actually, only the first five days have anything specific to do... after that, it's just—essentially—“write.” That's not to say the book doesn't have good ideas and insights into the writing process; it does. But the title sets up an expectation that wasn't really true to the book inside. I did appreciate, however, that the author not only talked about fiction but also nonfiction. So often, nonfiction is the redheaded stepchild in the authorscape. Though this book is not what I thought it would be, some writers could find it helpful as the nudge they need to get their minds in order to be ready to write the book inside them.

Inkslinger – 99-day Guided Writing experience is an excellent resource for beginner writers. It answers the questions about where to start, what to do before you start writing a novel. It clarifies a few basic things. Part one is about theory (where to start, what you need to know before you start, how to write, setting, plot, POV, characters,...). While part two consists of worksheets and a plan on how to write a 50.000-word story.

You may expect something else from the title. But anyway, I found this book to be a great reference book for beginner writers.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.

A good beginners' guide to writing and editing a book. This book is designed for those not feeling the urge of write but want to know more about where to start. A first part describes what you need to know before writing a book, the decisions you need to make at start. Part two is the actual 99 day guided writing plan, which includes planning, writing and editing your book. The final part is on editing and making the final result published.
At the end, it looks comprehensive and full of helpful, ideas, especially if you are at the beginning of your career.

Inkslinger: 99-Day Guided Writing Experience
by Kimberly Cooper Griffin

Written by an award-winning romance writer, Inkslinger is set up like a writing workshop. I think many people enjoy having a sense of the scope of their endeavor, and learning to write a novel feels like it can take a long time. The promise this book makes is that you can follow this “guided writing experience” and write a 50,000-word novel in less than 100 days.

Part I covers a lot of the basics, with each chapter being about two pages long and dealing with the fundamentals of writing (creating setting, developing characters, etc.). Part II is where the magic happens, with a lot of questionnaires and worksheets (digital copies are available for free, too) that get you writing the actual manuscript pages. It even has a calendar that blocks out the days so you can visualize the task at hand.

If you gave NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) a shot this past November and had a hard time, this is the type of book that might be the solution.

It’s possible that some might feel this book is overly streamlined, but if you need structure and guidance, this book is designed to help you out. I especially like that the 99-day sequence ends in celebration. Writers should ALWAYS take the time to value the hard work they’ve done.

4 out of 5 coffee cups

www.kimberlycoopergriffin.com

The book is divided into three parts. The first outlines what you need to know before writing a book. It includes things such as choosing a genre, story arc, character development, and tense. Part two is the actual 99-day guided writing plan. It includes ways to plan and write your book. The third part focuses on editing and shaping your work and different ways to get it published. This book was more comprehensive that some I've seen, and more so than others I've read. Things could be oversimplified for some writers/readers, but for those starting out, it could be a helpful book. Though a lot of the information could be found by searching online, it could be convenient for people to have it all in one place.

This book is labelled as a guided writing experience. Perhaps I had different expectations.

Any person with an internet connection who wants to write a book will already have a lot of this information at their fingertips. I expected the guided writing experience to be more front and centre. Unfortunately, my expectations based on the title were not met.

There's nothing incorrect in what they have written about writing a dirty first draft, it is just not what I expected from the title.

I’m looking forward to starting 99 days of guided writing! Kimberly Cooper Griffin is very encouraging and I want to think of her as my own personal cheerleader as I’m reading through how to get started! If you think you have a book in you but have been discouraged and don’t know where to begin… this might be helpful in your journey! Happy writing…

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the Publisher and was under no obligation to post a favorable review.

A wonderful guide to writing and shaping a book. This book is designed for anyone who wishes to write a book but isn't sure where to start. Divided into three parts; the first outlines what you need to know before writing a book, such as choosing a genre, story arc, character development, tense etc. Part two is the actual 99 day guided writing plan, which includes days to plan, write and edit your book, part three, focuses on editing and shaping your work and different ways to get it published. I've looked at a lot of 'get into writing' type of books and this one is the most comprehensive and helpful, especially is you have an idea but aren't sure about how to structure your writing. I also like that they allow time for editing, something that is missing from the Nanowrimo challenge.

With thanks to the publisher Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nicely Balanced. A Workshop....
Nicely balanced writing advice. A workshop if you like. Written with an easy hand and a lightness of touch making straightforward and pleasant reading. Informative and useful throughout.

Can't wait to get this for my Library! The guided exercises will be perfect for our writing group if Covid ever goes away! Great book!

Inkslinger- 99 Day Guided Writing Experience is a really informative and useful resource to those beginning to learn about writing and the publishing world, however it may not be as groundbreaking for those who are more experienced.

It is well structured and includes all of the basics that new writers need to get started on their journey, but doesn't dive deep into any of the topics.

I was hoping for a little more, but I can definitely appreciate that this will be an invaluable tool to others. It did give me motivation, which in itself is useful.

Subtitle: 99-Day Guided Writing Experience

I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a writer I’m always willing to read new books about the craft of writing. I requested to receive an ARC of this particular book because I struggle with finding ways to streamline the writing and revising processes and hoped it might hold some helpful tips.

Inkslinger is a very big-picture plan for writing a 50,000 word novel and preparing it for professional editing in 99 days. It starts with coming up with the idea for the book, developing characters, setting, etc.


I gave Inkslinger four stars on Goodreads. I’m not exactly the target audience for this book (I’ve written four novels so far, still unpublished though), I feel like it is a little oversimplified. It did provide some motivation thought.