Planning on writing a 100000 (plus or minus) words novel that covers just one day in the life of an account (falling from grace, mid life crisis, involuntary criminal involvement, indecent proposal and finally redemption). Storyline is mapped out and ready to go. Just wondering if you've read any such novel, if you found them engaging enough to think it is actually plausible to go through 24 hours in a novel. If you've read such novel, please provide title and author so I could check it out before I am set on my idea.
Off hand I can think of only one story, a short story by Richard Matheson... who is remembered for several of his stories being used for episodes of The Twilight Zone. It follows a man who, one-by-one is losing elements of his life... they are simply disappearing as if they never existed. His apartment building, girl friend, his job, they no longer inhabit the/his real world, people he knows well have no memory of him... until the very last line of the story, when he's at a diner trying to gather his thoughts, and reaches for his coffee. And he too does not exist. It's one of the more memorable stories I've ever read, so yes, the idea can work. But you better have one hell of a payoff at the end of your story! The story, if I recall, is titled 'Disappearing Act'... it was well done and to the point, no wasted prose. It left you wondering if any of us have a tight grip on our own existence, that reality is so tenuous we might jus
This is an example from a different medium, but the Batman: Arkham Asylum videogame does this very well. Everything that takes place in the game happens over the course of one night. It's really well done. No matter how long the player takes to complete it, there are certain benchmarks throughout the game narrative to determine what time of the night it is and give the plot a sense of progression.
A contemporary example is Dan Brown novel's. I don't know if they're 24 hours exactly but they take place in "real time" over the course of a day or so. Did anyone else think this thread was going to be about writing a novel in 24 hours?
YES! That would've been very bad for me, I feel inadequate enough hearing about people writing 500 words a day everyday
I apologize I took you guys on a ride.....if I were to write a novel in twenty-four hous, I probably should go to a hospital, get a room, have them give me a drum of IV, get a laptop that won't overheat for excessive usage, lots of liquids and food, and then attempt to take on this uphill battle. Thus, basing it on this assumption, I would like to think that writing a whole novel in twenty-hour would be suicidal. But then some people like this kind of challenge.
100 wpm for 18 hours? + 2 tired hours for the edit... Bring it on (to my worst enemy). Where I've seen it done (a story that takes place over a day), it's always been padded with backstory and character flashbacks/ introspection. I read a 6–700 pager once that covered what can't have been more than 12 hours. It was called 'Byron Easy', it was set on a train; no, it was set inside the MC's head for the most part.
Was the movie "Falling Down" based on one day? Was it originally a book? I think I have the title name right. It is the one where a straight laced Michael Douglas plays a guy having a very bad day.
I like the Mezzanine. And going old school and Ya - I remember one of my fave author's Caroline B Cooney wrote a series of books about a quartet of girls, high schoolers, and specific dances they attended- New Years Eve, Saturday Night, Last Dance, Summer Nights. They were quite good considering most only covered a couple of hours.
And of course not a novel, but the once-popular TV series "24" with each episode being an hour of the ever-ticking clock. The element of time certainly can add to suspense! Good luck--sounds like a fun challenge.
The only similar example I can think of having read is Mrs Dalloway, but I really like the concept, and I think a lot of others readers do to!
