In 1977, in a bar in Vancouver, two brothers, Stephen and Tom Osborne, were drinking with a group of friends. The conversation turned to authors such as Voltaire and Kerouac, who were said to have written iconic novels in mere days. The whisky flowed. At closing time, filled with Dutch courage, each promised to return three days later having written a novel of his own.

Thus began the “3 Day Novel Contest”, the deformed left foot of the literary world. Over the years it has attracted a range of madcap entrants, including a man who wrote his novel up a tree, people who wrote their novels live on reality TV and a woman who twice — twice — entered in her final month of pregnancy. This year I decide to enter. Like most novelists, my output is ordinarily 1,000-3,000 words a day. Under the rules I have to write 45,000 words in three days. What could possibly go wrong?

Read the full article on the Times website (subject to paywall restrictions)

Read the first chapter of Jake’s 3 Day Novel.

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