I know some of you lot like writing, so thought I might ask for some practical advice - I'm thinking of starting a writing project which I have a lot of ideas for, but I know my limitations especially regarding plotting, so was thinking of buying one of the many books out there on how to go about writing your own novel. However, I get put off by the facts that a) they're expensive, b) I'd inevitably end up buying a shit one, and c) I never quite trust them - surely good novelists are writing their good novels, not guides for other people to copy them. Saying that, are there good online/free resources that people use? I'm sure there are some communities around WIFWS and NaNoWriMo, but don't really know where to start.

What's your book about, yo?