What better way to celebrate World Poetry Day today than by writing or reading a poem? The rain doesn’t seem to let up here, but this doesn’t mean you can’t use it in a poem as I did š. Happy World Poetry Day!
Spring rain
Caressing
The whispering flowers
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What better way to celebrate World Poetry Day today than by writing or reading a poem? I wrote this poem a few days ago, on the night of the full moon.
full moon
watching its twin
In the pond
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I do not know whether I shall make progress; but I should prefer to lack success rather than to lack faith. Once again, Seneca hits the nail on its head. My writing mornings have become more and more torture sessions after the almost euphoric beginning. I write and write, one sentence after another, and I write almost anything, no matter how bad or irrelevant to the topic, just to record something in the log and say, See, Iāve written that much today. But do I believe in what Iām writing? Not anymore. Iām losing faith, and thatās about the worst. In survival situations, mental strength is the difference between who dies and who lives; in writing, between who finishes a book and who doesnāt.
I finish the daily quota and go for a walk, unsatisfied by the dayās production. A jumble of words, a bright spark here and there ā¦ how can all this become a book? How could I think I could write? But isnāt every author saying that you have to write, no matter how bad, in order to learn how to write? Youāll suck at first, they say, and youāll continue sucking for a while; you have to make your peace with that. But with every word scribbled down in anguish, with every sentence excavated from the depths of your creative mine, with every doubt encountered but dismissed on the way – you learn.
That is, you learn if you have faith and keep at it long enough to notice your progress. Thatās the difference between those who finish a book and those who donāt. Learning how to write means learning how to live with inadequacy and doubt and how to keep going despite your mind screaming in protest. āWhatās the use?ā that traitor would say, āYou call that writing? Youāre lucky your life doesnāt depend on it.ā You hear it scream, yet you continue, you endure it and write another sentence, and another one, and another one.
āI am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do itā; Picassoās words comfort me. Have faith and keep going. Never stop working; never lose faith. Youāll make it.
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Am I still writing a book? Sure I am. And Iāll tell you a secret: itās good Iāve decided to document my journey publicly; it forces me to continue even when Iām tempted to give up, to be honest. I canāt think of a better way of staying the course as a writer. Only I wouldnāt give up, of course. Instead, I would write something different and much better, and finish the other book later. Oh, the lies we can tell ourselves!
Anyway, I managed to evade the siren calls of the new ideas and stay with The Book. (In an attempt to focus on the work, Iāve started now calling it The Book, using capital letters; any means are allowed to keep going!).
Iām now reading the last few research books and working on the lecture notes. Iām so fed up with reading books when my whole body screams to start writing. Hence, the lure and allure of the shiny new ideas.
But Iām almost out of the tunnel, and I think I can see the light (unless itās the train, as my old boss used to say). So Iāve allowed myself to start putting some meat on the preliminary outline. It almost feels like writing and keeps me happy, or, at least, calm, while Iām wrapping up the research.
So, not so much to report from the trenches, just soldiering on. Iām shooting for January 1st to start the actual writing. Art is warfare; Steven Pressfield was right.
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Remember when I was talking about my temptation to abandon my non-fiction book and start writing a different kind of book? Guess what? It happened again! No surprise there. It felt so good (it always does!), I almost started jotting down the first pages. Then reality set in, and I have, in fact, looked up that blog post just to remind myself that ideas are a dime a dozen.
Most (non-writing) people think that writers need ideas for new books, but getting new ideas is seldom a problem. Quite the opposite, in fact. Enter TMIS, i.e., Too Many Ideas Syndrome. You have more ideas that you could possibly be working on. So beware: TMIS sounds like a luxury problem, but it can be paralyzing or make you jump from project to project, never finishing anything.
I have a pretty long list of things Iād like to write about, and – as you can see here – every now and then, I even convince myself that it may be worth abandoning whatever I was working on to pursue that shiny new thing.
However, this time I was ready and stayed the course. I followed my own advice (something I should do more often, I always think) and archived that shiny thing in the slush file. With a sigh and some heartache but I did it. If nothing else, I hope itāll make me finish this book as soon as possible; then, I can start working on the new one. Win-win!
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I work slowly but steadily on my bookāword by word,Ā pebble by pebble. In fact, Iām not writing that much at the moment, mostly research notes, as Iām working my way through the research books; and morning pages, of course.Ā
I read, I take notes, I read some more. Days blend into each other. My hand hurts. My head hurts even more.
Will I ever get there? The end product, the book, seems so far away. I try not to think about it; itās so overwhelming at times. I feel Iāll never get there. Itās just so ā¦ much. Too much to think about, too much to read, too much to write. Like rowing a small boat across a vast ocean with only a flimsy map and an old compass to aid.
At times you may see something on the horizon. Maybe the coast, or maybe the gathering storm clouds. Hard to tell. You keep rowing, blistering hands on the oars and eyes on the horizon. The vision at the end of the ocean is the only thing that pumps your muscles and keeps you going long after youāre all spent.
Sometimes you see a sailboat, swiftly gliding away in the sunset, ahead of you. Tanned people with big smiles waving happily at you as you toil alone and exhausted in your rickety boat. You envy them, their seemingly effortless travel and happy faces.
Grudgingly, eyes off the happy vision, you grab your oars firmly once again and keep going. Thatās the only thing you can do. Keep working, keep trusting the vision in your head. Work and have faith. Do your best and hope youāll cross the ocean unscathed and find the treasure at the end of the rainbow.
There is a certain satisfaction in having done your best. Maybe your best is not good enough; youāre not always the best judge of that. Even so, you know that youāve done the best you could at that moment. Right now, right here. You can try again, do betterāstep by step, day by day.
Happiness is this moment now, the sense of quiet accomplishment at the end of the day, the string of tiny moments, a task well done.
I put my books and papers away. Another day, another page, a few steps further down the road. Closer to the rainbow.
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While I am working diligently on my research, Iām fighting this sudden urge to abandon the book Iām toiling on and write another book. A very compelling idea came my way. It feels so right that Iām ready to jettison the current material and just start again.
Itās a huge temptation. But is this the right thing to do?
I know itās not. How do I know? Iāve learned it the hard way. *
A bright new idea makes current work seems dreary compared to whatever Iām working on. NaĆÆve me abandons said dreary work to jump on board another project, so full of promises and hopes that itās only right to do it. I enthusiastically start, work for a while, and realize that itās become, well, dreary as time goes by. Then, I have an idea. Again. I feel stupid, but Iām not willing to cut my losses. Yet. Iāve invested in the first project, discarded all that work, started again, put in more time and effort – should I abandon this as well?
Itās a vicious circle. Youāll always have more ideas than time to execute them. It takes a lot of discipline to resist the pull of sparkling new ideas; the brain loves shiny bright objects, the rascal (this is the novelty bias at play).
I cannot afford to be seduced by new promises. It feels good in the beginning, then reality sets in, and Iāll be back to square one in no time.
Reluctantly, I write down the new idea in my Future Projects-list and go back to work.
* Remember when I said that Iād write a short story instead of the SF novel I was working on? Guess what? I didnāt finish it. Nor did I continue with the novel. Instead, I got a new idea! A non-fiction book! Itāll be great! Leave the dull stuff behind; letās do this new, cool stuff instead!
This is why I started documenting the process of writing my book here on the blog. This serves a dual purpose: first, Iāll be less prone to chase new ideas, and second, Iāll have to finish it. Donāt underestimate the power of social accountability to keep your promises.
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I know Iāve been secretive about the book Iām working on, but I canāt help it. Itās too fragile a thing to be exposed to the world. A small plant, a tiny greenhouse flower that still needs nutrients, and water, and a lot of tender care and protection before itās ready to be planted in the garden to stand on its own.
Maybe I doubt itās a good idea after all, and I donāt want my bubble to be burst yet.
Maybe Iāll change my mind and go into a different direction.
Or maybe Iām not ready to bare my soul yet. Nothing is so intimate as writing a book, pouring your soul on the page, and sending it out in the world, alone and vulnerable.
As Vita Sackville-West said, āThe book the one is writing at the moment is really the most intimate part of one, and the part about which one preserves the strictest secrecy. What is love or sex, compared with the intensity of the life one leads in oneās book? A trifle; a thing to be shouted from the hill-tops.ā (in a letter to Virginia Woolf on July 24th, 1929, from the book The Letters of Vita Sackville -West and Virginia Woolf, edited by Louise DeSalvo and Mitchell Leaska).
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I should probably have started my book writing log with this post, but hey, better late than never! This post is about creating a project plan for writing a non-fiction book.
At Microsoft, I used to manage large global projects, and I always used a project plan. So, when I wanted to write my first non-fiction book, my first step was to figure out what I needed to do by when.
I spent quite some time on this. Managing large projects has taught me that careful planning is essential. Itās well-invested time. Later on, when you have a lot to do, and life starts whirling around you at lightspeed (as it will do), youāll be thankful that you donāt have to think about whatās next. Youāve done all thinking in the planning phase, so you can just have a look at your plan and go do the next tasks. Easy.
I used these two books: Robin Colucci, How to Write a Book That Sells You and Tucker Max & Zach Obront, The Book In A Box Method; they complement each other well.
Robin Colucci offers a checklist on her website, and I used that as my foundation. It didnāt include the research part, even though she talks about gathering your research etc., in the book. Iāve read a lot of books on writing non-fiction, and not one mentioned research at all.
I searched online, and Cal Newportās article on how to build a research database was best in its simplicity. Read my earlier post about my research database; you can download my database template if youāre interested.
Anyway, I built on Colucciās template, added the research part, more on editing, and created new sales and marketing sections. Her book didnāt look into that at all since she assumed youād want a publisher. Iām not sure which way Iāll go, so Iāve added those sections but didnāt go into great details. At this point, Iām focused on writing the book, not dreaming about sales. Thereāll be time for time once I start editing.
Iām still wrestling with the research part. I feel it should come before outlining the book because, although Iām clear on what I want to include in the book, changes may be needed once Iāve read the research books. Iāll update the template once Iāve been through the process and learn more.
Hereās my template. With a column for Comments, of course. Feel free to use it. And do let me know if you have any questions or feedback!
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As mentioned in my earlier post, Iāve started building the research database for my non-fiction book.
I had looked around on the world wide web earlier and found several good articles on how to do that, all more or less complicated. I’m a gal of simple tastes, so I was looking for something not too complicated or relying too much on technology. I wanted a simple solution, sustainable in the long run. I’m planning on writing more books.
Cal Newport had a great article on building a research database, and I followed that process and kept it simple with an Excel file. Newport’s article focuses on writing an academic paper, but I found it useful for a non-fiction book too.
There areĀ more advanced ways, but I feel an Excel file meets my needs. I donāt want to over-complicate things. Apps come and go; Excel remains. Simplicity is the essence of happiness, as Cedric Bledsoe said.
The only thing that Iāve added is an extra column for Comments. Everyone with whom I worked on a project at Microsoft would recognize it. No project plan of mine would ever miss this column, ha, ha! I simply find it so useful for recording bits of information that you may need, for instance, a link to a relevant site. Once a process improver, always the process improver, I guess.
Hereās the file if youāre interested. Feel free to download it, and let me know if you have any feedback or questions.
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