Writing a Get-it-Done Guy episode is easy. I have one main point and usually 2-5 quickie subpoints. The whole episode fits in my head at once and it’s easy to try out different phrasing, etc. Also, since I’m writing the script and reading it back, talking through a concept out loud works well. It gives me a nice article that will sound good when read as a podcast.
An 80,000-word book is different, though…
No matter how hard I try, 80,000 words just won’t fit in my head at once. Furthermore, this isn’t a “high concept” book. I don’t have three quick rules, or seven habits. I have a bazillion practical tips that need to be organized. I could do a “101 Tips” type book that would be pretty easy, but wouldn’t necessarily keep people coming back for more.
And remember, I have a goal out of all this, too! I want to build a paying media career with this book and podcast as my platform. A good, theoretical framework or set of principles is great for the public speaking circuit. “Let me tell you, Ellen, about my Five Great Rules.” It’s easy for people to remember, and makes it easy to have a consistent message.
My show format is quick tips. The book wants a bigger message. How do I reconcile the two? How do I even think about it, when there’s no inherent Grand Concept to hang everything on? I can micro-focus on the different tips, but that doesn’t tell me how to organize them.
So far, here’s been my process:
I’ve used a Wiki at http://www.TiddlySpot.com to type in topics and notes on text as they come up. I’ve tagged each entry as a topic, a tip, an insight, or a problem the book solves. As more and more text has accumulated, the concepts have started naturally filtering into content-oriented themes: dealing with people, dealing with space, dealing with time, etc.
To play with the higher-level flow, I’ve created a Mind Map with http://www.MindJet.com’s “Mind Manager” program. The mind map contains just the title of each tip, concept, etc. The neat thing about the mind map is that I can drag and drop and change the structure very easily.
Now, when I have a new idea, I create a “Tiddler” in the wiki and a branch of the mind map. The detailed text and notes on the section go into the wiki. Just the title goes into the mind map, so I can fit it into my current concept of how the topics all flow together.
The wiki gives me the details. The mindmap give me the high-level overview.
My current concept of the book
- A strong framing chapter that discusses the relationship between happiness, success, and personal productivity. This chapter lays the groundwork for why I chose the tips I chose, and how the tips all fit together.
- 101 Tips organized by problem area. Each tip will be brief and actionable, and many will be on topics you’ve hopefully never before seen in a tips book.
- A reference section that calls out the specific tools that are used repeatedly throughout the specific tips, in case you want more detail about a specific tool.
At the end of the day, the bulk of the book will be of the tips variety. The narrative tying it together will have a conceptual framework about the relationship of productivity to life goals, etc. It’s essentially a high-concept book interleaved with very tactical examples of applying the high-concepts. You’ll be able to read it as a how-to reference (”Gee, my files are a mess. How can I straighten them up?”) or as a Big Picture book (”One of the keys to success is consistent alignment of goals and tactics. Tips 5, 18, and 26 will show you how.”).
What do you think?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Chris // May 21, 2008 at 4:39 pm
GID -
I would add one more theme to the concept: as you are explaining “how”, focus almost exclusively on the process as opposed to the tools. If you want a truly timeless book, go with your own advice and stick to concepts and implementations that can be performed with low-tech solutions like pen and paper. Technologies come and go.
When you mentioned your wiki, my thoughts quickly jumped from “I want to help Stever with his book” to “There are tool many information management tools to learn!” I may be an anomaly but I’m actually one of those early-adopter types, so I wasn’t intimidated by the new technology thought. However, I’d bet that 75% of people everywhere stop _thinking_ about the core concept when they run across mention of a technology that they’re not familiar with.
So, my convoluted advice is to stick to core concepts and low-tech tools so that you can avoid minimizing your potential audience, the Luddites.
What if you created an Internet forum/community for people to share their own ideas for which tools they use and how they use them, branded as the book’s companion? Then you reference the community in the book for people who want “HOW-TO-TOOL” as opposed to “HOW-TO-GID”? Then you add community, stick, detail, and viral without having to make your book be about technologies? You do a great job with that in the podcasts.
Advice is usually worth what you paid for it. No, I don’t expect a check!
2 Erin B // May 21, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Hmm. How will the Big Picture portion work? Is the big picture just in that framing chapter you talk about? In addition to making the connection between happiness, success, and productivity, will you outline the sections of the book? You’ll have to do this in detail to make the big picture portion work.
But it’ll still be pretty much a tips book, something to jump in and out of, that way. Is there a way to place some comments on happiness, success, and productivity among the tips? Sort of a bread-crumb trail through the book to keep people moving through it and expand on the big picture (really selling readers who aren’t sure they to improve themselves)?
I like the idea of a reference section, though tech can become outdated quickly, as Chris mentioned. Consider ways to make the reference evergreen: in addition to tech solutions, offer non-tech solutions (which reminds me of your podcast on your notebook solution for keeping tasks organized). Also, will you house the references on your site, which you can keep updated? Not only does that allow you to offer readers the most updated references, it brings readers to your site.
HTH. And if you need a good editor (perhaps Grammar Girl is busy?), I’d love to work with you.
3 Pewari // May 22, 2008 at 4:29 am
“Gee, my files are a mess. How can I straighten them up?”
Okay… so when will we be able to pre-order?
4 K // May 27, 2008 at 10:22 pm
“How do I even think about it, when there’s no inherent Grand Concept to hang everything on?”
Look for patterns or themes within the tips. A hundred million years ago (ok, maybe 10-15 years) when I did long(ish) papers for school, I found that themes evolved naturally as I wrote them. Even when I was starting out with only a vague idea, as I put the million tidbits down, I could usually start to find overarching themes. In your case, perhaps you’ve got 4 themes, for example:
Quality of Life Via Technology
Defending Quality of Life from Technology
People Skills Via Technology
People Skills In Spite of Technology
And after seeing those 4, maybe you find the can all be summarized by something like: “Good Tech, Bad Tech, and How to Un-uglify Your Life.”
Or, maybe not.
Perhaps my examples should be ignored. Or burnt. At the stake.
But anyone as organized as you HAS natural subdivisions in how they do things, even if you don’t know it. Possibly this is one of those things where you look to your value system and see what’s important to you personally and how you look at the world, and thus notice where/how all your tips fit in.
On a different note - I *love* your podcast. I sincerely hope your sense of humor translates to the printed medium, because it truly makes your podcasts come to life.
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