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So you want to write a book?
by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD
The age-old adage that “everyone has at
least one good book in them,” is as true today as when first stated. With
the Internet, not only are more writers online, there are Web sites for
writers, and writing markets that accept queries and submissions by e-mail.
There is gold lurking in the Internet hills that is just waiting to be
mined, and hundreds of authors have bypassed traditional editorial channels
of print publishing to mine that gold. Makes writing that book even more
tempting.
But writing is more than having an Internet connection, marketing your book,
or making the big bucks. Sure, a book will help establish you as an expert,
create confidence in your ideas, attract readers to your other services,
provide a marketing tool, make a great gift, offer you a platform to expose
your mind and heart, and, of course, supply an income stream. As attractive
as these benefits are, they overlook the task of the writing itself. A major
oversight.
As a writer for over thirty years, let me offer a short test to see if you
have what it takes to be a writer. The ideas here are presented in no
particular order, and I am certain there would be as many suggestions as
there are writers to make them. My first concern is: Do you have the time?
Writing is an enormously time-intensive process, and depending on the topic,
size of the book, or approach you plan to take, you need to have time set
aside for writing. Dabbling here and there reflects a lack of serious
commitment and is unlikely to produce the product you desire.
Do words come easily, naturally, and comfortably? Words form the thread on
which you string your experiences. When you don’t have to struggle finding
words, the job of writing is easier. You are not expected, of course, to
possess all the words you need. Next to me as I write is a dictionary and
writer’s thesaurus. Across the room lies an unabridged dictionary, and I
have the invaluable, absolutely essential, 85-page book, The Elements of
Style by Strunk and White.
Can you truly immerse yourself in your writing? It is easy to get sucked up
into the universe of writing (a black hole from which ideas and words come
with no trumpet voluntary), but when the flow begins, you need to be there
as the channel or conduit. This, indeed, is when the prizes are distributed,
the bonuses gets paid in full, and the trophies are awarded.
Do you have other available sources to consult for ideas, help gain clarity
and precision, determine the accuracy of your ideas, and assist in
sustaining your enthusiasm and motivation?
Do you know how to start? Some will tell you, “Just sit down at your
computer, and begin writing.” I say, “Nonsense.” You waste valuable time
that way. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you
get there? To write in a clear style, you must first be clear in your
thoughts. Get organized; seek direction; establish an outline. When you
write with purpose, you make good use of your time. When you write with
purpose you have a clear starting point and the direction needed to proceed.
Can you stand being isolated and alone? You need time to think, deliberate,
and ponder. Writing is a relationship between your ideas, the words you use
to express those ideas, and your computer, where those ideas take shape and
reveal form.
Do you agonize over writing, toil with proper grammar, struggle with
sentence structure, and grapple with punctuation? If so, writing will be
torture, and the anguish you feel at the keyboard will drive you away in
pain and suffering. When it comes easily, not only do ideas flow, but
capturing ideas when they flow becomes gratifying, amusing, and enjoyable.
It’s play not work.
On-the-other-hand, I have never let grammar, sentence structure, or
punctuation hinder the flow of ideas. I would rather capture the products of
my imagination when they are fresh, active, and alive. Spend time polishing
words at a later time.
Let nothing stand in the way of “flow.”
Do you know what you want to say, but you just can’t put it into written
form without losing clarity and impact? Imagine that your computer is
another person, and simply begin a conversation. Writing that truly reveals
who you are comes from your heart without artifice or contrivance. The
secret of style is to have something to say, and say it as clearly as you
can. When it comes easily, your heart will be encased in the words you
select like precious stones in a ring.
Can you write with the goal of sharing your ideas, insights, and knowledge
with others? Never write with the goal of making big bucks or becoming
famous. Write with the goal of enlightening, instructing, illuminating, or
entertaining, for it is how others see, absorb, understand, enjoy, and
(perhaps) use your ideas, insights, and knowledge that determines your
effectiveness.
Can you remain focused and complete your project? As you write, do not worry
about getting your information formatted or the marketing of your book.
Sometimes it is as difficult to finish what you have started as it is to
start it in the first place.
Once the formatting, submitting of the manuscript, and marketing processes
begin, your mind will be so encumbered with ideas that have little or
nothing to do with the content of what you have written, that you will be
distracted, diverted, sidetracked, and, thus, pulled away from your
essential task like a young bird leaving its nest. Remaining focused
throughout a project will help keep the content consistent, coherent, and
clear. There is less need, then, for you to retrace developmental steps,
reread previous passages, or get back into the mood of what you were
writing. Resurrecting a state of mind now passed is like trying to undunk a
donut.
Having completed the writing, there is information in excess to inform you
of succeeding steps—the preparation of a prospectus and the examination of
your publication options. The hardest part is the writing, and only when the
writing is complete can you have a book.
back to page top
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So you want to write a book?
>
A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book
>
How to overcome the curse of knowledge in teaching and writing
>
On being a writer --- an irresistible compulsion!
A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book
by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD
A reader of my Dec. 8th Saturday Essay
blog post entitled, “So
you want to write a book?” raised an important question in the “comment”
section under the post: “What if I don’t have anything that you’re talking
about?” I could have responded with a brief comment: “Then don’t attempt
it.” But, the question is both thoughtful and provocative, and it deserves a
longer response. After all, everyone has to start somewhere. “A Beginners
Guide to Writing a Book" is specifically designed to get you started.
First, do not be intimidated after reading “So you want to write a book?” —
the first of the two essays in this series. Sure, there are some very
accurate conditions laid out in that essay, but they are suggestions only.
They are presented as prerequisites for making the process easier and more
comfortable. Remember, there are exceptions to everything, and it may be
that you are just such a person. You have the ideas; you just need to write
the book.
In addition to intimidation, many beginning writers fear failure. It is a
reasonable concern. You are entering a competitive business (writing), and
you are competing with experienced writers. What you have, however, no other
writers have! You have a unique perspective, an exclusive point of view, and
a distinctive way of looking at things that nobody else in the world
possesses. Even the way you will put your ideas together and the words you
select to express them will be totally idiosyncratic — unmatched by anyone
else.
Often the reason beginning writers fear failure is because they set their
initial goals too high. They want perfection right out of the starting gate.
This is as unreasonable as expecting a beginning cook to prepare a perfect
souffl , a beginning pianist to play a perfect concerto, or a beginning
sports person to know how to play well without instruction or practice. Be
reasonable. When you are wise, sensible, and fair-minded about what you can
expect from yourself — and especially from a first project — you will remove
much of the pressure and stress.
Let’s say, then, that you have some “great” ideas. I put “great” in
quotation marks because we all think we have “great” ideas! One of the
purposes of writing, of course, is to get your ideas out there to let others
be the judge of “greatness.” We all have biases when it comes to judging our
own ideas.
Look at what Joanne “Jo” Murray, better known as J. K. Rowling, faced in
writing her first novel, “Harry Potter.” In 1995, separated from her
husband, unemployed, living on state benefits, and writing the novel on an
old manual typewriter in numerous caf s whenever she could get her daughter,
Jessica, to fall asleep, she completed the first book in the series. The
reason she wrote in caf s, she said on the TV program, A&E Biography, was
because taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall
asleep. She then found an agent willing to represent her; however, the book
was rejected by the first twelve publishing houses to which it was sent. Can
you imagine how those rejections would make you feel?
So where do you start? Buy an old manual typewriter and find some caf s
willing to let you type at one of their tables? No, of course not. There are
better ways.
By whatever means you choose to use — and a computer would be the best
means, providing you can find one to use (local libraries are a great
resource) — you must begin by composing an overall organizational scheme.
Start broad and narrow as you go along. This can be changed during the
process of writing or even after writing is finished. Organizing your ideas
can save you time and make your writing more efficient. Few people sit down
and write a book from start to finish without an outline. Even experienced
writers use them. Outlines help by forcing you to think through the stages
of the writing process, create a graphic scheme of your book or project,
construct both the main topics and subtopics, and group ideas to prevent
duplication and unnecessary repetition. Not having an organizational scheme
is like not choosing a guide to lead you through an unknown and unchartered
wilderness.
Once you have an overall organizational approach, begin writing your ideas
on note cards or on pieces of paper that you will be able to arrange later
under each of your topics or subtopics. Put just single ideas on the note
cards or pieces of paper or you will have to cut ideas apart to get them
organized. Don’t worry about writing things in any order. When you get a
thought, write it down — wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. Carry
cards or pieces of paper with you. “Great ideas” occur at all times
throughout your day and night, and not to write an idea down promptly when
it strikes, is to lose that thought. Sometimes an idea will occur to you and
just the right words to express that idea will be there at the same time. If
not, don’t worry. Capture what you have — you can always hone and polish
ideas later. Also, don’t worry at this early stage about transitions or
connections between ideas. They can be assembled later. Even grammar and
spelling should not be a concern here.
Now you are writing, and the beauty of the process is that some writing
prompts more writing. Once your mind is engaged, the subconscious takes
over. That is why thoughts occur at all times during the day and night. Your
mind cannot be turned off. You must be ready to capture what your mind
produces.
At various points now you will want to stop and organize what you have
written. This will help you determine where you are and where you need to
go. There will be gaps to be filled, topics to be added or dropped, and
adjustments to be made. Take the time to carefully examine your notes so you
don’t waste valuable time writing about ideas already developed.
Don’t ever think of the writing process as ending. It should continue right
up to the time of publication. It may mean polishing, further development,
or clarification. Take the time to make it right.
Only when the gaps are filled, the organization looks tight, the ideas are
bound together in a cogent, cohesive, well-constructed narrative, and
spelling and grammar problems are solved, are you ready to have the entire
manuscript typed. Once typed, it will require careful proofreading and
further changes. Nothing looks the same piecemeal as it does in a coherent
package. Have objective people not tied to you read the manuscript to detect
any problems. Correct the problems, and have an error-free electronic
manuscript typed.
When you really want to write, you will find the time. Now that you
understand the process, you will realize that you can do it, and you will
succeed. So, you want to write a book? Now, you can!
back to page top
>
So you want to write a book?
>
A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book
>
How to overcome the curse of knowledge in teaching and writing
>
On being a writer --- an irresistible compulsion!
How to overcome the curse of knowledge in teaching and writing
by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD
Throughout my professional career I
have confronted the “curse of knowledge”—although it has not always been
called that. I was even told that because I was a professor who writes
textbooks, that it was unlikely (virtually impossible) I could ever publish
a trade book—a book specifically designed for the popular market. My
language was too sophisticated, my approach too technical, and my sentences
too complicated, cultured, and refined.
Before I go on, I want to give credit where credit is due. The term “curse
of knowledge” was popularized in a book entitled, Made to Stick: Why Some
Ideas Survive and Others Die (Random House, 2007), a book by Chip and Dan
Heath along with a speech called “Sticky Ideas” in the August, 2007, issue
of Vital Speeches of the Day.
One problem that most educators face—any adult whose interest is
communicating with others—is something Heath and Heath call “the curse of
knowledge,” and unless we are aware of it, it is unlikely we will compensate
for it.
The curse of knowledge can best be demonstrated by a simple game—a game
studied and explained by Elizabeth Newton, who, in 1990, earned a Ph.D. in
psychology at Stanford based on her study. She assigned people to one of two
roles: “tappers” or “listeners.” Tappers received a list of 25 well-known
songs like “Happy Birthday” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Each tapper was
asked to pick a song from the list and tap out the rhythm to a listener by
knocking on a table. The listener’s job was to guess the song based on the
rhythm being tapped.
Over the course of Newton’s experiment, 120 songs were tapped out, but
listeners guessed only 2.5 percent, or 3 out of 120. You may wonder what
made this result worthy of a dissertation in psychology? Before listeners
guessed the name of the song, Newton asked tappers to predict the odds that
listeners would guess correctly. This is what is astonishing: tappers
predicted that the odds were 50 percent. They got their message across 1
time in 40, but tappers thought they were getting it across 1 time in 2.
The problem is that tappers have been given knowledge—the song title—and it
makes it impossible for them to imagine what it’s like to lack that
knowledge. When they’re tapping, they can’t imagine what it’s like for
listeners to hear isolated taps rather than a song. This is the curse of
knowledge—once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was
like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us, and it becomes difficult
for us to share our knowledge with others because we can’t readily re-create
our listeners’ state of mind.
Heath and Heath remind us that this tapper/listener experiment is reenacted
every day with CEOs and frontline employees, teachers and students,
politicians and voters, marketers and customers, ministers, rabbis, and
priests, writers and readers.
There are three areas where communicators in any field can help diminish the
effects of the “curse of knowledge”: language, organization, and supporting
material.
In choosing their words, communicators must use simple language, include
definitions whenever possible, eliminate jargon, say things in the clearest
possible way, try to increase the vividness of ideas (so they have impact),
and then use repetition, internal summaries, and continually relate new
ideas back to their thesis. If they are presenting new information,
concepts, or theories, if they pretend they are explaining it to their
grandmothers, perhaps that will help them maintain the proper perspective
and frame of mind.
Order and form (organization) are important for several reasons. First,
listeners’ (and readers’) attention spans are short, and it is difficult for
them to keep one or two ideas in mind at the same time. They are easily
distracted, and when they return to the talk (or the words), they have
trouble remembering where they were, where they are, and where they are
going. Often, nothing makes sense and they lose interest entirely. A simply
constructed outline that contains coordinate ideas under well-defined main
heads, and subordinate points that have been well-thought-out, will help
listeners and readers continually understand their location within a speech
or a written piece.
Assisting communicators in helping listeners understand their organizational
schemes are transitions—the links established between ideas. Transitions
between main heads, transitions between coordinate points, and transitions
whenever a speaker or writer moves from the introduction to the body of the
speech or from the body of the speech to the conclusion will help. As a
teacher, I have always asked speakers to write their transitions into their
outlines because I have found that a transition not prepared in advance is a
transition not used. Often, transitions can include the repetition, internal
summaries, and relationship of information back to the thesis or central
idea as I discussed in the section on language, above.
The third area where communicators can reduce the effect of the “curse of
knowledge” is in their use of supporting material. Relevant examples,
illustrations, anecdotes, personal experiences, and stories, as well as
facts, opinions, and statistics, all assist in information enhancement,
support, and expansion. In researching ideas and talking with others, always
be on the lookout for relevant, immediate, and powerful supporting material.
Another way to judge effectiveness (success) in dealing with the “curse of
knowledge” is to use feedback. Maintain contact with your listeners or
readers, be flexible, and make adjustments when necessary to facilitate
understanding. Student evaluations and textbook reviewers always helped me.
In class, I developed a half-sheet response which I used to take attendance,
administer quizzes, seek questions and comments, and gain daily reflections,
evaluations, observations, and opinions that would guide and direct my
classroom approaches.
To be effective, teachers must use every technique and strategy they know to
connect and identify with their students. This isn’t something they can do
once and consider their job complete, it is an ongoing, everyday,
challenging task that requires constant effort, alertness, surveillance, and
adjustment. After all, to be effective, that is precisely what effective
teaching (or writing) requires.
back to page top
>
So you want to write a book?
>
A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book
>
How to overcome the curse of knowledge in teaching and writing
>
On being a writer --- an irresistible compulsion!
On being a writer --- an irresistible compulsion!
by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD
I have always been fascinated by
authors, even put them on a pedestal. In my mind they possessed knowledge,
ideas, and wisdom that exceeded those of ordinary mortals. And when I was
asked in 1973, by Dr. Saundra Hybels, to write a textbook with her, I
thought that I possessed nothing at all that satisfied my conception of what
an author should be. I was neither trained sufficiently nor at the proper
career stage—four years out of graduate school—to merit such an anointment,
and yet I was brazen and cavalier enough to agree to do it.
Since then, the textbook I wrote with Hybels is in its tenth edition (eight
with its current publishing company and two with a prior publisher), another
textbook has seen eight editions, another one, three editions, and several
others one apiece. There have been close to one hundred academic articles,
numerous chapters in books, and more than a dozen published speeches and the
same number of published essays. I chronicle these events not so much to
convince readers that I am, indeed, a writer but more to convince myself. It
is the same problem I mentioned in the first paragraph: at what point do you
have the knowledge, ideas, and wisdom to think of yourself as a writer?
There have been a number of influences in my development as a writer.
Although I can credit my mother for her interest in and support of her son
and his small writing efforts, and I certainly can acknowledge all my
English teachers, and I must always note the contribution of my dissertation
advisor, one influence—drilled into my consciousness as a graduate student
at Indiana University—had to be the “publish or perish” conundrum [a
perplexing thing] that I was told would be, like it or not, my Holy
Grail—the sacred cup from which I would sup—if teaching in higher education
ended up as my profession. “Publish or perish” has the power to both
motivate and persuade—and it did. “Publish or perish” remained perplexing
just as long as I had nothing to offer to satisfy its glutenous appetite.
I have no negative feelings whatever about the pressure to publish work
constantly in order to further or sustain a career in academia. It was that
pressure that made me competitive when it came to acquiring a tenure-track
faculty position, and frequent publication, too, was my route to improving
my visibility within the speech-communication field. I was fully aware that
instructing undergraduates alone—although I dearly loved teaching—would
automatically place me out of contention for available tenure-track
positions, but I never felt this was wrong nor an unjust weighting of what
was required to survive in academe: it was clear from the outset.
A couple of things occurred during my years as an academic writer that have
influenced me to this day. First, to write academically required that I read
academic books, journals, and articles. There was no way I could publish my
own insights and research without knowing what else was going on in the
field—and how it was being reported. Thus, my reading has always been
confined to nonfiction, first out of necessity and then out of choice (maybe
habit).
In whatever field or genre you choose, you have to discover what to say as
well as how to say it, and that takes time.
Second, I had to follow the form and structure of academic writers. For me
this was a difficult prospect since I had to publish academic articles
because of the “publish or perish” dictum, and early in my career I began
writing textbooks. Textbooks had to meet academic standards, of course,
since it was my faculty colleagues who made the choice to use my textbooks.
At the same time, however, they had to be written for students
(non-academics), because if students did not find them approachable and
readable, they would not only set them aside, but they would make it clear
to their professors they did not like the textbook. I have always found this
dichotomy difficult: how academic is too academic, or how unacademic is too
pedestrian?
The way I made the distinction between writing academically and writing
textbooks can best be illustrated in the difference between the way you
write and the way you talk. Writing tends to be more formal; speaking tends
to be informal. Written text tends to be more dense, with careful
organization, and more complex language structures. Spoken language has
simpler constructions with repetition and rephrasing—and it sounds
spontaneous and natural.
What the “publish or perish” pressure did for me was to establish a habit of
writing. It secured an approach to my discipline (and to life in general)
that had me always on the lookout for new, interesting, and challenging
ideas to write about. This willingness to be observant and constant
awareness of and alertness to surroundings are important qualities for
writers.
What many who aspire to be writers may not realize is that writing is often
lonely and isolating. Writing is hungry for both time and emotional energy
when some might rather be using both in other ways. There are days when you
would like a life, when you would rather stop and find something else to do,
or when you just want to throw your hands up in frustration and say, “I give
up, that’s it, no more!”
Another aspect of writing many aspiring writers may not want to hear is that
it is hard work. Some would prefer doing the research and not the writing.
Some may even just want the title, “I’m a writer,” and do none of the work
it takes to be a writer. One writer even said, “Oh to just ‘be a writer’ and
ride along from speaking engagement to book club. Too bad I have to write in
order to call myself one.” Often it isn’t the writing itself that is so
difficult, it’s the tightening it up, then tightening it up again that draws
all the fun from it. This is when it becomes hard, hard work.
Most writers have always wanted to write, felt compelled to express
themselves, and wanted to make a difference in the world by inspiring,
entertaining, or otherwise affecting their readers. Writing, for me,
fulfills a need. Although it can be lonely at times, at others it can be
terribly exciting. Because it exposes me when I write, it takes courage, and
each time I sit down to do it, I overcome my insecurities, experience an
emotional release, and enjoy my irresistible compulsion.
back to page top
>
So you want to write a book?
>
A Beginners Guide to Writing a Book
>
How to overcome the curse of knowledge in teaching and writing
>
On being a writer --- an irresistible compulsion!
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