I sent out my monthly newsletter this week. I wrote about how so much is not what it appears to be. I gave some examples, then narrowed it down to my writing project.
Stepping back into writing a book, I thought starting with a project where most is already written (I have 48 blog posts related to education) would be simple. I skimmed the posts and separated them into four piles I thought would be sections or chapters. The eight posts I read in one stack weren’t what I thought they would be. Not all of them are worth putting in the book, and some of them will need a lot of rewriting. Remembering how many pages I need to have a spine on the book and what trim size is the most appropriate, I wonder where I’m going to find the words to make this project a published book.
Pulling information from my masters thesis to include in the book also hasn’t been as simple as I thought it would be. Should I expand the sessions and lay out a full program? Should I include a framework of what could be included, offer a few suggestions, and let the reader decide what they want to use?
In the previous books I’ve published, I rarely second-guessed what to include. I had ideas, and I included them in the project. Now, I’m looking at all these words, some dating back to 1996 (when I wrote my thesis), and they don’t seem like my words. Some of the sentences in my blog posts tried to convey information but fell short. I wonder, where am I going to find the words to make this project work?
Perhaps if I read all the blog posts and decide which ones are worth including, it will help me decide on chapters or sections. I don’t have an issue with not including something. Only information that is helpful, not filler words or repeated ideas, will be published. I can do the same thing with my thesis. A paragraph and bulleted list of examples would fulfill the framework I like to include. It may not be what I thought it was, but I can be a good book.
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