Reflections on Writing a Book

Writing a book is hard work, but there are things you can do to make it easier. In this post, I want to capture a few lessons I learned that might help others who also aspire to write a book. This is both a "how-to" and a retrospective on the process of writing my book. 

Write about what you know.

Ok, that's probably a trite observation, but that doesn't make it any less true. My decision to write a book was in response to a terrible day at work. I realized that there are some things in my life I can control, and the project I was working on at the time was not one of them. I was told to stop working on that project and work on a different one. When I asked if I had any choice in the matter, I was told, in no uncertain terms, "You have a choice where you work." Ouch. Message received.

As they say, you can't control the world, but you can control how you react. I decided to start a project where I was in complete control. Nobody could tell me to stop and work on something else. Nor could anybody tell me what to work on. That led me to the decision that I wanted to write about teaching educators about the findings from cognitive science. It's a messy, weird scientific field with a bunch of jargon. I wanted to cut through that jargon and help educators understand how people learn.

This is my blog.

Once I settled on a project, then I had to decide on an outlet. Should I write an article for Scientific American, Wired, or IFLove Science? These are all highly respected media outlets for a well-educated audience. Writing an article for them seemed like it would result in a lot of work with a highly unlikely publication. Instead, I decided I wanted to write a book, but the thought of writing a whole book was much too daunting. Instead, I decided that I would write the book, but in bits and pieces. Therefore, I started a blog called Dr. Bob's Cog Blog [1]. That was a great forcing function to keep me writing. I set a goal for myself to write 52 blog posts in one year. In other words, one blog a week. It was a frenetic pace, but it got me moving.

1. Write a lot.

This is my beast.

1a. Feed the beast 

One way to write a lot is to write a little bit, every day [2]. I wasn't able to that exactly, but I came close. Instead of writing everyday, having a firm goal of writing 52 posts helped me write a lot. I had an internal deadline that I had to meet. That forced me to write during nights and weekends. Each Thursday morning, I had to have something ready to publish.

I often joked that publishing a blog is like feeding the beast. That's what it felt like sometimes because the beast, pictured here, was never satisfied. It was always hungry for more (which is a good thing when you're trying to write a lot).

1b. Create an SFD 

One of the best pieces of advice I got in graduate school was to get it out, and then get it right [3]. Often, a writer is his or her own worst enemy. That was certainly true for me. I love everything to be perfect, and I abhor a mess. Unfortunately, writing is a messy process. You can't improve that which does not exist; therefore, you need to create an SFD. What's an SFD? It's a shitty first draft [4]. When you sit down to write, your goal is to produce something bad. When you take that frame of mind, then it gives you permission to start. You can always make it better, later (and you will!).

1c. Have multiple outputs

Another way to write a lot is to have multiple outlets for your work. When I was a grad student, I learned the best way to get an article published was to start small. The first outlet of your work should be an abstract or a paper published in a conference proceeding. Then you can take that small success and bootstrap it into a publication. The goal was to always keep building off your prior work. That was my goal for the blog. I created enough blog posts that eventually added up to a book.

This is my book.

2. Be patient 

It takes a long time to find a home for your work. Honestly, I didn't think I would ever find a publisher. After a year of blogging, I had enough content to move forward with my aspiration to publish a book. Because I had been in control of this project from the beginning, I wasn't interested in a publisher telling me what I can and can't print. In other words, I wasn't ready to deal with multiple rounds of rejection. I also briefly considered paying someone to publish my book. But then I saw how that turned out for one of my friends, so I decided against that route. Instead, I decided to publish the book myself on the Apple Bookstore. It was the perfect platform because I was 100% in control, and I was able to convert the web content from the blog directly into a digital book without any loss of fidelity. 

This turned out to be a flop. I sold exactly 10 copies to a couple of charitable friends and family members. But eventually, it helped me secure a book deal because I had something tangible I could share with a prospective publisher. I didn't need to print anything. All I did was send him a code, and he was able to download the book and start reading. It was an incredibly efficient way to share my work.

3. Don't be patient 

One you've inked a book deal, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Naively, I thought I was done, and that my book was good enough to print "as is." Boy was I wrong. This might have been the hardest part of the entire project. I was assigned an editor, and he started making tons of really excellent recommendations. What that meant for me, though, was that I had to immediately implement them because we were on a tight timeline. The publisher decided on a release date for my book, and I had to work mornings, evenings, and weekends – pretty much anytime I was free – just to keep up with the pace of edits. It was insanity.

4. Be tenacious 

Even though a lot of the project felt insane at times, there was always something to look forward to. There was the possibility that someone new might find one of my blog posts interesting. Or there was the possibility that the editorial suggestions would end, and that we would eventually send the manuscript to the printer. Never give up. Never stop. Always keep your eye on the finish line!

5. Avoid feeling like a fraud

There are going to be days when you feel like what you are working on is stupid and nobody is going to like it. Your job, as a writer, is to ignore those evil inner voices and stay true to your project. Your contribution is unique, and you have something to share with the rest of the world. Trust me. Your audience is out there.

If you can keep these lessons in mind, then you can publish a book, too [5].

Thanks for reading! 

Dr. Bob

More to Explore

[1] Hat tip to my brilliant wife for naming Dr. Bob's Cog Blog.

[2] Here's a great book that we were assigned in grad school: How to write a lot.

[3] The other notable piece of advice I got was write tipsy, edit sober; unfortunately, that's not a great long-term writing strategy. 
[4] Shitty First Drafts: Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird [link]

[5] It also helps to have a supportive partner and a hell of a good editor!