So you want to write a book. You feel ready, but you do not know where to start, what to do, and how to do it. What are the proven practices of writing a book?
I found few resources that seem to me effective and actionable.
by _StaR_DusT_
100 Days To Done
How to write a novel in 100 days or less offers day-by-day instructions of writing a book. If you follow it day-by-day you will have a written book after 3 months. These are simple yet powerful insights I liked the most:
- Carve time.
- Make it fun.
- Analyze similar book and break it down and outline.
- Think small, deep meaning.
- Imitation leads to originality.
- Write down stuff even if it leads nowhere, keep it.
- Write about something I love.
- Start writing about I know.
- Pick characters first.
Microsoft Patterns and Practices Team’s Approach
J.D. Meier, a program manager in Microsoft patterns & practices team shares his approach of writing technical guidance books in his Building Books in Patterns and Practices. It is pretty detailed blueprint for writing high impact books. My favorite quotes are:
- Solution Engineering. This captures the heart of what we do. Rather than "writing a book", we’re really engineering solutions for problems. That’s why the team includes architects, testers, developers … etc.
- Holistic Over Piecemeal. The guides are meant to get you up and running. The example I use is teaching you to drive. I show you how to forward, reverse, steer, brake, shift to get you going and then drill into shifting or braking as needed, rather than show you how to go forward today, then how to reverse another day, and some day how to steer. This means compressing and distilling knowledge that’s been spread out over time and space.
J.D.’s "Solution engineering" resonates a lot with what Tim Ferriss stressed when he was interviewed by Leo:
“Focus on making yourself a credible expert vs. pushing a book. ”
Self Test
Ask questions, make an assignment, intrigue the reader.
- Do you want to write a book?
- Do you follow proven practices or second guess?
- How do you know the practices are proven?
