tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-537158321255176863.post7310415137264869559..comments2024-03-22T17:30:05.579-07:00Comments on Weaving a Life: 'Tis the SeasonLaura Fryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06599868570350256631noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-537158321255176863.post-25209643154320130632015-12-19T06:02:41.839-08:002015-12-19T06:02:41.839-08:00Wow, Tien, that sounds like lots of great advice. ...Wow, Tien, that sounds like lots of great advice. So glad I'm not writing a book myself. ;-)<br /><br />Laura - whether you choose to follow any/all of Tien's advice, know that I've never seen anything you've produced that was other than coherent, thoughtful, and helpful. Recognize that you are a great teacher and don't let the self doubts overwhelm you.Peg Cherrehttp://www.secondwindjewelry.com/jewelry-weaving-blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-537158321255176863.post-82942964404847931602015-12-18T19:51:04.801-08:002015-12-18T19:51:04.801-08:00A few suggestions from my experience with my own b...A few suggestions from my experience with my own book:<br /><br />- First, look into buying Scrivener. It's a word processing program designed for writers. It allows you to split up your writing into sections, associate each section with a card, and then drag and drop the cards around to reorder your section. This makes rearranging ideas really easy. And it's only $40. Check it out at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/<br /><br />- Second, put up a design wall somewhere. Make a collection of Post-Its, one for each idea. Rearrange the ideas into chapters, a mind map, or whatever best organizes your thoughts. It's important to use a physical board because monitors simply aren't big enough to let you take in all your ideas at once.<br /><br />- Third, since you have a complex web of topics, don't try to write the book linearly, deciding on an order and then writing things neatly, in order. Write the individual topics, then figure out how they fit together. It's much less stressful than thinking you have to decide everything in advance. At worst, you have to throw away a few topics - but that would likely be true even if you had planned everything first. Also, writing in small chunks lets you break down the job into lots of small, bite-sized pieces that are much more approachable than the entire behemoth. One of the reasons I blogged the first draft of my book (not suggesting that you do that, though) is that I could write each blog post in about half an hour to an hour, so it felt manageable. At the same time, it represented a commitment of at least 500 words three times a week, so it kept me moving.<br /><br />Hope that helps! Feel free to email me if you want more suggestions.Tien Chiuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03546830553833515210noreply@blogger.com