OK. It’s time to get organised. This book won’t write itself.
At this point in time, I’ve already written a proposal, a document that outlines in detail the precise nature of the book, and gives a kind of skeleton outline of the exact content, chapter by chapter. I’ll be talking more about proposals in future and giving some specific guidance to those of you who are thinking about your own possible work of non-fiction. For now let’s just say that although the main purpose of the proposal is to pitch your book idea to publishers, it’s actually a very useful way of clarifying your own thoughts by forcing you to be extremely specific about what the content of this book will actually be.
The proposal gives me a structure, which I also find immensely helpful in terms of time management, and quite soothing, too. There is an inevitable huge anxiety when you are faced with such a large project, and breaking it down into chunks is the only possible way of stopping yourself from digging a hole in your own garden and literally burying your own head in it. You just have to, as the wonderful Anne Lamott puts it, take it ‘bird by bird’. (or duck by duck in my case). If I think about writing 100 thousand words, I find it hard to breathe without a paper bag to help me. But if I think about writing 1000 words, I know I can do that. I can do it in a day, or even, with the wind in the right direction and a lot of coffee and mini rolls, in a morning.
So in the proposal I’ve outlined seven chapters, an intro and a conclusion. I know that if I aim for 10k words per chapter, with say 7k in the intro and conclusion, that gets me to about 84k. I’ll probably overshoot on those numbers and end up slightly higher, but even if I don’t, 84k or even 80k will do just fine for a first draft. I know even 10k sounds like a lot of words, but what I’ll do once I start working on each chapter is break them down into much smaller sections, maybe 6 or 8 little duckies. And those duckies will be about 1500 words roughly. So when I sit down to work each day, I’ll only be aiming to write ONE of those fluffy, approachable birdlings. Thinking about it like that will help keep me calm without pharmacological intervention.
In my dropbox I make the folders for them. Like this.
In fact, I know the name of those chapters, but I’m keeping that top secret from you for now, especially since this is a public post! So in a minute I’m going to rename each of them with the names I came up with for each chapter in the proposal.
What I will then do is use each of those folders as a dumping ground for ideas, thoughts, and especially, links. So if I am pottering around on twitter at 3am and I see an interesting article, I’ll stick the link in the appropriate folder. So although I’ll only be writing one chapter at a time, I’ll be gathering thoughts and ideas for each chapter pretty much constantly for the next 8 months.
I’ve also got a ‘bookmarks folder’ that I’ve had since I first sent the idea to my agent and she said YES I LIKE THAT, way back in February 2022. So I’ve been tucking things away and to be honest, a bit like a magpie’s nest, I don’t actually know what I have in there until I have a rummage through it in the next week or so. I’ll probably stick some of the links into the dropbox folders. That will make me feel like I’m doing something useful.
Similarly I’ve got an Amazon wishlist that I’ve been adding to for the past 6 months or so, a ‘if I get this book deal I will buy these books’ list. So now I’m going to buy them - probably all second hand otherwise half my advance will be gone before I’ve started. Then I’m going to put the books all around me on the kitchen table in a kind of chaotic arrangement which will make me look like I’m writing a Very Important Book, even when I’m actually looking at memes on the socials. Because they’re second hand they’ll look like I’ve read them, as well, which will add to my air of authority.
And then…well…and then I’m going to actually have to write something. Let’s end with some Lamott:
“E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”
Next up: I’ll be telling you the story of how I went from blogging to journalism to a book. This will be for paid subscribers only. Would you like me to write it? Or would you like to come to a zoom? Or shall I prerecord a video or podcast for you here? Let me know what you’d prefer in the comments! Until next time! x
I would have gone for Zoom but I'm a bit late to the party on this one. 😅
Write is great thanks