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September 2011
The Perfect Book
Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 10:15amI finished the latest book by my favorite author, and then the next day I picked it up and read it again. In the process of reading it the second time, I revised my "The Perfect Book" criteria.
My "The Perfect Book" criteria used to be:
When I pick up The Perfect Book a second time, I read every word again.
Because when a book is good enough that I want to read it again, the biggest issue I run into is that most of the time the authors dump big chunks of too much information and backstory into the story. So when I go back to read the book again, I already know all that information and end up skipping big chunks of the book the second time around.
It's a joy when I run into a book that's so skillfully written that the backstory is seamlessly interwoven into the story and it's no hardship to read every word the second time. I really, really enjoy those stories, and applaud those authors. I want to write like that! :-)
After I read this book, I was able to verbalize this situation and thereby modified my criteria:
When I read The Perfect Book a second (or more) time, not only do I read every word, but each time I reread it, I pick up new information and nuances, thereby learning more about the plot and characters, and deepening my experience with every reading.
Wow! :-) Not only was the book a great read the first time, but I got so sucked into the action of the story and I was so focused on the action, that I missed nuances. Then I read it a second time, and because I knew what was up, I was able to enjoy it even more, because I was able to pick up the little bits I missed the first time. And I suspect that if I read it again, I will pick up even more. (Read more)
1500 New Words -- Wow!
Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 9:51pmToday, I surprised myself. I thought I was just going to type in the notes that I made early this morning, but by the time I was done, I had written 1500 words, and the introduction to the new book: "Do It Yourself Happiness". That is way cool! I had honestly thought that it'd be another week or so before I found the ambition to work on it, but it's night out, and I've got words on the page and the first draft of the book begun.
Along the way today, I also messed with a lot of document formatting, so it's kind of a cross between manuscript format and the finished product, so I have some idea of what it's going to look like as I'm writing it, so that took a while, but wasn't wasted time.
Tomorrow, I may have new words to write, or if not, I've got tons of notes, processes and exercises stashed away that just need to be edited. So when I'm mostly brain-dead, I can be useful, edit and insert them, and worry about order later.
Wow! I started! That's so cool! :-)
Early Morning Title For Book
Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 09/07/2011 - 10:06amFor the first time in literally years, I woke up in the wee morning hours with book-stuff running around my head, enough so that I had to turn on the light and write it all down before I could go back to sleep. That's kind of cool. :-) And a sure sign that-- even though some people might think the stress would be higher now that I've utterly "failed", lost so much and moved in with my folks-- instead of being stressed, I'm finally recovering. Which all feels very good.
I woke up with a title that I really like for the non-fiction book that I've been calling "my beliefs book" for the last couple years: "Do It Yourself Happiness". With the sub-title: "The hardest DIY project you'll ever take on, but worth it". :-)
Heaven only knows if I'll stick with the title, but I thought it was way cool, because that's the premise of the whole book. We don't need therapists or coaches, seminars or classes, or anything that costs money (beyond the price of my book. *smile*) to find happiness. All we need is an understanding of the way our buried beliefs run our lives and make us unhappy, plus methods for finding the buried beliefs and fixing them.
The whole process is really simple, and worked great for me... I've never been happier... but it's also the hardest thing I've ever done... and worth it. :-)
So, I don't know how far I'll get today on actually starting anything for the book, but it's really nice to finally feel some momentum, and being able to have the thought that the first draft is a do-able project.
Wow! I'm getting there. :-)