Two Sides of a Coin: Attention Span & Focus

Some types of writing can be achieved in a relatively short time span. In advertising, for example, the bulk of a writer's effort goes on before the writing begins. Like an iceberg, hidden from view, the brainstorming and creative processes are unseen and can take more time than the actual act of putting words on paper ... or, more accurately, on computer screen. That part often seems to come in a flash of inspiration. "Eureka, I've got it," and The Pepsi Generation is born.

Such instances are the exception rather than the rule. The rule is that most writing takes time--lots of time. An article, a brochure, an annual report, a speech, a training program, a Web site, and, certainly, a book is not conceived in a single brainstorming session or written in a matter of hours. Any of them, as well as many other assignments a writer is likely to encounter, may consume weeks, at least, and many months at most.

Of the myriad strengths a writer needs, two of the most important are focus and a long attention span. Focus means total concentration or fixed attention on the project at hand. This definition suggests that you are also very interested in this activity. You are immersed in the subject, to the point that you are almost one with it. It helps if you are one of those people who are incapable of boredom, because you will be asked to write about many things that would put the average person to sleep. If you're focused, you are, by definition, not bored. The trick is to stay focused; that is what is meant by having a long attention span.

The ability to get excited about a subject and stay excited is a rare gift. If you weren't born with this talent, I would strongly advise you to cultivate it. The question is how do you do that? The answer is, with the right attitude. Let's use an article as an example.

There are a number of prescribed steps to putting together a good feature article, no matter what kind of publication it will appear in. They begin with the initial assignment and end with a final, approved manuscript. In between, there is the need to track down sources, conduct interviews and all other varieties of research; sort, absorb, and process the information you have gathered; write a first draft; spell check, revise, proofread, refine, do a final edit, rewrite; and, at last, send it off to the editor.

That's the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is when the editor or client wants it shorter, longer, more detailed, or completely different than the way you wrote it. At that point, you may find yourself back at square one, virtually starting from scratch. In either case, it can be a real challenge to keep your interest and enthusiasm from waning or just plain dying. The secret lies in your attitude - the one element over which you have complete control.

Attitude is a conscious choice. You create it, you nurture it, you keep it alive through every step of the process, no matter how long it takes or how frustrated you may become. Here are the attitudes I have cultivated over time about each of the steps in the process.

• Initial assignment - a way to add to my store of knowledge or to learn something completely new

• Tracking down sources - a timed scavenger hunt

• Interviews & research - assembling a complicated puzzle

• Sort, absorb, and process - cramming for an exam (believe it or not, I enjoyed that)

• First draft - a state of "flow," to borrow the words of psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

• Revising, refining, rewriting - going for the gold

• Sending it off - satisfaction, confidence, and relief

• Great reviews - sometimes, even better than money

• Not-so-great reviews - gratitude (honest!) for an opportunity to improve the product

• Back to square one - another chance to perfect the process (this is the tough one)

Does it really work? Most of the time, it does. Choosing the most productive attitude at each step of the process keeps me focused for as long as necessary. In a project like an annual report, that could be several months; for a book, it could be well over a year. As I said, it helps to be incapable of boredom.

What Every Author Should Know About Saving Book Files

It’s easy to get confused and lose files when you’re writing a book, but there is a way to keep track of every thought you have, every draft you write, and every improvement you make.

1. The first step is to create a file folder called BOOK FILES or the title of your book.
2. Step two is to create folders (within the BOOK FILES folder) for each chapter and give it a simple name, such as CHAPTER 1 and perhaps a keyword to remind you of the subject.
3. Finally, inside the chapter folders you will keep your drafts, as you write them.

Imagine you are writing a book on communicating within an organization, and one of the chapters is on meetings. Within your folder called BOOK FILES or COMMUNICATING is a folder called CHAPTER 1: MEETINGS. Within that file folder is a document titled “Meetings,” draft #1, and the date you wrote it. This is how you write and save the document:

• Meetings_1_041108.
  

Now, let’s say you are going to make changes to that document, but you don’t want to lose your original version. Before you write a single word, save it as Meetings_2_051109. Then, make your changes to the new draft. When you are finished, save the latest version. Within your MEETINGS folder your now have two files:

• Meetings_1_041108
• Meetings_2_051109

If you are doing a lot of rewriting, you may accumulate numerous drafts of each chapter. In the case of ten drafts, for example, your MEETINGS file folder would look like this:

• Meetings 1_041108
• Meetings 2_051109
• Meetings 3_052008
• Meetings 4_052508
• Meetings 5_062508
• Meetings 6_070208
• Meetings 7_071108
• Meetings 8_071208
• Meetings 9_071608
• Meetings10_072008

Why bother going to all this trouble? The answer is that you never know when you are going to want to refer to or use something you’ve written weeks or even months ago. If you had simply typed right over your words, they would be gone forever. Don’t imagine you will be able to remember what you wrote because, after 10 drafts of one chapter, believe me, you won’t. When the book is finished and in print, you can throw away your old drafts if you want to. I tend to keep them, however. I simply burn a CD and file the whole book away. “Better safe than sorry” may be a cliché, but it is one to live by when you are an author.

The Two Traits Every Writer Needs

Curiosity and imagination are two sides of the same coin: One is the unquenchable thirst for knowledge; the other is the process by which we create something entirely new out of that knowledge. It has been said that there is no such thing as a new idea, that everything that exists is already known. If that is true, then curiosity impels us to search for what is known, and imagination sees it in a new and unique form.

It's hard to imagine how or why one might choose to be a writer, especially a freelance writer, without this trait. What would be the incentive, if not to absorb information and reconfigure it in a way that others can enjoy and absorb as well? Without it, this chosen way of life becomes merely a job - a way to earn a living - and for most of us, that's not what it's about.

Curiosity
Curiosity cannot be created or taught when it doesn't exist, but it can be nurtured even when only a tiny spark of it exists. If you've ever begun a sentence with the words, "I wonder ..." or followed the thread of a thought around in your head to see where it would take you, or become lost in a subject other people consider boring, or found yourself asking a million questions of someone you've just met, you've got the spark. Now, all that's necessary is to let it catch fire. Here are some ways to fan the flames:

Don't be satisfied with just enough research or just enough information to complete the assignment. Keep digging, keep analyzing, keep seeking a deeper understanding of the material. Eventually, you'll run out of time, you'll run out of sources, or your sixth sense will tell you that one more fact will be one fact too many. That's when you know you've done all you can do, and it's time to write.

Get involved with your topic. Care about it, make it personal, invest yourself. Believe it or not, this will not compromise your integrity as a writer; it will enhance it. If you care, the message will ring true and the words will come alive; if you don't, the reader will sense - often without knowing why - that something is missing.

Think of everything you learn as a thread in a tapestry. If you stick with it long enough, no matter what kind of writing you do, patterns begin to emerge. You'll find that no idea exists in isolation and that every piece of knowledge is inexplicably linked to every other piece. The more you learn, the more obvious those links will become. New ideas combined with long-forgotten snippets of information give birth to deeper insights, which, in turn, become new threads in the pattern.

Imagination
Tapping into the imagination is not something only novelists, poets, and promotional writers do. It is something every good writer does, consciously or instinctively. Imagination is our secret weapon, our special ability to put an original spin on virtually anything, no matter how tired or hackneyed it may seem. A good writer looks at the assignment, the raw data, the blank page, and sees something no one else sees - a unique perspective, a hidden pattern, the very heart of the matter. Like combining chemical elements, in go bits and pieces of information, impressions, and interpretations; out comes something completely new, a one of a kind.

If curiosity can be nourished, like a tiny plant, is that also true of imagination? Why do some people view the world through a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, while others see it in black-and-white, straight lines that go from here to there? Can imagination be created out of the raw material of our minds, or is it something one has or doesn't have, like blue eyes?

If we are to believe many of the great writers, imagination is part of our human birthright. If the spark exists, the hidden light is just waiting to shine. What turns an analytical thinker into an imaginative one? Try these suggestions.

Open your mind to other ways of looking at things. If someone else suggests a different perspective, don't dismiss it out of hand. Delve, explore, examine. Turn it over in your mind. Add to it. Add it to the mix of ideas on the table.

Don't be satisfied with your first take on anything. Don't be in a hurry to get on with it and hit the computer. Unless you're on a killer deadline, step back and give it some air. See what else comes up. Walk around it (figuratively), and chances are you'll see it from a different angle.

Don't settle for the way you've always done it. If you usually surf the Web or use the business library, find an expert to interview. If you plunge into writing the minute you finish your research, try giving yourself a day to read and absorb your notes and sleep on it before you sit down to write. If you polish every sentence as you go, try stream-of-consciousness writing. Just changing your habits will stretch the limits of your imagination.

Take time to do nothing. Call it meditation, daydreaming, or kickback time. Carve out some time at least once a week for you. Go to the park, the zoo, the country. Take a walk, a bike ride, or a drive. Let your mind roam wherever it chooses to go. The idea is to slow down the compulsive thinking/doing mind and give it a break. Just imagine what could come out of such an afternoon!

Between the Covers of Your Nonfiction Book

There is more to a nonfiction book than a catchy cover and table of contents … much more. Wherever you are in the process of writing your book, if the chapters contain your message, everything else you write must attract, inform, clarify, or sell.

FRONT MATTER

Front cover: If the book is a hardback, it will have a book jacket; if it is a soft cover, the cover will contain the same information as a jacket. The front cover contains the title, your name, an illustration, and perhaps an endorsement or quote from a favorable review.

Back cover: The back cover is your billboard. It should include a description of the main features of the book, a category, your photo and a brief bio, the publisher, an ISBN number, a Library of Congress number, a bar code, and the price. Much of this will already exist in your book proposal and can easily be converted to the appropriate language.

FRONT MATTER

Copyright page: This page is usually provided by the publisher, whether that publisher is a conventional one, a print-on-demand, or you, if you self- publish. It contains certain basic information, such as the title, the author’s name, the copyright date, a paragraph explaining copyright rules, the country in which the book is printed, the ISBN number, a Library of Congress number, the publisher and its location, and contact information.

Preface: This is written by the author and explains why and how you wrote the book. It can tell your story in a very personal way, if you wish.

Foreword: This should be written by someone other than the author and is particularly powerful when an expert in the field writes it. If the writer is a person with a recognized name or title, you might want to mention “Foreword by name” on the cover. Sometimes, it is helpful to write the foreword yourself to demonstrate to the expert what you would like to see.

Introduction: Think of the introduction as a practical guide to using the book. It should explain what the book is about, why it was written, and how it should be read, if there is more than one way. If you are expressing a point of view that will enhance the reader’s understanding, include it in the introduction. If the story behind the story is interesting, by all means include that, as well. This is your chance to editorialize and explain your rationale, so take advantage of it.

Acknowledgments: Few of us write our books without help, no matter how well versed we are on the subject matter. There are hundreds of ways in which assistance is given, from people willing to share their expertise and knowledge to editors who turn our rough prose into pearls. Friends or professionals transcribe interview tapes, proofread manuscripts, listen to us read aloud, and encourage us when we feel we have become brain dead. Those who help deserve to be acknowledged, and some of these sections are wonderful to read. That’s how you want yours to be.

THE CHAPTERS

Of course, the bulk of the writing takes place between the front and back matter. By now, you should have mapped out your main headings, which will become your Table of Contents, the key points under each heading, and one-paragraph chapter summaries. The question is how do you get from a paragraph to a chapter? Each key point becomes a subhead of your chapter. A summary is the big picture; the subheads are the way you will organize the material. This is the time to fill in the meat — your research, narrative, quotes from interviewees, resource materials, and graphics. The important thing is to get all of the pertinent information under each subhead. Then, you can refine the writing and build your transitions.

BACK MATTER

Index: When a book is filled with facts or topics a reader might want to find quickly, an index is the fastest way to find them. There are two types of indexes — subject matter and detailed. You can create your indexes in Microsoft Word or hire an indexer to do it for you. The published authors I know strongly recommend that you use an experienced indexer.

Bibliography: If you have read other books and quoted other authors, a bibliography acknowledges these sources. Of course, you should attribute quotes in the copy or with footnotes. In some cases, you will have to secure written permission to use other people’s work and may even be charged a fee. A bibliography also gives readers a list of references to read if they wish to dig more deeply into the subject.

Appendices: Sometimes, you have so much background information or detail that, if you included all of it in the main body of work, you might overwhelm your reader. That’s what appendices are for. They are a good place to put scientific data, charts, reports, and detailed explanations without ruining the flow of your text.

Glossary: This is an optional, alphabetically arranged dictionary of terms peculiar to the subject of the book. Try to define such words in the text.

Epilogue: If you have “one last thought,” this is the place to express it.

Building a book is like building anything else: You begin with the basics, and you add one element at a time. The most important content is in the middle — the chapters. Logically, you should write those first. What goes in the introduction, for example, depends on how the book is organized, as well as several other factors. You can’t write the index until you have finished the book. If this looks overwhelming at the beginning, remember, you don’t have to write the whole book in one sitting, nor should you.

Remember this: Nothing becomes published that hasn’t been written first!

Getting to Know the Giants of Social Media

By 2012 more than 1 billion people are expected to be online through blogs, social networks or photo/video sharing services. Social media is a great equalizer. Ordinary people are talking to each other and the businesses they patronize about what is important to them. Every day new sites are launched to enable people to broaden their conversations. Still, many stick with the sites they know—the giants of the social networking scene.

MySpace started out as the exclusive domain of young people, and after tying to become a mainstream site, went back to its roots. MySpace was the first social network to make the word “friends” (meaning contacts) part of our everyday language. While MySpace members aren’t as old or sophisticated as Facebook users, they function seamlessly in their own piece of cyber space. If you are an adult who insists on being on MySpace, ask your teenager to help you.

Facebook is big—the biggest—social networking site. Forty percent of its members are over thirty-five. Facebook offers personal profiles, calendars, movie reviews, photos, groups for every conceivable interest, targeted advertising, demographic profiling, and multiple ways to keep in touch. Members use Facebook to keep up with friends and friends of friends. It now also provides “fan pages” for setting up professional and businesses profiles.

LinkedIn is the number one social network for businesspeople and professionals. The site works on the principle of six degrees of separation. Members find and connect to their existing business contacts and then to their contacts’ contacts. Members post resumes, form networks, write recommendations, and keep their contacts updated on changes in their professional lives. When members update their profiles their new information becomes immediately available to everyone in their networks.

Twitter is an innovative, free social network that restricts messages to 140 characters. “Tweets” range from “what I’m doing right this minute” to trends and important issues. More than 100 services have sprung up that mimic Twitter, and there are many sites that augment its services. Followers can tune in to messages from other members and send targeted messages to people they follow by simply putting @ in front of the other person’s Twitter name.

YouTube is the best-known and most popular video-sharing site. It was acquired by Google in 2006 and went mainstream in 2007, appealing to both individuals and businesses. Members upload more than 65,000 videos a day. Most social networks and Websites support video. As a social networking site, YouTube features personal spaces, playlists, friends, favorites, and conversations. To assess its value, think quality over quantity; positive comments mean more than the number of views.

Flickr is right up with Facebook in terms of size. It has 11 million regular members, 30 million monthly unique visitors, and more than 1 billion photos. There are Flickr groups for almost anything you can imagine ... anything. In addition to making it easy to upload photos and other images—with carefully chosen keywords, tags, file names, and image descriptions—Flickr has no trouble attracting search engines. Tags are descriptive labels photographers and viewers can apply to photographs.

These are the big kids on the block, but in each category, there are many other sites that are attracting members and offering an increasing number of features. Biggest is not always best. It pays to explore the less-well-known social media sites to find the right fit.

Journal of a New Web site

This adventure started when I lost my home page, otherwise known as index.html. It just disappeared. I had no idea where it went, but I knew I had no way to access my Web site. I called my Web site host, who had never failed to save my life in the past but declined to help me this time for less than $50 and hour. I will spare you the details of their new policy or their sudden decision to enforce their old policy.

I called my friend Doreen Hulsey who kept me from total panic. Eventually, I found an old index page on my laptop and was able to recreate it to the most recent version.Then, I realized the rest of my pages were blank. I downloaded them to my local folder feeling quite clever. The problem was they were all Web pages that couldn't be changed in Dreamweaver (my Web design program). This was very bad news.

Doreen is a Web site and software designer, and in a matter of minutes, we agreed that she would design a new Web site for me. Having designed my own, originally—even though I thought it was very complicated—I had no idea what was involved in doing it correctly. I was in for an education.

The good news was I knew what colors I wanted—earth tones—and that there were many pages of my copy floating around out there on the server that could be retrieved. Beyond those two things, I had a lot to learn. Here are some of the elements that had to be decided, rewritten, illustrated, or created from scratch:

• Template: This would be used for every other page on the site, so we couldn't go forward until it was complete.
  
• Home page: What elements should it include? How could we create some visual interest that would attract the reader's eye?
  
• Color scheme: Earth tones mean different things to different people. For example, there are 50 shades of brown and caramel is not spelled camel (a typo), or even carmel.
  
• Menus: Should we use buttons, drop down menus, or bars? And what pages would go in the main menu, at the top, or on the bottom?
• Content: There was way too much copy and too many pages. What should we keep and what could we pitch?
• Movement: This required screens for a Adobe Flash movie, which in turn meant copy, layout, colors, and appropriate images. Flash was as a total mystery to me.
  
• Images: People expect to see something besides words when they surf the Web, which meant we needed a graphic for every single page. I scrambled to find appropriate images or take my own photos. The best image site I found was i23rf.
  
• New stuff: What are my shipping and privacy policies? How should they be worded? What else was I missing? I didn't know those policies should be on a Web site.
  
• Links: Could we connect to my blogs and other Web site? My "links" page was a mess and needed reorganizing and repair.
• Timing: Could we unveil the new site by the end of the year? Doreen didn't think so, but I've never seen anyone work so fast.
  
• Search engine optimization (SEO): SEO is part art and part science. I am neither an artist nor a scientist, but people were landing on my pages. The idea was to improve that performance.
  
• Articles: I had a great many on my article page, but they were difficult to navigate. More reorganization took place
  
• Videos: I have 46 videos on YouTube created and owned by Expertvillage.com (which is now called EHow.com). The videos are unrehearsed but fun, and they do explain how to write a nonfiction book. Would it be possible to embed that code into my Web pages?
• The store and shopping cart: the store moved to the new template, but the shopping cart was stuck. Since it was originally installed by another consultant, Brett Fullmer of Fullmer Media Group (new company name), I have to track Brett down.
  

These were the BIG questions. there were countless smaller ones. It seems I will also need "template lessons" so I can maintain my own site, unless I want to hire Doreen for the rest of her life. So, here I sit, eagerly awaiting the unveiling of the new WriteANonfictionBook.com. Believe me, I'll announce it here first.

The Day My Web Site Died

There are those days that go to hell in a hand basket, and you stare at your computer screen is utter dismay. Usually, it’s a hard drive crash, and while you may just want to lie down and die, you usually calm down and do what you have to do. A comparable event is when you lose your Web site. One minute it’s there; the next, it’s gone. That’s what happened yesterday.

I know it was my fault, though I'm not sure exactly what I did. Failing to undo my own folly, I called Verio, my Web site host, who has never let me down—that is, until yesterday. Every time I have ever called in the past, the genius-tech has solved my problem in the flick of an eyelash. Not yesterday. Instead, he explained that if he went back and retrieved an earlier index page from the server, it would cost me $50/hour. But, even then, he was “not allowed” to check to see if worked.

What happened? Had there been a change of policy since my last call? I asked to speak to a supervisor, who patiently explained that the policy had not changed, only its enforcement.

Before I paid the $50/hour, I called my friend Doreen Hulsey who knows everything about Web sites and DreamWeaver, the program in which my site was designed. Somehow, we managed to find an older page on one of my many backups and reinstate it. Then, of course it had to be brought up to date without losing it again. Doreen looked at my site and tactfully observed that it was overcomplicated and a few other things I am embarrassed to relate, since I designed it to begin with.

The result of this conversation was—or will be—a completely redesigned Web site, done correctly and professionally. I am almost too excited to write this. While Doreen can’t promise it by the New Year, she assures me it will be “live” by my birthday. It’s a long overdue gift I am giving myself!

The other good news? I saved $50.