A Non-Fiction Beginner

The defining measure for writing this was how well I manage the background noise of the two Champion Leagues games being played this afternoon. In the perfect scenario, I will have this finished by the time the two games are over. A football game has the same result whether you watch it LIVE or watch the replay three hours afterwards, but for the teams involved the result is defined by the time available. This is also true for writers of books.

The inspiration for search for this is from the Allen Gannett write-up that is noted in the comments of the first write up for Creative Writers Guild. The key to this is lining up content that I can explore and just an afternoons digging proved to me, just how much content is at hand. We tend to share content for others, but I believe in finding content that is most potentially practical for my purpose and goal.

I do need to give some dibs to Michael La Ronn - overall his work on authorlevelup.com is very impressive. Lots of resources for me to dig into and that is the most immediate problem, that today I need to par down to a selection of resources I can dig into later. Online media should not be a case of ALL YOU CAN EAT - and instead of treating content as digital buffet - my personal goal is to walk the line of DIGITAL NUTRITION - based on the goal of that nutrition, which in my case is getting up to speed with my new club mentor role.

Alan Gannett began his posting referring to proposals and I have listed three video's that I binge watch (not really), that I will reference to get me up to speed about these are

Jessica Faust and James McGowan have a series of videos that address different aspects of the writers market. This video details that a non-fiction proposal is different (otherwise why dedicate a video to it?). It focuses on what Mahfuz Chowdhury would call the HARD AUDIT, that footprint we leave behind online that is more than common garden personal branding.

Mahfuz felt the full force of that hard audit when he was not offered a big opportunity, but he pressed the event planners and they confided to him, that he needs to change the focus on what he presents online. He did and he got the next opportunity. Barry Fox takes us to the next step which is how to write a non-fiction proposal. Very handy if we are still in the game and publishers are interested in our proposal.

I do not need to do much of hard audit to see how Jason Acuff presents his material online. This is why HARD AUDITS are way more than personal branding footnotes. It is the quality of preparation, the crafting of the video, the choice of titles, which means Acuff has invested in quality presentation. Now coupled with excellent content, it is a video that I am looking forward to listen to in its full. I simply browsed it and knew it needed to be in my own queue.

At this point, I bring in my songs and this has nothing to do with my research motivations about the writing market, but the personal approach I have of writing my thought pieces. The link to non-fiction is there, because I saw that we can technically qualify some songs as "non-fiction" because they refer to real world content and topics. Like the last time I have picked four tracks, all having their own realities to address.

I personally love Gordon Lightfoots music, not because he is a Canadian but that his discography contains so many brilliantly written tracks. He did not get the accolade that his contemparies like Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash did. His six minutes singing about the shipwreck of the Edmunds Fitzgerald may have some minor technical inaccuracies but the song captures the weight of the tragedy that hit this ship.

If there is one song that should keep the memory of a tragic taking of lives at a university campus in Ohio, it is "Four Dead in Ohio". It is amazing how much music is being lost that is tied to what should be historic events, even if this is an American-centric view. If the National Guard were called today and killed four students, there would be a state of national mourning. This reminds us the past is just as vital as the news-cycle of the present day.

So now back to the writing video content research again pretty much inspired by Allen Gannett's post. This time the following features three views of "how to write a book".

I picked Ryan Holiday for the simple reason that I have come across him in the course of my non-writer research digital journey.

Here Ryan addresses his journey. From research to writing to editing to publishing. He talks about his journey in reference to a book he published.

I look forward to digging into it.

With Michael Rogan I nearly made the mistake of judging a book by its cover, but at the same time I also remind myself about the lesson Mahfuz provided about his experience with a hard audit.

It turns out that his work around self-publication and his site selfpubnation is something worth my attention. He talks about 3 tips here how to write a book that does not suck. (his word not mine).

Our trivial biases was reinforced as I initially thought the picture Mark Dawson used on his screenshot was him. I added his picture within the video tablet I created for his You-Tube page.

Dawson talks about how to structure our book and just as important he is not a one hit wonder, with a lot of other interesting content I can follow up.

It is tedious work putting together this post, but so worth it personally for me once I have accomplished the task. Some of it was aided by Real Madrid winning against Liverpool and now with tracks from Marina as You-Tube plays on my big screen TV in the background. So it is time to add the other two songs that relate to non-fiction topics. (This is my post).

Like so many people I dig Billy Joel, and his song "We didn't start the fire" goes through so many historical references, that it is worth stopping the video and get caught up on this history lesson, wrapped up as a meaningful song.

I could have added "Pressure" among many tracks that go to the heart of the human experience. My favourite Billy Joel track is Vienna, but then I am a dreamer and that song appeals to us.

I grew up with U2 and if there is one band that deals with non-fiction material better than any, it has to be them.

Whether they are writing about their experiences of the struggles in Ireland, or like this song featuring the assignation of Martin Luther King, they reflect where reflection should be, but at the same time apply layers of meaning that is exemplified by Pride - In the Name of Love.

Back to my writing skill odyssey here, a part from a battle with spellcheck to get the word odyssey correct, the third piece I drew from Alan Gannett's post was the planning piece.

Gannett mentioned the timeline for writing a book is quite long, and one of the things we can overlook. Jodi Brandon provides a more liberal timeline that assumes a faster cycle time for book publication, but that is not my chief takeaway here. That would be for me to get a feel for the time commitment and time discipline required to execute across a long timeline. In writing this I build this very discipline.

Just to rubber stamp the degree of planning required to write a book, Mandi Lynn showcases her "The Book Launch Planner" as a book in itself. That is quite interesting to plan to write a book that is about planning writing a book.

I have the discipline here but perhaps not the technique, for that requires the very awareness that has drawn me to this content.

Perhaps the most technical aspect I need to get my head around is the piece Alan Gannett did mention and that Gemma Milne also addresses in her video, where she covers her thoughts about Advances, Commission, Rights, Timelines. The one thing I am blessed with is that when I put my mind to it, I am pretty fast learner and while the writing market and industry is an undiscovered country for me. I will get it.

Like all digital marathons that I write on LinkedIn, I normally prefer to close off proceedings with a song but not this time. Instead I draw on a video by Kelly Notaras about how to find a Literary Agent.

I am sure I will get to know the lay of the land of agents from this, though the actual world, I recognize is full of unexpected turns and consequences, and I am under no illusion that writing a book is not the only major challenge, but understanding this game, so when the time comes, I should be the best prepared to write a book. At this minute that will be the greatest irony, that I will not. Allen Gannett draws on his experience of having written his book called "The Creative Curve". I would link it, if I had not made the decision to institute a NO HYPERLINK ON TEXT rule. That is one among the many vagaries that mean I remain unorthodox on this platform, not looking for a crowd, just sparks in my own mind.