Telling the Story--with Research Findings

The book is coming along nicely. I've been working like a crazy woman over the past week. After finishing the first draft of the first 16 chapters, it was time to print everything out. At this point in the process, you really have to. There are only so many edits that you can make on your screen. For the next round of edits, I worked with mostly "broad strokes." This means that I was trying to make sure all the content was where it needed to be.

Many of the chapters were in pretty decent shape, so I didn't have to do much to them, aside from a few minor edits. I love those.

There were other chapters that required major surgery.  I had content that was in completely the wrong place--sometimes, even the wrong chapter. I had material that was redundant. And I had a few things that just didn't make any sense.  They had to go.

By the time I got to the second the round of edits on hard copy, things were working a lot better. I still found sections that needed to be moved, but there were only a few of them.

Part of the task at this point is making the information I have in the chapters "tell a story." That can be a real challenge when all you have to work with are research findings. But to keep your readers interested, those findings need to be in some type of logical sequence. That means grouping similar studies together. It means using lots of headings and subheadings, and putting in transitions. It also means thinking through how you would "say" this to someone who is interested.

When you remember the basics of storytelling when you write, you increase the chances that someone will read--and understand--what it is you have to say. And frankly, writing this book is WAY too much work to do to have no one read it.

More later. But now it's time for lunch. :-)