Wally Bock's Zero Draft

5/19/12: My Recent Writing about Writing

May 192012

Here’s my writing about writing for this week. There were posts on getting all the facts right, advice from Stephen R. Covey, and rules for writing a great business book.

All the facts are important
People judge your knowledge of things they don’t know by looking at how you write about things they know well.

Advice from the Masters: Stephen Covey
Stephen R. Covey wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the most helpful and successful books of all time. Here’s some advice from that book.

Business Books: Writing a Great One
Great business books help people see the world differently and take action based on what they see. They’re also memorable and easy to use. How do you create a book like that? Here are some of my biases.

You’ll find my writing about leadership and talent development on my Three Star Leadership Blog.

Current Client Projects

I’m writing blog posts for one client. I’m helping a strategy consultant write his book, and working on a book about what Professor Clay Christensen says could be “more important than disruption.” I’m also coaching two other authors through the process of writing and publishing their first book.

If you’re interested in writing a book, hiring someone to write for you, or just improving your own writing, you should read my Zero Draft blog about the writing that makes a business or career grow.

If you want to get a book done or improve your writing, let’s talk about options. My coaching calendar currently has space open.

Information Products

If you’re a boss, you should check out my Working Supervisor’s Support Kit.

Business Books: Writing a Great One

Writing a Book No Responses »

May 182012

I’ve been reading, writing, and evaluating business books for almost forty years. Good business books help you understand the world in a new way and take action in new ways. Great business books do that and are memorable and easy to read, too. If you want to write a great business book, here are some things to think about.

The best books are based on and built around stories.

People learn and understand best when you give them a concrete example and then explain its general application.

Simple words, constructions, and book structures win the day.

The Table of Contents should be both a guide and a sales tool.

If you want your book to read well, write for the ear.

Cuteness and clever phrasing are the enemies of understanding, no matter how good they feel to you.

Generalizations should be supported with examples, statistics, or anecdotes.

Assume that there is a reader out there who is an absolute expert on everything you say, because there is.

Advice from the Masters: Stephen Covey

Writing a Book No Responses »

May 162012

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a great business book. Since it was first published over twenty years ago, millions of people have read it in dozens of languages. It’s the basis for a string of other products and other books. There’s no mystery here. It’s simple and well-written and, most important, helpful.

That’s why I wanted to share some writing advice from Stephen R. Covey, the book’s author. Alas, I couldn’t find any writing-specific advice, but I kept returning to 7 Habits and especially to the seventh habit: “Sharpen the saw.” Here’s a little more from Covey’s web site.

“Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have–you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual.”

If you want to write a great book or do great things of any kind, that’s advice you can use. Note the two parts, preserving and enhancing. You need to preserve yourself so can give your best effort every day. And you need to enhance your knowledge and abilities so you can produce better results tomorrow.

Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts.

All the facts are important

Writing a Book 1 Response »

May 142012

We judge another person’s knowledge of things we don’t understand by what they say or write about things we do understand. I learned that the hard way in one of my very first books.

The book was about management by exception, which was management fad of the day. In the book I described a procedure that a trucking company might use. I got it wrong. I relied on a single written source and didn’t check the facts.

We sent the manuscript out to some readers. Usually it took a month to get the reactions back, but this time one came back in a few days. The reader had circled the procedure I just mentioned. Then he wrote “This is wrong! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” in giant letters. There was other language that’s not fit for a work-safe blog.

My editor, Jon, pointed out that the reason the manuscript came back so fast was that the reader stopped reading where he made his comment. He knew the procedure I described and he knew I got it wrong. As far as he was concerned, the rest of the book probably wasn’t worth reading.

That’s how readers will treat your book. If you’re accurate about the things they know, they’ll trust you on the things they don’t know. But if you get something wrong and they catch you, that’s it. They stop reading. If they’re deciding whether to buy your book, they make a no-buy decision.

Bottom Line

Always assume there’s an expert reader out there on everything you write, because there is

5/12/12: My Recent Writing on Writing

Wally's Writing No Responses »

May 122012

Here’s my writing about writing for this week. There were posts on answering the Larry King interview questions, writing advice from Ben Bova, and business books and the Hero’s Journey.

The Larry King Author Interview
Larry King is most famous as a celebrity interviewer on cable TV, but when he was on late night radio he did the best author interviews ever. Here’s his secret and why you should think about it when you’re writing a book.

Advice from the Masters: Ben Bova
Ben Bova is a great science fiction writer. He’s also a great editor and he has advice that will improve your writing.

Business Books and the Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell said that many narratives from different places in the world had a similar structue. Campbell called that structure “The Hero’s Journey.” Great business books can follow a similar pattern.

You’ll find my writing about leadership and talent development on my Three Star Leadership Blog.

Current Client Projects

If you want to get a book done or improve your writing, let’s talk about options. My coaching calendar currently has space open.

Information Products

If you’re a boss, you should check out my Working Supervisor’s Support Kit.

Business Books and the Hero’s Journey

Writing a Book No Responses »

May 112012

Joseph Campbell noticed that many different stories from many different cultures followed a similar plot pattern. Campbell called it, “The Hero’s Journey.”

That “journey” turns out to be the basic plot of a lot of great stories. You don’t even have to go to mythology or folks stories. Think Star Wars, The Silence of the Lambs, or The Hunt for Red October.

You can use the same structure for your business book. You don’t have to use Campbell’s seventeen stages, either. I’ve found that three phases do quite well.

Remember that the core idea here is that the hero and the reader go on a journey of discovery, growth, and change. You set the stage for that journey in the first part of the book.

People who analyze the Hero’s Journey use several different names for the beginning. Some call it “The Departure” In this stage, things are “normal,” but something happens that calls for change.

If your book is about meetings, for example, describe how most meetings are now. Even better, describe how you experienced meetings and (TA DA) realized that something needed to change. That’s where you begin the learning journey.

In the Hero’s Journey, the “journey” is through unknown territory. Some analysts call it “The Road of Trials.” Other experts describe the hero travelling through an enchanted wood. In your business book, this is where the learning happens.

This can be an actual learning journey, either factual or fictionalized. In Employees First, Vineet Nayar tells the story of change at HCL, from beginning to end. I wrote Performance Talk as a story about a new manager who was learning to be a good manager.

But the ‘journey” can be a collection of stories or learning points, too. When Rod Santomassimo and I wrote Brokers Who Dominate, that’s what we did. The “journey” part of the book tells the story of more than twenty top performers in commercial real estate.

That gives you basically four options. You can tell a sequential tale or not. And you can tell a factual tale or a fictional one. Whichever you choose, when you’ve described the learning, it’s time to wrap up the journey.

In the Hero’s Journey, the hero returns to the everyday world as a different person. He or she has been changed by their experiences on the journey. In your business book, this is where you summarize the learning.

Here’s another way to think about it. The beginning of your book shows why a learning journey is necessary. The main part of your book describes the journey itself. At the end, you describe how things have changed because of the journey.

Advice from the Masters: Ben Bova

Writing Tips No Responses »

May 092012

In addition to writing a slew of science fiction and several works of non-fiction, Ben Bova was a great editor. His work at Analog Science fiction earned him six Hugo Awards for “Best Professional Editor.” His work as an editor of Omni Magazine earned him the undying gratitude of those of us who loved that magazine. The following advice was aimed at science fiction writers, but it holds for all of us.

“In science there is a dictum: don’t add an experiment to an experiment. Don’t make things unnecessarily complicated. In writing fiction, the more fantastic the tale, the plainer the prose should be. Don’t ask your readers to admire your words when you want them to believe your story.”

There are other writing tips and a wealth of other things on Bova’s official web site.

Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts.

The Larry King Author Interview

Writing a Book 1 Response »

May 072012

Larry King is a big deal. Today, he’s best known as the premier interviewer of celebrities on cable television. When King moved to television he adjusted his program to the audience. That’s just smart. But I remember when he did a late night radio talk show and the best author interviews ever.

Every other interviewer prepared to interview an author by learning about the author’s book. Not Larry. He asked the questions you would ask if you wanted to know if the book was worth buying and worth reading.

“What’s this book about?” Larry would ask. That was just the start. There were other simple, but powerful questions, too.

“Who should read this book?”

“Why should anyone read this book?”

“What will I get out of it?”

The great thing was that Larry asked the questions an ordinary reader would ask. By the end of the interview, you knew if a book was for you and, if so, why you should read it.

If you’re an author, you’ll write a better book if you can answer those Larry King questions crisply and clearly. You’ll also do better at marketing the book. Here’s my version of the basic Larry King-type questions you should ask and answer about your book.

Who should read the book?

Why? What will they get out of it?

Why are you qualified to write it?

Can you sum up the core of the book in a sentence or two?

That’s it. Now go imagine your own Larry King interview and write a better book.

5/5/12: My Recent Writing on Writing

Wally's Writing No Responses »

May 052012

Here’s my writing about writing for this week. There were posts on the table of contents as a sales tool, book writing advice from Michael Crichton, and a review of Jesse Lyn Stoner’s blog.

Table of Contents as a Sales Tool
Almost every thoughtful buyer checks out the table of contents. Make that work for you.

Advice from the Masters: Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton sold over 200 million books and he re-wrote every one of them, just like you should.

Blogs I Like: Jesse Lyn Stoner
Every week I highlight one business blog that I think sets a good example. This week, we’ll look at Jesse Lyn Stoner’s blog.

You’ll find my writing about leadership and talent development on my Three Star Leadership Blog.

Current Client Projects

If you want to get a book done or improve your writing, let’s talk about options. My coaching calendar currently has space open.

Information Products

If you’re a boss, you should check out my Working Supervisor’s Support Kit.

Blogs I Like: Jesse Lyn Stoner

Writing a Business Blog 3 Responses »

May 042012

You can learn a lot from a good example. That’s why every week I highlight one great business blog. This week, it’s Jesse Lyn Stoner’s blog.

She calls her blog, “My Blog.” That sounds pretty prosaic and maybe like someone who takes the easy way out. But that just goes to show that appearances can be deceiving. What you will find there are some of the most carefully crafted blog posts in the universe.

Jesse does only one post a week on “My Blog,” but I bet she spends more time and effort on that post than many other bloggers do on five. It’s so well done, that the posts just seem natural.

That’s not easy to do. Jesse writes about serious topics where nuance matters. I imagine her process as something like an archeologist, taking time to gently brush away everything that obscures her point and then very carefully holding it up and turning it so the rest of us can see it clearly.

Here are some representative posts from the last year or so. Read them with an eye toward what you can learn from Jesse Lyn Stoner’s example. As you read, pay attention to the careful way posts develop. Observe the phrasing, too. They’re so well done that they’re transparent most of the time, so to understand what’s going on, you need to look closely.

Charismatic Leaders vs Visionary Leaders: 7 Indicators

Are You a Team in Name Only?

7 Things I Learned About Goal-Setting in 1999

The Empty Carriage: A Leadership Lesson

When The Best Techniques Don’t Work

Boiled Frogs and Dreams

Read, enjoy, and learn.

Was that helpful? If it was you may want to check the complete list of blogs I’ve reviewed.