4 ways your book is like my garden wall

May 2, 2016 | Writing A Book

Garden WallThat picture on your left is a small wall beside the deck at the back of my house. It’s not big. You sure can’t see it from space. Heck, you can’t even see it from the bottom of my driveway unless you’re really tall or you jump.

The wall is about a foot high at the tallest point. It runs about thirty feet long. It has a lot in common with that business book you want to write.

Books and garden walls need prep work

You don’t just slap your wall together and hope it holds up and the drainage still works in a big storm. You have to do some planning for your book, too. How will your world be different after you publish the book? How will it fit into all the other things you do?

You must have more pieces than you’re going to need

We bought a ton of stone to build that small wall. You will have more stories and examples than you will use in the book. We used the stones we didn’t need for the wall for other decorative touches around the yard. You’ll use those stories and examples in speeches and blog posts and maybe another book.

The pieces have to fit together

The stones have to fit together or you won’t have a wall, just a neat pile of rocks. The points and stories and statistics in your book have to fit together, too.

Craftsmanship counts

The rocks didn’t come pre-cut so they would fit together. Sergio, the man who built the wall, took the time and care to make sure everything fit. Great garden walls and great books don’t happen by accident. Someone has to do the hard work of making something good into something great.