Now that I’ve had my publicity “fun” with my last book, it’s time to get going on my next book. I just received my last batch of transcriptions so nothing’s keeping me from starting now. By the way, if you hope to be a writer it helps to have a good transcritpionist. There are times that using a transcription service really makes sense and can accelerate your writing. Transcriptionists usually charge by the minute of recorded time and have two rates: their normal rate and their rush rate, if you need it in a hurry. I use a transcriptionist extensively in my writing because so much of my current writing is dependent on conversations I have, which I record (with permission).
So here I am, faced with a pile of 34 conversation I hope to turn into a book. Where to begin? I start by doing a process I call “chunking”. I want to pull out the “chunks” of dialogue from the conversations that will ultimately make it into the book. I’m going to read these 34 conversations and sift out the nuggets of written gold.
It is important to be able to identify those parts of the conversation that are book-worthy. How do I know what is book worthy and what isn’t? Well I’m not always sure myself, but I do have some guidelines I follow. First, I look for things that are insightful, things that make you think, because that’s what I want the book to do. Next, I look for stories that are unique. I want to be able to show the gamut of possibilities for the subject of my book.
After the chunks are extracted from the conversations, they need to be categorized. That is, each nugget has a theme to it, and nuggets with similar themes get put in the same category. This is a very important part of the process because these categories become chapters in the book. When I start to write I have ideas for chapters, but those ideas don’t always end up panning out. More often than not, the book itself writes the chapters. When you write a book based on any kind of research, eventually you will begin to see patterns develop and those patterns within the research will become patterns within the book, and ultimately, chapters in the book. It is important organize the information according to patterns because that is how most people learn. We are pattern learners.
Well, onto the chunking—one of my favorite parts of writing. It’s where I really get to know the people I spoke with. You would think that would occur during our conversations, but not really. During the conversations I am in deep concentration on listening to what the other person is saying and thinking of pertinent follow up questions. In essence, I am listening so intently that I do not hear the whole conversation. Now, I can go back, read the conversation from beginning to end and really absorb what each individual was saying. This is where the connection is made. Have you ever interviewed somebody so intently that you didn’t hear the conversation? Let me hear from you.
