The Berkun Blog
Management, design, and the making of good things.
London book update
April 14th, 2005
To date, I’ve sent the book proposal to 13 publishers and editors. Current success rate: 0%.
This isn’t a bad number. There are tons of stories of 50, 100, 200 rejections before finding a publisher. Pirsig’s Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintaince had over 100 rejections. It’s such a speculative industry, with such high barriers, that these numbers are normal. I’m not giving up yet. In fact the larger the number of rejections I get before I get it published, the better the story I’ll have to tell :)
But for now I don’t plan on focusing on the London book until I have an interested publisher. There’s enough of a book there to land a deal - finishing the book won’t make a difference.
Mailed London book proposal
March 13th, 2004
Mailed out the London book proposal to several publishers. Dropped them off in the drive thru mailbox. Heard them thud at the bottom, and thought of a wastebasket.
Chapter 4: London
February 12th, 2004
Just finished Chapter 4. Wrote a total of 10000 words, but the current version is only about 5000 long. This ratio is typical. Usually when I finish an essay, or a chapter, I’ll have a pile of fragments, stray pargagraphs, about equal in length to the essay itself. This doesn’t include fragments that I wrote, and deleted, which is probably signifigant. This only counts the fragments that I chose to keep around in case i needed them later.
There is a shape to these chapters now - I know how to write these kinds of essays now, and I can see the whole thing as a book. After Frank and I agreed that we had two different books here, one focused on writing with supporting pictures, and one focused on pictures with supporting writing, the writing has been easier. I’m focusing on the first, he on the later. The path is clear.
Draft of the book proposal is together. I read several books on writing these things, and went back to look at the ui design book proposal I wrote in ‘99 (which was rejected). It’s in good shape. Once the draft chapters are together We’re ready to go.
Daily writing plan Part 2
January 19th, 2004
The daily rhythm is better now. I get up - I write. When I get stuck, I run or walk the dog. Something physical. When start to get lightheaded, I eat. Repeat. When things are going well, perhaps one session in three, I can go for several hours. More often it’s tough going, and I can only go a half hour or so before I need to do something else. Playing guitar is a great 5 minute break - I grab the guitar from it’s stand just an arms length away, belt out a tune or two, and I always feel better. Singing songs while playing guitar gets stuff out - and it relaxes the whole creative process for me. On tought days I’ll keep the guitar in my lap, since I can’t get very far without wanting to get back to something that feels good.
This is my pattern every day - Saturday, Sunday, holidays. I write every day. If I can’t write about London, I write about something else. If I don’t want to write, I have to at least write something about not wanting to write.
Chapter 3: London
January 15th, 2004
I’m working on chapter 3, and it’s been slow. Pulling teeth. Not fun. I get little ideas, and run with them, but they usually amount to stillborn paragraphs and suicidal sentences (successfully suicidal). I also have pathetic phrasing, messy metaphors, and goofy grammar. Usually I go through this phase for an essay or for a chapter, but it doesn’t take this long. Usually after 3 or 4 hours I have a decent pile of ideas, and some of them start to stick together. Hasn’t happened yet. I have at least 4 near-paragraphs that are all only suitable as opening paragraphs. None of them currently work.
Drafts of drafts
January 10th, 2004
Showed a first draft of chapter one to Frank and Jill - lots of questions and comments. The hardest part of feedback on drafts is that you have to listen to commentary on things you know are problematic, but haven’t fixed yet (or don’t know how to fix), but you have to listen to it anyway as if their points are an act of discovery. No way around it - it’s part of what makes writing fun! Yay!
The truth I think is that when feedback about work hurts, something is being said that you know is true, but you (ok, I) haven’t dealt with yet. Or haven’t understood yet, or simply don’t want to deal with. The only thing I need is more persistence - as they say, rewriting is writing.
Writing plan
December 12th, 2003
I have half a moleskin journal filled with my notes and observations from the London trip. I have 250 photos of my own, and several hundred of Frank’s. Since I returned I’ve been putting together the pieces and trying to put it together into a framework. We had several ideas for frameworks for the book that we talked about over English breakfasts at the Cherrytop cafe near Baker street - but none of them have worked for me so far.
As it stands I have nearly a dozen half starts at a first chapter, none of which work. The daily activity has been picking up threads of these half starts and either weaving them together to get further in, or finding start #13 or #14 and seeing how far I can go. The work is slow and there are no rewards yet.
The Chunnel
December 1st, 2003
In London - actually heading to Paris from London, currently in the Chunnel. Frank is across from me, Ipod in hand, reading mens health uk.
Even with all the time underground I feel like this trip, and this project, is about re-examining travel - paying attention to how everyone else pays attention to, or avoids their experience. Even now, on this fancy upscale train, most people are busy trying to avoid, at least in one sense, the experience of travel. They sleep, they read, they listen to ipods – something to escape the monotony of sitting and looking around. People trade glances, like a game of tag, except no one admits that they’re playing.
The windows, mostly useless in the chunnel, provide a writer like me with an extra sneaky way of watching other people. But search long enough in the reflections, and reflections of reflections, and eventually I find someone else - probably also searching – and we both look away. Whoops – found what we were looking for, but not that we’ll admit it.
Why is it so tempting to watch others when we know they won’t look back? It’s all natural, but somehow forbidden – can’t admit we’re watching. Can’t smile when we’re caught. Must pretend we are not human.
London project
November 8th, 2003
The plan is set - Spending 3 weeks in London doing research for the London underground book (as in the subway system, not the music scene, or some kind of underground political movement). Anne Kiel is letting Frank and I stay at her flat while we’re there. It’s a perfect no frills guerilla book project. Frank is on the photos, I’m on the writing.
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