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How To Write A How To Book - A Survey Of Writing Systems by Robert Flores
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How To Write A How To Book - A Survey Of Writing Systems |
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Education
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So you've decided to write a "how to" book. And you've decided to get a writing system first. Smart move! But now you're faced with looking through hundreds of writing systems to find one that does the job for you. And you're totally overwhelmed! Don't worry, it's not that bad. Although there are a lot of people flogging their writing systems, there really aren't that many writing systems out there. Most people are selling one of four types of systems to help you write a "how to" book. The first group of systems is based on the well-known Speed Writing system. This system was developed by journalists primarily for smaller articles. It consists of writing a short phrase of 3 to 5 words describing what you will write about. You then write for a period of time, usually 5 minutes, without editing and then stop. After another few minutes you can continue for another cycle. While suitable for small pieces such as a blog post or an article like this, it really isn't suitable for long pieces such as a "how to" book. Instead you need to combine it with another system such as outlining. The second group of systems, called outlining, was probably taught to you in school. When you write your "how to" book, you begin by making a list of all the topics you are going to write about. These are usually written on index cards. You then sort the topics and organize them by major topics which become your chapters. Finally, you make a table of contents list of all the topics within their major topics in order. Once you have this list of the contents you begin writing. This system is capable of doing any size of writing from simple blog posts to complex "how to" books. However, it doesn't enforce a structure on the organization nor does it use the mind's abilities and limitations very well. The third group of systems is usually based on the mindmap, although any cognitive tool can be used. It has an advantage in that it uses the mind's abilities and limitations to organize the information appropriately. The problem when used to write a "how to" book is the same as that experienced by the Speed Writing system. It really does not focus on structuring of the thoughts. So it typically needs to be combined with outlining to create a structure sufficient for writing a book. The final group of systems is designed to produce a particular type of writing. Typically they combine a set of cognitive tools and processes designed around the needs of that writing. For example, a system to write a "how to" book, would use a cognitive tool which automatically organizes your information around the introduction, body, conclusion argument structure. It would also help ensure you are writing something that will meet your reader's needs. However, such a tool because it is so rigorous would be overkill for a short article. Similarly, because it is fact based it would not work well for a time-line based book such as fiction or history. Each of the systems has advantages and disadvantages when you write your how to book. Before you can choose a system, you need to define what type of writing you intend to use that system primarily for. You can then choose a system that maximizes your return for the majority of your writing. Even if you have to use a different system (or a modification) when writing something else. dissertations
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