November 28, 2007
- The Three-Pass Process for Writing Efficiently
I’m often asked how it is that I’m able to write content so quickly. After all, I support several blogs, several newsletters, and I create products very regularly. So, while I like to write, I know that doesn’t mean everyone else likes to. So, I’d like to share with you what I call the three-pass process for writing efficiently.
The three-pass process depends on a couple of assumptions. One is that you actually know you want to write about or you know what you need to say. The second assumption is that you are willing to draft and let it be imperfect, and the third is that you’re willing to go back and revise anything that you write or create, again at a later time. So, the way the three-pass process works is like this.
February 5, 2007
- Maintaining Motivation to Finish
In the long, (perhaps arduous) process of writing the dissertation, it’s only natural that your motivation will, at times, wane. You may feel inspired and enthusiastic for the first few months of your dissertation process, but notice that, gradually, you start to lose focus and feel less interested.
April 10, 2006
- How to easily lengthen a chapter.
While revising, you may need to lengthen certain chapters or sections. How can you most easily do this? Expand your existing framework by adding more descriptions and analyses. These may come from the text, or from tables, charts, or diagrams. You can also expand your text by adding more citations, references, or quotes. You can [...]
April 7, 2006
- How to easily shorten a chapter.
While revising, you may need to shorten certain chapters or sections. How can you most easily do this? Go through the section or chapter and mark out what is absolutely necessary, what is moderately necessary, and what is extraneous. Cut out all the extraneous parts first. Then review how much more editing is required. If [...]
April 5, 2006
- Revise in pieces. Save the largest pieces for last.
Do revisions in pieces. And save the largest pieces for last. I was reminded of this while revising my new book. I had several large sections of text to remove. When I removed them, it messed up the page numbering for the other edits (I was working from a printed copy.) Do your revision in [...]