- Is it coming up with an outline? No.
- Is it forcing yourself to regularly write? Maybe.
- Is it not having enough to write about? Definitely not for me.
My problem is: I have too much to say and it comes out in my writing.
This may surprise many people. I am a typical introvert. I try to keep to myself and don't usually join conversations unless it is something I care about. But if it is something for which I would call myself a geek, sometimes it is hard to stop. That could include Cooking, TV Shows, Programming, Cars, Racing, Modifying cars, writing blog posts... I should stop now.
The perfect example of this is in the book I am writing. The estimate for Chapter 3 was 40 pages. I worked carefully on the estimate. I know that software developers are famous for their poor time estimates, and I wanted to be as close to possible both on time and length.
I completely failed on time estimates: I hadn't planned on some family health issues, covid-19, quarantines, losing my job, and a host of other things that hit most of the world over the past few months.
I found that when I was searching for a job, it was hard to get motivated to write. I found myself reading job listings and dealing with job searches and recruiters. I got to meet a lot of great people, and also a bunch of people who apparently never read my resume. Where in my resume of software development would they get the idea I should be a purchasing manager?
Anyway, the other problem with Chapter 3 was the BIG problem. I over achieved on page count. When I finally turned in my 45 page chapter, I had 63 pages. Even with that many pages, I felt like I had cheated on some sections and not written enough. After talking with my editor [Packt has a great editorial team!], we decided to split the chapter into two chapters, which changes the outline for the book, but we think it is for the best.
Sometimes when I am talking or writing about something I know or am passionate about, I find I have so much in my head that I am trying to get out about the subject. Other times, I write a what seems like a quick simple thought, then I realize that I am assuming knowledge that others might not have, so I have to go back and make sure I have covered that, which sometimes make me go back and ... you can see where this is going.
In the end, I am getting a lot of appreciation for teachers who have to go through this when they are developing new syllabuses. Writing a Hands-On book is quite similar. It's important to present the information in a way that makes sense and is complete enough for everyone who my be in the class (or be the target audience for the book) to understand.
As I continue writing the book, I am sure I will find this problem again... It could be worse, I could have nothing to write about.
-John
PS: You might have caught "when I was searching for a job." Assuming everything goes well with background and drug checks, I should be starting a new job doing Qt development with a new employer in a totally new application field. Honestly, I'm a quite excited to get going!
