Foolscap Anything
I’m excited to announce we have a new series to add to the blog!
When we were promoting The Authentic Swing we asked for questions you’d like Shawn and I to answer in an hour long podcast. We received an overwhelming number of great questions, over 250 of them, and in that first hour only made it through about a dozen. So Shawn and I got back on Skype and decided to start recording more. This space on Mondays will be for short audio clips—however long it takes for us to answer just one question.
If you’ve already signed up for First Look Access, you received in your email the entire Podcast #2 including this question. You’ll always get the entire recording first before I slowly release it here, one answer at a time, on the site.
Our first question comes from two people, Jim Woods and Roberto Meardi:
How would you apply the foolscap method to nonfiction or a business? Can you give examples please? Thanks so much!
You can also read a PDF transcript of the podcast if you prefer.
As always, I love hearing your comments and followup questions. Post them below and maybe they’ll wind up in our next recording session.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
Steve, I hope this will dovetail with your planned theme of “Organizing A Year.” You talk about getting the first draft of a novel down as fast as possible because Resistance is right on your heels. Would you talk about your own timeline and process through subsequent drafts and the “big picture” of bringing the novel through its evolution and across the finish line? How does Resistance try to interfere with the editing process?
Great suggestion, Mary.
Steve – Please bring us more about how you battle Resistance in practical ways, at any stage of the process.
Steve, thanks so much for answering my question. Really appreciate it and all you do!
You know, it’s such simple advice but we all tend to overcomplicate things. This is why many authors have “word bloat” in their stories. Going to hash mine down a bit. As always, love and enjoy this!
I love the simple: “Beginning hook, middle build and ending payoff” summary of a non-fiction book. I suspect that outline is true of any good book!
A great example of how to apply the core principles of the Foolscap Method to business is “The Business Model Canvas” by Alex Osterwalder. It gives a format to layout and understand an entire business – new or existing – by breaking it down to its essential parts on a single piece of paper.