I am getting better at enjoying the task of writing for its own satisfaction. This year as I immersed myself in writing my newest book, I was often in the magical state of “flow.” I learn at such a deeper level through researching, conceptualizing, roughing out, and then writing on a topic.
A good example with Growing @ the Speed of Change was Chapter Two on the nature of reality, consciousness, and the bizarre and incredibly exciting emerging new science of quantum mechanics and string theory. I lost – and confused myself – in this field as I tried to simplify and make practical the key ideas. It was the toughest chapter of all to write. But I now feel it provides a very solid framework for the book’s core theme of choosing our glasses or perspective when dealing with life’s constant and most difficult changes.
So while I am very happy with that chapter – and the entire book (I do feel it’s my best one yet) – I confess to a bit of nervousness as I await reader feedback. As you can read at https://www.clemmergroup.com/content/view/1138 it’s starting to come in. The comment from my long time colleague and a researcher, writer, and entrepreneur, Jack Zenger (he co-founded Zenger-Miller now part of AchieveGlobal) is much appreciated. And feedback from Jim Estill, high tech entrepreneur and board member of Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM), is appreciated given his voracious reading habits.
I found C.S. Clarke’s detailed review especially interesting and quite useful feedback. I am gratified by her comments on Growing @ the Speed of Change being almost a collection of articles, almost a magazine, almost a training manual, and almost a series of tutorials all connected by the book’s formatting. It’s exactly that “browser’s digest” format I am aiming for. The goal is to produce a book deep enough for a reader who really wants to get immersed in these topics while also light and breezy enough to attract people who don’t read much of this type of material to flip through it and get drawn in.
Holding in my hands and re-reading the finished product from hundreds of hours of solitary writing does have its own deep reward. Knowing that Growing @ the Speed of Change is being read and used as I’d hoped provides a bit of sweet cream cheese icing (one of my favorites) on the cake!
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