Writing a Book as an ESFJ

The more I learn about myself (as an ESFJ - Fe Si Ne Ti), I am realizing what processes work best for me.

External Feeling (Fe)

The first lesson was that I needed regular feedback and multiple touchpoints when it comes to creating. Writing blogs and short posts on social media provides me with quick bursts of positive affirmation, which directly feeds my need for tribe approval. When I feel good, I write more. As a result, I end up with a bunch of short thoughts and ideas that need to be sewn into something more cohesive and comprehensive. 

Testing Developing Content in Facebook Groups

One way to pull these ideas together and testing it before making it widely available to the public is by posting developing content within Facebook groups.

What I have found is that posting snippets of content within groups is like a comedian testing jokes inside comedy clubs. What tends to do well in groups, also does well with the larger audience. As a result, I can either spend more time developing the material or leave it alone altogether. 

Updating Existing Content for Deeper Depth and Wider Awareness

Another strategy that I'm playing with online is the updating of published Facebook posts and blog articles followed by alerting readers of the change via a comment in the discussion area.

“Why would you do that?” You ask.

Good question. First, by updating existing content, the author can add additional thoughts and ideas based on feedback from the readers. Doing this, one is able to add further depth.

Second, Facebook doesn't currently notify people on edits made to posts but it does alert them when another comment is made. Additionally, by posting the new information as a comment, as well as an edit, both new and old readers will see the same stuff.

What’s Beyond the Blog Post?

While driving home one night, I asked myself the question, “What is smaller than a book but larger than a blog post?” A Google search didn’t immediately give me what I needed, so after a few revised queries, I found a list of publications that fall under the novel.

• Novel: 40,000 + words
• Novellas: 17,000 - 40,000
• Novellettes: 7,500 - 17,000
• Short Stories: 3,500 - 7,500
• Flash Fiction: 53 - 1,000 words

That was helpful, but I don't see myself writing fiction anytime soon. So, what about nonfiction?

I didn't see a neat listing like the one I posted above. What I found is that in the fiction category one can write shorter books while on their way to full-length publications.

• Short eBooks Singles: 4,000 - 30,000
• Books: 30,000 + words

Introverted Sensing (Si)

One idea for me (and for you should you see value) is to continue writing short posts on social media. Take those and build upon them until they become blog posts. Combine those blog posts and make small eBooks that can sell on Amazon. Finally, combine those smaller eBooks and grow them into full-length titles. Rinse and repeat.

This process of collecting and building upon existing information supports my Si.

Introverted Thinking (Ti)

"So, what do you want to write about?" you ask.

Would it be surprising to learn that I don't have an answer to that question? While I'm still learning about my type, I've come to believe that the Ti cognitive function for ESFJ in its inferior position hinders me from seeing what I really want without first exploring my thoughts and feelings with others (like, right now with you).

The thought of writing 30,000 words seems daunting. If I can do what comes naturally and write in shorter bursts, I believe the books will practically write themselves.

Thoughts? Am I using and understanding my type correctly?

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Editing Existing Work to Add Depth

In light of some recent conversations around content creation and writing for substance, I have finally given myself permission to edit Facebook posts and blog articles after they have been released for public consumption. Up to this point, I was adhering to some "internal guideline" that restricted my updating of past articles. Instead of doing what I introduced above, I would maintain existing contributions as-is and then create a new article or add related thoughts to the comment section of the post. While that's not a bad practice, it's not efficient.

For blog articles, search engines are already directing traffic to the page in question. Why not maximize on those pre-existing readers? Additionally, you can save time by simply updating sections of the article with new and more relevant information versus starting from scratch.

Now, you may be reading this and thinking, "Duh! This is just common sense. Editing is not a new idea." You're right, it's not; however, for people like me who see and record a lot of information in small chunks, versus all at once, this could be a game-changer.

Why a "game-changer?" you ask.

In my everyday life, I already take copious amounts of notes inside of Google Keep and Google Drive. Unfortunately, those notes often feel like random disparate thoughts and ideas gathering dust in a folder that will never see the light of day.

To avoid losing any more good ideas, I've decided to try revisiting my notes, articles, and now Facebook posts to update them with new thoughts.

Remember, because this content is available to the public, I also have access to the comments and questions offered by its readers. As a result, their feedback helps me to better refine and connect the message with them.

While it's still too early to claim victory, I am beginning to see both an increase in depth and breadth in my writing. That's exciting!

In the future, I would like to write and publish a library of books on various subjects. I believe that by allowing myself to adopt this one strategy, I may have found the secret sauce that's been eluding me all along.

Just wanted to share some personal random thoughts with you. If it's helpful, feel free to use.

Until next time...

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A Four-Step Plan To Blogging A Long-Form Piece Of Work

In this article, I would like to explore the idea of writing a more comprehensive article based on past work. For years, I have played around with the idea of writing my dissertation through blogs. If I can write a dissertation, then I may even be able to write a book. The possibilities are endless.

For weeks, I've been writing about the history of Kappa Alpha Psi and I'm wondering how I'm going to start combining them into a more unified entry. What's the process for doing that? Below, I've outlined my plan for achieving that goal.

Chunking
So far the work has been in short increments. I spend about an hour in the morning reading and then writing a few paragraphs. According to Roger Parker, this step is called Chunking.

Blogs help authors write books because they break big tasks–i.e., writing books–into a series of short, easy-to-complete tasks (i.e., weekly blogposts.) It’s hard to sit down and write a chapter containing, perhaps, 5,000 words. But, it’s relatively easy to commit to writing 350 to 500 words once or twice a week 

Tagging
Here on Blogger the word is "Label," but the idea is to group the post by keywords. This is a neat way to organize my writing into similar buckets of information. As I prepare to write a new article, I can quickly review past work and build on it. Additionally, by allowing the system to count the number of articles I have in each topic, I can see where I have amassed content and where I may need some attention (see my "Topics" drop box for an example) --->.

Building
Once I have numerous posts on a similar topic, I'd like to begin combining them somehow. In a previous post, I thought about creating a 'Top 10 List' or "Best Of" series, but that doesn't work so well in a dissertation style project. Instead, I need to write a new post that builds on my previous writing. This strategy allows me to take the best parts of each past article and add something new.

I still struggle with the idea that I should be working on a single document (i.e. Book, white paper, dissertation, etc.) versus recreating duplicate work with additions (i.e. blog articles). However, I can see with each iteration, the latest document should be much better than it's predecessor or individual parts.

Publishing
While I haven't experienced this step yet, I imagine a few comprehensive blog articles that has been built upon solid writing should provide me with enough content to actually publish a single document.

In my head, I see this as a step process. Once I finish my research on the history of Kappa Alpha Psi, I can put it together as a single document on my page. I can see it becoming a PDF document that eventually gets stored under a "Library" tab.

With each new published document, I am essentially writing the first draft of a section or chapter. Neat, huh?

What Makes Each Product Different?
I've asked myself that very question. If I write a blog article on damondnollan.com, why would anyone want to read them in a combined state?

In my mind, each time I transfer past work into a new format, I have the opportunity to rewrite it. As an example, I've borrowed from a couple of my older posts, but I changed the wording to better fit this project. The same would be true when transferring blogs into published documents and again from published documents into ebooks (..and so on and so forth).

Additionally, I can see some readers would prefer to own a single product versus trying to sort through 30 individual posts. Isn't that why we buy books to begin with, it's convenient.

Final Thought
Well, that's it! That's my game plan for moving forward with the dissertation. I continue to chunk, tag, build, and then publish.

What do you think? Does it sound doable? Have any experience writing long-form documents through a blog? If so, I'd love to hear your story in the comment section below.

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