Progress report on Presentation Zen (the book)

I have run four full marathons in my life, and I have found that producing a book feels pretty similar in at least one regard: no matter how much progress you make, the finish line seems a million miles away. You know you'll get there on schedule, but the closer you get the more you realize that there is still so far to go. Right now I am at about the 20 mile mark in the book writing/designing marathon process. If you have ever run a marathon you know that this last bit—"only a 10K"—is the toughest part. The text is about 90% ready (still in Word) and I have put a lot of work in on the design of the pages (in InDesign). You can see some of the pages from Chapter 1 on the desk below (pic snapped tonight). On screen is the first page of Chapter 3 on "preparing analog."



A good editor is worth her weight in gold
I wrote the ten chapters (may go to eleven or twelve) in Word and then sent them to my editor at Peachpit in the USA. She sent them back with all the typos and errors fixed and with red lines through the parts she recommended to cut. All her recommendations to cut were excellent. Sometimes I repeated myself, saying the same thing but in a different way. Other times the point was made, but I still went on and on giving more examples, etc. I thought I was being brief and cut loads myself, but she really took the knife to the copy I sent in. I know my writing is not that tight, so I greatly appreciated her advice. A lot of text was cut from each chapter, but more may still be cut after I put it into InDesign. The book can be no more than 240 pages and it features hundreds of sample slides (in full color) and photos and other images that support the narrative and the presentation of the book. A healthy amount of white space is necessary too so the balancing of text, images,and white space is a real challenge.

Good writing, like good design, is about elimination
Good writing, like good designing, is more about subtraction than addition. And that's where a good editor—or another set of skilled eyes—comes in. I just could not see the nonessentials in the same way an objective editor could. I have accepted all of her suggestions on what to cut and what to keep; her recommendations have been all spot on.  Below are three quotes related to the art of tight writing (the first in a Keynote slide).

"Inside every fat book is a thin book trying to get out."

                                                             — Unknown

"Writing is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent elimination."

                                                                — Louise Brooks

With a little help from my friends
In order to get a better feel for the flow of the pages, I sometimes print a chapter from InDesign and then spread it out on the floor to see the big picture. The photos below demonstrate what happens if I forget to shut my office door when I go to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. Here you can see Luke and Kona enjoying Chapter 1 in a way I had not thought of (good thing the pages were numbered).

Above: A couple of cool cats have fun with draft copies of Presentation Zen.

Comments

[Karl Wångstedt]

It's really exciting to follow your work in progress. I'm really looking forward to order a copy of the book when it's done, since I've followed your writing here on the site for quite some time, and enjoyed it much.

Good luck on the rest of the work.

[santi banks]

I can't wait till the book gets out :) I'm really curious about the content and the story. Really hoping to learn something from it (and to recommend it at digital media design school as most of the teachers there want to learn us all kinds of things about typographics and design (and interaction) but most of them can't make a good presentation in powerpoint or keynote...)

[Arturo Castillo Galván]

Congratulations, the job you are doing is very interesting; I'm a CPA and I know the importance of a good presentation because a lot of my colleges don´t like to present their work with the big boss himself; buy me on the other hand love to communicate my work in the best way possible to the right people, and thats all the presentations are about, aren't they? and people like you show me there is always something to improve and be better... so, thank you and congratulations again for your book.
It would be a little difficult to get one copy here in México but any way, I'm sure it will be excellent!

[The Shed]

Hurry up!!! I can't wait to read it. Meet Henry has got me started in this presentation revolution and I can't wait to gather more weapons!

Also, man I'm jealous of that view from your desk!

[Michael Sporer]

You are so right, Garr, writing is much more about subtraction than addition. I am struggling to get my writing skills better and more direct. It's tough!

I like your cats...

[dennis]

Dear Garry! Work on the book fascinating and interesting, if the author knows what he writes! You know!
I wish you good luck and I'm wont to keep your dream book in my hands!

[Jason]

Good luck in the last leg. Hoping that extra HD on your desk is for backups... hate to get this far and run into disaster. Gambatte!

[Benjamin]

Cats, you've got to love them! Thank you for sharing the insight on your book writing experiences, it is good to know I'm not alone!

[Pamela Slim]

Thanks for the progress report Garr -- know we are all cheering on from the sidelines and handing you (metaphorical) bottles of water for your last stretch.

Can't wait to see the finished product!

:)
-Pam

[Natesan]

Interesting and Inspiring, Your writing makes me feel there are number of open way to make the things better.

Good Luck
:-)
Natesan

[cendekiabaca]

I am very excited to read your book. Im full of confident you will teach me vital lesson on presentation in the book.

[E. I. Sanchez]

I'm also looking forward to this book.

From the pictures and blogs, it will be a great teaching tool.

-ei

[Charles Martineau]

as soon that its out, im going to buy it!
Thanks for the progress!

[Roy]

Anyway of getting a signed copy when it comes out? I don't think I'll be able to make it to Japan anytime soon.

[pecheurdimages.net]

I ordered my copy at amazon.fr : I should get it at the end of December : a perfect Xmas gift ;-)

[Allen Eskelin]

I completely agree on the value of editors. My editor did the same thing and was surprised when I thanked her. She said most authors get upset when editors change their writing. My feeling is that I would rather the grammar be correct so the reader stays focused on the message. My main objective in reviewing the editor's recommendations was to make sure she didn't unknowingly change the message as the editor is not as familiar with the subject matter.

I refer to my cat as my co-author as he insists on sitting on my lap while I'm writing. I had to include him in the Acknowledgments ;-)

Looking forward to your book,,,

[Slightly Annoyed Man]

Can you please fix your blogging software or whatever it is that is causing this and other articles on your blog to be continiously updated with an alternating bad encoding and proper encoding every couple of hours?

Thanks. Peace and Zen (I could need some right now)