I wish people wrote less
I wish people wished less.
I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
81–90 of 229 posts
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#82So, does this work outside of tech? Would a bus driver or a accountant be able to enjoy similar success?
you never know. just try. :)
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#83How are you publishing and printing these?
its in the article :)
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#84I wish people wrote less
Why? It seems writing this is the only which complex thoughts can be formulated and be passed down through the generations.
Maybe the OP meant something else, but for me writing less is about getting rid of the fluff in non-fiction books. It feels like large portions of those are marketing materials for themselves, telling me how great this book is going to be. Is buyer's remorse this strong that the authors need to alleviate it?
Getting Things Done is the most notorious example from my recent reading list.
I noticed other readers also dislike different anecdotes talking about the same idea. I see how repetition is helpful in learning, so it doesn't bother me as much. But I guess you could trim some fat here too.
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#85i am really interested in history and i have spent a lot of time looking for a good book on a certain topic or time period and sometimes not finding anything. it turns out that its really hard to find books that are completely objective, well researched and also written well. there is a scarcity of these kinds of books especially for modern history. and so the idea struck me that maybe i ought to write a short histor…
Is it even possible to write a completely objective book about history?
It may be theoretically possible to write history books tending towards objectivity through impersonal, collaborative, quantitative, semi-automated methods. See my other post nearby.
But also note what the goals can be: a "computed" summary vs clever, intelligent, wise insights. Note that some texts are built so as to include both: a flow of core analysis with quality commentaries as asides.
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wrote a book for O'Reilly. It was grueling and I really struggled with it. The only thing that worked was following the Jerry Seinfeld "Don't break the chain" rule: promise yourself you will write every day, and mark it on your calendar each time you do, and never let there be a gap. It doesn't matter from where you start. If you do this, you'll accomplish more than you ever thought you could. You aren't built diff…
Yes they are built different: one person has no struggles writing and actively loves it, cannot stop doing it; the other finds it effortful and painful. Those two people will have vastly different experiences writing the book. The former will gain energy and feel great, the latter will feel pressured and depressed. We are not all the same, we are all built different, don’t ignore this reality
>> You aren't built different.
> Yes they are built different: one person has no struggles writing and actively loves it, cannot stop doing it; the other finds it effortful and painful.
GP probably worded it poorly; yes, we're all built different, but all the successful authors who spoke about their experience all expressed similar struggles.
Terry Pratchett said once (can't be bothered to look for the exact quote) that he literally had to force himself to sit in front of the keyboard for a minimum time each night and type anything, just to get the groove started.
Stephen King said a similar thing in Danse Macabre.
When it comes to software, Joel Spolsky in his JoelOnSoftware blog said the same thing - Fire and Motion is your friend (https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/01/06/fire-and-motion/).
When it comes to achieving something[1], you need to "not break the chain". You need to force yourself to start on it each day. After maybe 30m of doing it you'll get into the groove and continue with less effort for the day.
[1] The actual "Something" is not important.
Spend 30m each day practising guitar and eventually you'll be good enough to be in a band.
Mark off a time slot on your calendar every day to spend working on your side-project, and ensure that you have nothing booked after that time-slot, and eventually you'll release your product.
Force yourself to start typing into your book-in-progress for not less than[2] 30m after dinner every single day and I assure you, you will have a completed book in two years.
[2] My experience is that if I force myself to spend not less than 30m on something, by the time the 30m expires, I get into the groove and can run in that rut all day if necessary.
Getting into that groove is the hard part, and is probably why work productivity for most devs is about 10% less than side-project productivity - at work you are constantly yanked out of the rut.
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#87Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
See also where Brandon Sanderson's (an author) guilty pleasure and stress reliever is writing more (in the form of things he wasn't intending to write)
That dude is a machine. He wrote 4 secret novels during the pandemic on top of several regular ones.
I'm quite intrigued by his system of writing. It's nothing magical, he works on it hard and the process is roughly connecting various ideas together. He finds interesting ideas and write them down and then when the time is to go for a book, he tries to find ideas and concepts that work together. He then writes a rough outline of a book and then goes and fills in chapters after which he gets multiple reviews/revisions before it goes out.
Sounds almost like getting a rough requirements or ideas, then writing a more detailed specification and finally fully developed software that goes through rigorous testing and refinement.
It's quite different to how I thought most writers write. My assumption it's more straightforward with little preparation.
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#89How is that passive?
Re: I earned $160k in passive income from writing non-fiction books
#90How is that passive?
Put in work once, get paid over a long span of time in a way that is not proportional to the effort you put in at the start. Like any other passive income.