THE WHITE HAIRED SHOOTER
This appears to be a week of personal revelations as I launched my book writing project.
I don’t know if this is “normal” or not, but ideas and concepts are starting to line up.
Although I don’t have “formal” training for writing, throughout many years I have studied a variety of disciplines. One is real estate appraisal theory and practices. Today I realized I am applying some of those principles to the process I’ve been using for this book.
Since the book is nonfiction, maybe that will work? Time will be the judge and I would appreciate if anyone out there thinks this is completely “whack” they would let me know. Gently, please. Newbie would-be-authors can be fragile!
Earlier I saw a need to refine and limit the material I would be covering. In “appraisal speak,” I had defined the SCOPE of this project.
When I started to review who my intended audience would be, how their needs might be met, how to engage readers with my work, and learning what other material is available on the subject, I now realize I am looking at the VALUE of what I am writing. In “appraisal speak,” an acronym to remember the component factors of value is “DUST.”
D = DEMAND Are people looking to purchase (read) what I want to write about.
U = UTILITY Is this material usable? Can people put what I write about into practice?
S = SUPPLY What is the competition? Is there an Undersupply or Oversupply of material out there?
T = TRANSFERABILITY Is the work in a form that can be transmitted/transferred easily? Are there barriers to being published?
I have been trained to look at value that way, and I have begun to apply it to this process. I imagine that the art and craft of writing likely has similar disciplines to apply to a body of work to indicate its value. I hope to discover some of those disciplines along the journey!
— Peggy
whitehairedshooter 