One night in Auckland
Jul 14, 2011
I was sitting in front of my computer laying out a book. Not the one I paused before going to New Zealand. But it was the same 6x9" size, black and white too. It was about The Essential 8.
I could feel how successful the book was going to be.
And then I woke up.
Four in the morning in a boring bedroom in Auckland, staring at the ceiling, I thought, "Guess I'm writing a book."
Before this moment, I definitely wanted to teach more graphic facilitation and visual thinking, but I didn't have any particular ambition to write a book. But in the dream?
I could feel how successful the book was going to be.
This afternoon I ventured over to Queen Street and St. Kevin's Arcade. I sat down with a flat white at Bestie Cafe. I opened my skechbook and got to wrestling this book idea.
My thoughts --
After about 3 cycles of this, I came to this: I'll write the book on graphic facilitation first, and get it out of the way. Then I'll create the visual thinking book.
2012 Update: I wrote The Graphic Facilitator's Guide over the '11/'12 winter break. I hunkered down and wrote and drew the book in 3 months, and spent 6 more weeks with my editor refining and proofing the book.
☝️ I know that timeline sounds ludicrous. Do not give yourself a 90 day deadline. It worked for me because:
- I had 16 years of experience
- Loads of ideas on how to teach this role
- And pretty much ate/slept/wrote/drew those few months.
I was ready.
2016 Update: My visual thinking book, The Idea Shapers, was a very different experience. That book was a bear who, for three years, tried to kill me.
It was such a bear because:
- This book was not about a role in a room. It was far more internal and abstract.
- Visual thinking is so engrained in me and it took a lot of thought and work in how to dissect the mental, visual, spatial processing that going on and make it learnable.
- I launched the book with a Kickstarter campaign that slathered on layers of stress.
Pro tip: Do not do a book campaign on Kickstarter until the book is done and late in the editing/proofing stage.
I am exceedingly happy with both books and proud of them.
And it all started in that dream in Auckland.
Image source | Left: Adobe Stock, Right: Sharon McCutcheon
