4 ms·

As a side note, don't think writing a second edition makes the process any easier. I recently finished the second edition of my book on technical blogging and I

As a side note, don't think writing a second edition makes the process any easier. I recently finished the second edition of my book on technical blogging and I'm left with the distinct feeling of having "changed little" while objectively having spent more time writing this than the first edition. Still, in the end, you get to hold your baby. As Winston Churchill said, "Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public."

ghaff 7y ago
Back when I regularly wrote white papers/explainers/etc. of various sorts (3K-4K words or so), I often felt a need to redo a piece that was 12-18 months old to fix a couple things that weren't correct any longer, shake any dust off, and so forth. Invariably, half the thing ended up being rewritten to various degrees. It was still a lot easier than starting from a blank sheet of paper but, as soon as you rework something, you don't want to ignore all the sections that aren't quite fresh, want to bring in new facts and figures, bring in more recent examples, etc. And, in reality, the extra time is probably justified because the act of opening up an older piece, republishing it, and all the associated background machinery makes it worth spending a bit more time.
app4soft 7y ago
> As a side note, don't think writing a second edition makes the process any easier. Why? Just add "dot" on last page -- and second edition of your book is ready!
- neffy 7y ago
  No, no, no. You have to move the chapters around, renumber the sections, change the order of the questions at the back, and introduce a couple of new typos. Otherwise how are you going to force the students to buy the new edition?

ghaff 7y ago

Back when I regularly wrote white papers/explainers/etc. of various sorts (3K-4K words or so), I often felt a need to redo a piece that was 12-18 months old to fix a couple things that weren't correct any longer, shake any dust off, and so forth. Invariably, half the thing ended up being rewritten to various degrees. It was still a lot easier than starting from a blank sheet of paper but, as soon as you rework something, you don't want to ignore all the sections that aren't quite fresh, want to bring in new facts and figures, bring in more recent examples, etc. And, in reality, the extra time is probably justified because the act of opening up an older piece, republishing it, and all the associated background machinery makes it worth spending a bit more time.

app4soft 7y ago

> As a side note, don't think writing a second edition makes the process any easier. Why? Just add "dot" on last page -- and second edition of your book is ready!

neffy 7y ago
No, no, no. You have to move the chapters around, renumber the sections, change the order of the questions at the back, and introduce a couple of new typos. Otherwise how are you going to force the students to buy the new edition?