Timeline to Book Proposal Submission
My projected writing schedule for the next 10 months
After being off the wagon for a few weeks (sorry all!), I think it’s time I shared my grand plans for publication so everyone can see how I anticipate dividing up the work of research and writing and where I hope to land in the next few months.
September (2022)
Finish preliminary research on topic 1
Narrow down scope of book project and main points
Research book proposals and begin outlining one
October
Start research on topic 2
Pick out main points and/or evidence from this material
Decide how to organize this in chapter form
Add to draft book proposal
November
Finish full draft of book proposal
Begin outlining Introduction (possibly finish it?)
December
Write chapter 1 (or whatever chapter I’m ready to write at this point)
January (2023)
Write chapter 2
February
Write chapter 3
Revisit book proposal and see if the direction of chapters is in line with proposal or if proposal needs to be revised
Revise book proposal either way because it definitely will need it
Start search for possible publishers
Look into self-publishing options (pros/cons)
March — May
Write chapters 4–6
June
Decide which publishers to contact
Finalize book proposal and send out to chosen publishers
Dividing Up the “Writing”
This timeline seems doable to me for a few reasons. But first, an extended side note:
What any writer means by writing is a complete mystery unless you hold them literally to a fire and ask explicitly; this seems especially true of scholarly writers who are emerging out of bad habits or are still trying to forge them. On my least-generous days, I think that “writing” is an (intentionally) vague term used by authors to draw on the mysterious prestige of this practice while also granting themselves permission to include any and all activities under its umbrella—none of which helps the book.
More established authors probably have a different opinion of the writing process, but for me and I would bet for a number of others in similar boats, this less-than generous take is somewhat to mostly true.1 And not for nothing! People who have read, researched, and written as extensively as PhDs are in a unique position when it comes to writing. We are not exactly new to it, but still we have not yet done it successfully as professionals (articles not included).2 It's like learning the whole process of writing a significant piece of work from scratch, even though we've kind of done it before.
Part of the reason I write this newsletter is to show what this process looks like for me, from a personal level that takes into account all the other things that happen in and around it. Things like getting sick, or having to actually do work for someone else, or maybe just wanting to spend time with my favorite pup all weekend instead of writing.
Starting only somewhat from scratch, though, means that we have tested skills at our disposal that will make the process of writing a book different from what those who don’t hail from an academic background experience.
Why This Might Just Work
The main reason I think this timeline will work fairly well for me, at least to start, is because I know that my research phases are very intense and a lot of initial writing gets done already. Some might consider this planning or pre-writing, but to me it’s all part of the same soup.
I didn’t always think about it like that, though. I used to spend weeks planning before jumping into the research, writing out potential structures of the argument and placing half imagined, half real evidence in different orders. I spent so much time organizing before really understanding my material that—you probably guessed it—I ended up using exactly none of it.
The other reasons this timeline might work out for me are because my workload right now is not as demanding as it could be; there are no major holidays until the end of December or travel plans that will disrupt my still-shaky writing schedule; and I live in a place that gets winter, so November-March are pretty gross unless you spend them under blankets and with cocoa.
But mainly, if this timeline doesn’t work out, I can change it and no one can say a damn thing about it.
There are a ton of books on writing out there (Stephen King’s On Writing always comes to mind). I’ve read parts of a few, mostly that have to do with academic writing or dramatic writing, but none have helped me develop my own writing practice more than writing a dissertation or having to finish a dissertation during COVID-19. More thoughts on these kinds of books and maybe even a review in posts to come!
That’s not to say that academic articles don’t “count” as writing, but they are quite a different beast from a book.