I first started blogging and writing books in 2008. Since that time, I like to think that I’ve become a more effective writer. If I hadn’t, I would have thrown in the towel years ago. Cue Rocky IV reference.

When I think about writing a book today, I often bounce back and forth between two antithetical ways to develop software development: Agile methods such as Scrum and the Waterfall method. My longstanding antipathy to jargon prevents me from fusing the two into some horrible portmanteau.

At the same time, though, when I built RacketHub, I thought long and hard about adding a Gantt chart before ultimately deciding against it. Doing so would imply that writing a book represents either sequential or serial process. Here’s a quick figure demonstrating their differences:

The key is knowing the difference between a serial and parallel process.

In truth, you can and should accomplish certain tasks concurrently. For example, you can conceptualize your cover with your designer while banging out your book’s table of contents. You should absolutely be thinking about marketing from the get-go, after your book is live. You get my drift.

It’s essential to understand the difference between a serial and parallel process. If you insist that your designer completes the final galley before your editor has completed her job on the manuscript, you’re in for a world of pain.

When I wrote my For Dummies books, I struggled a bit with fulfilling my publisher’s requirement: Creating the requisite outline months in advance because—spoiler alert—software products have been known to change from time to time. It’s not 1995. Software doesn’t ship in boxes anymore.

Simon Says

Know this much going in: It’s virtually impossible to write a comtemporary non-fiction text with an iron-clad outline. By the same token, if you lack any signposts, you run the risk of submitting an utter mess to your editor.

It’s not easy, but try to find a balance—or find a coach who can help you do so. Twenty bucks says that AI rockstar Ethan Mollick struggled with this very tension with his new book.

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