"The Junk Journals" Official Update #1: Intros and Research

Here begins the journey....

I hope that sounds at least half as epic as I intend it to be.  Because even though I have a children's book in the works, I've been steadily plugging away at my Junk Journals project for several months now.  In fact, I believe I have enough material to start piecing stuff together into an actual book!

My self-help book venture will likely take several months of editing, re-editing, and of course, one more rewrite in order to get things all squared away.  In between then there could be slow downs and interruption as are want to happen.  I can't account for the adventures and mis-adventures that might befall me as I go into this project, but I want to be clear with anyone who might read this and eventually read the book that I intend to keep regular progress reports updating you on how things are going.

So what have I got for you today?

As you likely can tell from the title, I've been working on writing the introduction to the book and doing a bit of research for getting the book published as well.  Let me break both of those down really quick for you:

I am pretty sure I have enough material to create a framework upon which to get the overall novel put together.  However, I feel that unlike getting a novel put together, you have to introduce your reader to the nature of what it is they are about to read.  Whether a gripping and overly detailed historical examination of something or a self-help book like the Junk Journals will be, you have to lay out the basics.  I guess it shares a little something in common with writing a kids novel that way.  Get'em in  a basic way at the start of the book.

Anywho, I've written a first draft of that all-important introduction for the Junk Journals and I think it will help me get my footing on how I want the outline to look for the overall book.  So not only have I got a literal start on things, but I have given myself a helping hand in continuing the project to completion.  This isn't so much of a brag as a "Okay, as I work more on this, I give myself less and less excuses as to why it can't be done.  This is good thing as well since I cover the topic of procrastination within the book itself.  I hope overall that it does not take long to get a composed first draft of the overall book together.  But I am willing to admit as this is foreign territory to me, I might have to look up a "How to write a How to Book for Dummies."  If such a thing exists.

Then again, part of what I want to do with the book is not only offer a fresh take on the matter of de-cluttering one's home, but also change up the drab expectations a person might have when it comes to such books.  I want it to be engaging and personable and not come at the reader with an overly aggressive "oh just toss it all out" attitude.  This leads me to the other part of what I am currently doing with the project.

I am researching not just how to write a book about eliminating clutter, but I want to take the annoying bits from other bits that keep seeming to turn up and offer a perspective that might have otherwise been presented.  One of the attitudes that I see turn up quite often in these books so far is the idea that "just getting the job done" somehow translates into "hurry it up and finish."  From what I can tell cleaning isn't a race, or at least, not a very exciting one.  So I am currently spending free time here and there looking into what I feel were the mistakes made in other books when it comes to being pushy about getting you to de-junk your home.  So long as we aren't hoarders, there shouldn't be a problem with taking the time to do a job you can live with.

Anywho, before I get too distracted and make this update too long I wanted to let you know where I am at and how the project is coming along.  Thanks for taking the time to read this and I will see you next week.