The stretch goal in 2016 was a booklet, “Construction of Reality” (CoR) about how, as individuals, groups, and societies, we create reality.
The first draft is done, 58,887 words and has been sent to an editor. This is more than I expected and more than planned.
I apologize to 2016 donors and subscribers, this took way longer than I intended. Part of that is that I’d never written a book before, part of it is that the topic was more difficult than I expected (especially to write CoR without it feeling like a textbook), and part of it is that my health was trash, but the fact remains you’ve waited a long time and will wait a bit more. I’m sorry about that.
(As an aside, my health has radically improved in the last three months. What finally did the trick was a 100 day “juice cleanse.” I did it because someone suggested it, and I’d tried everything else. Didn’t expect it to work, but it did. I’m not 100 percent, but the improvement is huge.)
Back on topic, when the book comes out will depend on whether the editor thinks it’s the sort of book that the publishers would be interested in. This has little do with quality, it’s a judgement about how they perceive it will sell. If so, it’ll be at least another year, if not, you should see it sooner.
“How To Think,” which I promised in last year’s fundraiser will not take nearly so long. Though not an easy topic, it’s a lot easier than how we construct reality. I’m a lot healthier, and I’ve written a book now, and know better what I’m doing. (Blogging, article, and essay skills translate poorly.)
I do think you’ll find “Construction of Reality” (CoR) to be worth the wait. One advantage of the long writing time is that I’m able to be fairly objective about it. Contrary to what non-writers think, writers usually aren’t happy with their books when they’ve just finished them (and at various stages I wasn’t), but I am with CoR. Almost no one, myself included, can claim unique ideas, but the synthesis of ideas in CoR is unlike any book I’ve read.
One reason writing CoR took so long is that I stopped, threw out most of what I had and restarted because I wanted you to receive a book which was actually useful, not a dry tome, however accurate. I think and hope this book will be something which will actually make some readers’ lives better. (Not all, no one can write that book!)
I’m looking forward to sharing CoR with you.
Money helps me write more. If you want to support my writing, please DONATE or SUBSCRIBE.
anon
Congratulations on finishing the first draft of your first book. I look forward to reading more of your writing. A 100 day juice cleanse seems very hard to do. Did you not eat solid food for three months? I am fortunately healthy other than a bit of chub so I would only do juicing to lose weight.
Dan
Ian, congratulations. I discovered your writing just a few months ago and have been “hooked” ever since.
I’m also interested in learning more about the juice cleanse. No solid foods at all? How much activity? Etc.
Needless to say, I’m glad you’re feeling better!
Ian Welsh
All juices, green emphasis (cucumber or celery, leafy greens on top that base), but with a fair bit of fruit juice. Didn’t slow me down at all, actually had more energy. Wasn’t mostly for weight loss (though I did lose about 5″ off the waist.) I was overweight, so that helps a bit with energy, etc… I also didn’t stint, if I was hungry I drank. (Also, a lot of water, and sweat everyday. Couldn’t afford a gym membership and a sauna/steam room, but made sure to exercise.)
The first 3-4 days are generally considered the hardest, and the other people online I saw having the most problems were “fasting” not just cleansing.
The issues were mostly psych, I was pretty much a meat eater before. Benefits beyond a massive reduction in inflammation (and a massive reduction in pain) were psychological: a lot of loosening of food cravings, etc… plus I now notice if food is bad for me pretty quick.. half an hour to two hours and I can feel it.
It didn’t fix everything, but it made more difference than anything else I’ve tried, by far and it did switch from “life sucks” to “life is pretty good”, which was/is the most important thing.
Z
Congratulations Ian, writing a book of that length is quite an accomplishment. Not to mention if you are successful in making that material interesting, then all the more to you.
No writing is ever wasted, whatever you threw out led to what you’ve accomplished.
I’ve read that once you write a million words then you’re ready to become a writer … maybe. And I’ve read that it takes somebody ten years to become a master at something. I sense that both of those blunt numbers are eerily accurate.
Z
Ian Welsh
I’ve written at least a couple million words and been at this for about 15 years, so maybe I was a slow learner!
(Long form really is different, and I’ve been working on fiction as well, and it too is different. Skills are not 100% transferable. In the same way, back in the 90s I used to teach academic essay writing and when I started writing online I had to change my style significantly.)
Beta readers have liked what they’ve read. Granted they are self-selecting, but I’d be very surprised if long time readers of my shorter work don’t like the book (I could be surprised, of course.) What I’m hoping is that it has some break-out appeal beyond current readers.
Ten Bears
I still can’t get over a publisher calling my short about a moon-sized beehive fleeing the solar system “unrealistic”.
It’s all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago.
Hugh
Glad for you about both your health and your book.
Stirling S Newberry
See how it turns out.
V
There is something to be said for 12 – 16 hours of daily fasting.
Last meal around 3pm; eat again about 7 or 8 the next morning.
Consistency is important…
Keep on keeping on…
someofparts
Congratulations. Looking forward to the book and glad to hear you may get to enjoy some good health.
Eric Anderson
Cheers Ian!
Jay Springett
Congratulations Ian. Can\’t wait to read the finished text!
Joan
Wonderful news.
S
Congratulations! Iām really looking forward to reading this š
nihil obstet
Great news on several fronts. Enjoy it all.
Joyce L. Arnold
As always, I greatly appreciate your work.
Willy
These are good things.
Senator-Elect
Great news! The world needs access to your wisdom!
I also hope that your book is similar to the one floating around in my head: society’s problems/limits are self-imposed because most of them are socially constructed and relatively easily changed. Trouble is, very few people seem able to see beyond the conventional wisdom.
alyosha
Congratulations on finding juicing and cleansing. It really works, esp if you’re coming from a heavy meat diet. I did a 21-day detox a few years ago, and recommend it (a lot of people did this in LA at the time):
https://sacredojo.typepad.com/files/21-day-detox-1.pdf
steeleweed
Understand dissatisfaction with completed works. Did one book 4 times before I turned it loose.
Hope it gets picked up by mainstream. Pays a lot better than small independents or self-publishing and they still do marketing, even tho they expect more help from you than they did 20 years ago.
Best of luck