Hatrack River Forum: Writing a Book

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Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

Now, this is a technical one. It's about methods of organisation: Tables, charts, graphs, documents, diagrams, slide-shows; and the electronic parallels.

Moreover, it will include databases and web: how to maintain the bureaucratically-organisable world of data and information, and how to represent it. The book itself will be very organised, and edited to the point of perfection.

It will even include what we study in 'expression' (is that only a Hebrew term that I translated? I mean the art of comprehending texts and understanding them). This means that analysing text, 'breaking' it in several ways. (For example[s] - parts: as in beginning, middle, end; content classification: as in chapters, paragraphs. Syntax and sentence representation, etc.; also, I intend on showing how a text is broken up in terms of content. As in a claim, a definition, reason, result, and so on...)

I think that this can be done! I only need a way to persuade someone to co-author wit me, as my scedule is too tight for a multi-thousand page book. It will be divided into Books, Parts, Chapters, Sections and Subsections (Sections and Subsections aren't counted like chaptes).

Any offers? Or should I contact Penguin?

Jonny

Posted by Bean Counter (Member # 6001) on :

I thought I told you to write Conan! [Smile]

Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :

Wow. Does it have a section about kitchen sinks? [Smile]

I wonder if there are any books already written that cover some of this. How will yours be different? Do you have some new ways of looking at text structure and meaning? Are you going to concentrate on a specific type of text, or certain settings where text is produced? Who will be likely to read this book?

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

Thank you, Bean Counter.

I've been hevily thinking since about what 'writing Conan' means... Arthur Conan? I doubt I read him.

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

No kitchen sinks, in this volume [Wink]

quote:
Are you going to concentrate on a specific type of text, or certain settings where text is produced? Who will be likely to read this book?

I'll try and concentrate on EVERYTHING. Books were written about applications that deal with organisation (e.g. database manuals). But they assume you know perfectly well how to theoretically organise your data. A skill that is never officially taught in school is how to represent information; how to lay it out and how to construct it. It's always taught by-the-by.

I'm sure many books were related to this; and yet, it was never written very extensively the way I think of doing it, to my knowledge.

Jonny

Posted by Bean Counter (Member # 6001) on :

Doyle? God no, Conan the Destroyer, Conan the Invincible, Conan the Buccaneer, Conan the Account Executive!

Conan!

BC

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

[Confused]

Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :

BC, JH didn't grow up with the same basic background as compared to....you and me.

JH, Conan was a series of books (whose main character was Conan) written by Robert Jordan. They were later turned into movies. They starred the ever polular Governor of CA, Arnold Schwarzenegger.