Rob Kitchin has some brief thoughts here on the process of beginning a new book – this time without a plan or a contract in place. I hope he says more about the process – if not the content – as he goes.
[update: in comments Rob does say a little more about how he writes. The non-linear approach and thinking-through-writing is similar to how I work.]
Thanks for the note. Yes, I might keep some notes on the process. I drafted a rough preface on Monday to give myself an better idea of what I’m going to try and do. Next stop is hunting down some literature. Then we’ll see where it might all go. I’ve always written non-linearly, which means the whole book kind of accretes and the whole manuscript finishes as one, rather that completing each chapter in turn. I often start papers with no clear idea of the argument, letting it surface and recrafting it as I write – and I definitely think through writing. As a result the whole text is always in a form of constant editing and reworking. It seems to work. Hopefully it will do this time.