My book writing journey can be divided into three phases.
Phase I was me brainstorming ideas for this book. I knew that I wanted to tell the story of how Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin but I didn’t know what kind of book would it be. In Phase I, I came up with several creative ideas for Satoshi, the world he lived in, the genre of book I wanted to write. I have thousands of notes about ideas for scenes, character traits, research on money, cults, etc. But I was getting impatient. I had this great idea for Satoshi’s story and I had been working on it for years but I didn't have anything to show for it!
Phase II was me finally putting it all down in a single document. I wrote a 5 page outline with only the chapter names and a short summary about it. When I first wrote it down it felt so good, like I was finally on track to writing a book instead of just thinking about it.
I then spent months tinkering with this outline. Changing chapter order, changing the plot, adding new ideas. Because it was only 5 pages long I was able to iterate over and over again far easily than if I had jumped straight from Phase I into writing a 300 page tome. I would take a break for few days and then come back and read my story with fresh eyes. That helped me spot areas for improvement and I would go back and fix them. I must say that every week my story outline kept getting better and better and better.
But it has been months since I started Phase II and I feel that I am at a point where I am really pleased with the story. Book I especially flows smoothly and at the end of Book I, I feel pumped for Satoshi to avenge Julian’s death. I have also made great progress with the ending. I felt like my original battle was kinda bad but now I have been able to fix it. I have also woven the various sub-plot threads tightly so that you get a focused story.
I can keep iterating over this story outline for another year and I can still keep improving it. But I think I am going to end Phase II now. This is a never ending process but I am happy with where I am. There's still some minor work required for Alex’s death scene. I will finish it this week and then Phase II of my book writing will come to an end! 🥳
Phase III, is when I finally start writing the chapters. My outline and copious notes will help me in this stage. I might make slight changes if I feel like it but I won’t go back to Phase II.
I expect to finish Phase III in the next few months. I will post completed chapters here.