Ask the Author: Lanham Napier
Answered Questions (5)
Lanham Napier
I had a bunch of problems writing Billion or Bust! where I didn't focus on it for a while and I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. When that happened, I asked one of the couple of editors I was working with what they think I should do. I loved the advice they gave and went with it every time. So, I guess "asking editors" is how I deal with writer's block. That's pretty high maintenance though.
I also think I might be too ADHD to get significant writer's block. A reviewer called my prose "eclectic." Although I don't disagree, I also think that's not a great thing. It's just how I write - 45 minutes, and then I'm done for the day, and if I'm stuck I go to the above process of asking my editor(s) what I should do. Teamwork, baby!
I also think I might be too ADHD to get significant writer's block. A reviewer called my prose "eclectic." Although I don't disagree, I also think that's not a great thing. It's just how I write - 45 minutes, and then I'm done for the day, and if I'm stuck I go to the above process of asking my editor(s) what I should do. Teamwork, baby!
Lanham Napier
From Becca Braun at Braun Ink. She is trying to reinvent the case study, which is the main way many business people and students learn concepts in business. She's trying to do it through action-packed biographies and memoirs and a whole bunch of related products (including things like a video-conference session with authors like me). Meanwhile, I had a desire to tell the Rackspace story; the team there was awesome, and building a tech company in San Antonio was an incredible ride. When the big three of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft began competing against us, things got interesting in a hurry. I figured that a lot of people these days are facing and will face that type of competition, and I wanted to explain how we handled it (including at the personal level, which was gut-wrenching).
That desire to tell the story and Becca Braun's product vision were a great match.
That desire to tell the story and Becca Braun's product vision were a great match.
Lanham Napier
Don't try to do it alone. Find an editor, a beta reader, and others, who can help you help you out. Create related products and alternative formats, if you can. That's all time-consuming, though, and content is in a weird place where it's not valued as much as it should be, and there are mixed signals as to whether that'll change. So, although having help and creating multiple formats and related products are great pieces of advice, I have to say too that if my kids were going into writing my third piece of advice to them would be not to rely on it as primary job or source of income. If they hit it big in writing, then fine--but don't plan on it.
Lanham Napier
Getting feedback. When I took ideas and stories out of my head and put them onto paper, I received feedback. That was cool. I'm geared to take information in neutrally, whether it's good or bad information; I just like getting information and feedback that my team and I can use to do better next time. Writing for me was as much about team as anything else. I had a couple editors, a publisher, a couple beta readers, and former Rackers who helped me bring the story to a better place than it would have been if I had just tried to write smart things in a void.
Lanham Napier
Using Artificial Intelligence to improve access to seed, angel, and venture investing. The way we're applying AI to investing databases and decision-making is a little "out there" but I'm psyched the team at BuildGroup is as smart and passionate as they are about it. I'm pretty driven to help open up access to venture-type returns to regular people (not billionaires). But, it's been closed for a reason--which is that the risk is so high. That's where the AI comes in, using AI to help regular people with better investing. This might not work; and I'll talk about it in more detail when we have a better idea if it is going to work . . .
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