Reminder...

This is just a reminder that I’ll be taking January off from working on the site. It will be my first extended break from the site in a few years. My “time off” will actually be spent writing the next book that is going to be sent to all Rich Uncle Millionaire level supporters next May.

If you’re at all curious, the general framework I work in for creating a book looks like this:

There are 18 months between supporter books.

For the first 12 of those months, I’m creating ideas for tricks and presentational techniques and thinking about premises and then testing those ideas out on people to see which ones seem to connect with people and which ones don’t.

On average, I try to test out 3 things each day during this time. So, let’s say 1100 total interactions. Some ideas get tested once and dumped. Some get tested dozens of times. And when I say “tested,” I usually mean “performed.” Although sometimes it also refers to actual testing, like working with laypeople to really break down what aspect of at trick they liked or didn’t like, what fooled them or didn’t fool them, etc.

The next five months, I continue regular performing of the new material. I whittle down the ideas for the next book to about 20-30. I outline the chapters and start to identify the needed illustrations.

Then in the final month, that’s when I actually write the book. I essentially make no other plans for the month and work on the book every day. I may go on a couple of retreats and rent a room or a house somewhere, just to put myself in different environments, but beyond that I’m just focused on writing.

You might think, “Well, Andy, you have 18 months, and 25 chapters or so, why not just write a chapter or two every month? Pace yourself.”

You would think that would be the right thing to do. But I’ve found it works better for me to lay it out like this. You need to have an idea for something, let it sit in your brain for a while, go out and practice it and test it out, then let it sit for a little while longer, then write it up. To be so regimented that I could do that on a rolling three-week schedule is not something I think would work very well. At least not for me. Especially not with writing 250 posts for this site and 400 pages of newsletters in that time as well.

It’s easier to do the books altogether in phases: 1. Creating and testing. 2. Refining and planning. 3. Writing.

And that’s why I need to take January off.

You wouldn’t want to see the posts here if I had to do them at the same time as writing the book.

It would just be like…

Hey, is this anything?