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Today's meditation:
(my companion post, on LinkedIn)
I
love working with teams, and helping organizations elevate their
capabilities, in my areas of specialization, that encompass the many
dimensions of architecture (Enterprise, Solution, Domain, Data,
Security, Integration, Application, System, and Infrastructure).
But,
I also have a burning desire to continually push the boundaries of my
knowledge, outside of my core areas of focus - and so, I have often
volunteered as a technical editor, reviewer, and advisor - for book
publishers, book product managers, acquisition editors, and authors.
Because of such work that I have done, over a long period of time now,
publishing houses often request my particpation in manuscript reviews,
and assessing book proposals.
However,
reviewing manuscripts is often a pain - and not too infrequently -
complete drudgery. The same common patterns of mistakes are often made,
repeatedly, throughout a manuscript.
Because
I have a love for the written word - and I love reading books - I have
a very keen sensibility for what makes a good book - and a good reader
experience (whether the writing is fiction, or non-fiction - and
especially for technical material).
Today is a study in extremes:
Book #1:
Should
never have been published. It is absolute shite. It is a perfect
example of a vanity project - so someone can claim they have written a
book. It will fade away and be forgotten (quickly). The author does not
illuminate or teach - they just recite. There is no evidence of critical
thinking, experience, or expertise. There is no depth - it is just
theft of your time to trudge through the meaningless drivel. There is a
critical difference between a first-time neophyte writer - and someone
that is just shoveling a bag of words.
Book #2:
Extremely
well written. It is almost becoming tedious as I annotate my comments
for each diagram, code example, section, and chapter - using such
repeated phrases: "clear", "concise", "excellent", "good pacing", nice
elaboration", etc. The authors demonstrate a mastery of their
subject-matter, and provide meaningful content that elevates the
reader's learning experience.
p.s.
While
at university (in a writing honors program), I was encouraged by my
professor to pursue a PhD in literature - so evident was my love of the
written word, even then.
My early
training as a musician also informs my sense of harmony and symmetry in
both the written word - and the design of systems and software.
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