Presentation Advice from Novelists

January 4, 2010 by Jerry

j_irving

The Wall Street Journal recently asked several novelists to discuss their creative processes. Their methods were as varied as their literary styles, ranging from preferred writing materials to favorite venues and even to the most productive times of day. But all of the writers shared one common technique: they all compose many drafts of their work.

One of the foremost proponents of rewriting is John Irving, the author of the bestselling novel, The World According to Garp, and 14 other novels, including his most recent, Last Night in Twisted River. Although Irving was not among those interviewed for the WSJ article, it does reference his website where he states, “Rewriting is what I do best as a writer. I spend more time revising a novel or a screenplay than I take to write the first draft.”

Granted novelists have the luxury of time that few business people do, but rewriting is just as important in business because writing both fiction and presentations are creative processes. An indispensable part of the creative process is spaced learning, or the practice of pausing between drafts to allow the ideas to ripen. Every professional writer from novelists to journalists knows and does this; unfortunately, business people, driven by the rapid pace of business, do not.

How then to apply spaced learning in business? Start with email. You will recall an earlier post in which I described my own ironclad rule for any email of substance: after composing my message, I save it as a draft for an interval of anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Inevitably, whenever I return, I find words, phrases, sentences, or expressions that need a rewrite.

If spaced learning is helpful in the short form of email, imagine how much more helpful it can be in the longer form of presentations. Find the time to do multiple drafts of your presentation. If it works for novelists like John Irving, imagine how it can work for you.

John Irving also offers another important piece of creative advice on another page of his website, “I always begin with a last sentence; then I work my way backwards, through the plot, to where the story should begin.”

Mr. Irving is echoing the advice of what Aristotle called teleology, or the study of matters with their end or purpose in mind. Today, business author Stephen R. Covey, in his bestselling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, stresses the importance of starting with the objective in sight. Whenever you start to develop any presentation, always begin with your end in mind. Decide on your goal or call to action, then build your presentation with information to support that goal.

Another novelist among those interviewed for the Wall Street Journal article had additional advice about the creative process that is applicable to presentations, and you can read about it in the next blog.

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