Over the past month, Sachi and I have been neck-deep in ideas surrounding explanation, and it has been one of the most creative times in our lives. As you may remember, I'm writing a book called The Art of Explanation that will be out in October of 2012. To make our deadlines with the publisher, we took time this month to focus almost solely on the book - and that we did. I've written and Sachi has edited almost 60,000 words in the last month or so, which is much more than will appear in the book. In a lot of ways we've been writing this book for years, so this was our time to bring it all together.
Here is the spot where those words were typed. It's in a house we rented for a writing retreat.
Current Status
I'm feeling like the major part of the writing is finished. The big ideas are in-place and the table of contents is pretty much fleshed out. Something we did last week, which was incredibly helpful, was to take the big ideas and arrange them in vertical rows by chapter. This created a visual way to see the book as a package. As soon as we put up the notes, it highlighted gaps and showed how the book could be better organized. Thanks to Dan Roam for his advice on this exercise.
Right now we're working with a development editor at Wiley (the publisher) who is helping us make sure that the overall structure and flow of the book is working for our goals. So far we've sent her two of the three parts of the book, so we are mid-stream. Her feedback on Part 1 and it was encouraging and we have high hopes for Part 2. The final manuscript is due in late May.
The Big Idea
Now more than ever, we have a clear vision of the book's intent. The Art of Explanation is based on the idea that explanation is a powerful skill- and one that is often taken for granted. We want readers to see that explanation can be defined, understood, improved and put to work in solving problems. In this way, the book is for anyone who wants to become better at explaining their ideas, whether it's in the office, a classroom or home. The book is based on our work at Common Craft, but isn't about making videos. It's bigger than that. At heart, it's about effective communication.
Stay in Touch
We still have a long way to go and because this is our first book, we're learning as we go. If you're interested in tracking our progress, The Art of Explanation Facebook and Twitter accounts have more regular updates. Of course, the Art of Explanation website will be the home of the book in the future.
Twitter has been a big part of the Common Craft story. In 2008 we made a video called Twitter in Plain English that was present on the Twitter home page for over a year, introducing millions to both Twitter and Common Craft. Since that time Twitter has evolved in many ways. As it became a powerful way to track news and discover information, we made a video on Twitter Search. Now that it’s become a powerful business tool, we’re publishing a new video called Twitter for Business, which explains how businesses are putting Twitter to work. Together, these make a nice pack of Twitter videos for use in training and education.
Of course, you can follow our business on Twitter @commoncraft.
For over two years a company called Lilipip has been a member of our Explainer Network of video producers. Jen Zug and her team have run the show at Lilipip for while and now that Lilipip's owner has decided to pursue other things, the creative team decided to "keep the band together" and relaunch as a new company. Their new company is called What Now? Exactly! and starting today, it will replace Lilipip on the Explainer Network. We've always loved Lilipip's video explanations and expect more great things from the new company.
Here are a couple of videos that represent the first productions from What Now? Exactly!:
Based on suggestions and votes from our members, this video provides an introduction to Web browsers and their most powerful features. It’s meant to help less technical people see the browser as software that makes web pages easy to manage. Along with basics, the video also provides direction on using browser extensions, tabs, search and even the “find” tool for searching a single page.
This video is part of our basics series and works well with our World Wide Web video explanation.
This Week in Love is a series of blog posts where Sachi and I share what we love. Browse the archives and follow @weekinlove on Twitter.
This Week in Love: Shazam's LyricPlay
Over the years, Sachi and I have had an ongoing discussion about song lyrics. In general, Sachi doesn't really care about the lyrics. As long as the melody and rhythm are good, she's happy. While I appreciate those things too, I love knowing the lyrics of songs and often seek them out online. When I share them with Sachi, it usually leads to an "I had no idea!" moment.
I've always wondered why online music players or iTunes don't provide lyrics for every song. Recently we discoverd an almost perfect solution in the free Shazam Player (or the normal Shazam app), which uses a technology called LyricPlay. Lyricplay syncs songs up with lyrics that scroll on phone or tablet screen in a readable and fun format.
This video shows how it works with the normal Shazam app:
A couple of example formats:
Now, I said it's "almost perfect" and here's why. While Shazam says there are over 30,000 tracks with lyrics, we're often left wanting. The free "Shazam Player" app scans the music library on your device and tells you what songs have LyricPlay lyrics. About 40% of the songs in my phone have lyrics currently and Shazam is adding more all the time. The paid Shazam app ($5.99) will detect any song it hears (via speakers in a bar for example) and if there are lyrics, it will provide the LyricPlay option. The paid app is the only one with the ability to detect songs.
Why we love it:
We love this app because it makes listening to music a little like karaoke, with both of us able to sing along. It adds something to the experience. And Sachi gets to see the lyrics, for perhaps the first time ever.
Quick note on our policy regarding products. As always, This Week in Love is not a paid advertisement. We have no connection with the products we love. However, some products we cover may be for sale on websites like Amazon and we may use affiliate links. This means that if you click an Amazon link from this page (for instance), Amazon will know it came from our website and give us a small slice of the purchase price. We'll let you know when this is the case.
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