ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the nuts and bolts of writing for a general audience: getting into a routine, telling an engaging story, making steady progress, and perhaps most importantly, editing and rewriting. The best-selling social science titles typically have strong narratives. To engage the public, tell a compelling story that draws the reader in and keeps them reading. If one suffer from perfectionism this can be really hard, because writing will never be perfect, and there will always be someone ready to tell one exactly how imperfect his/her work is. The good news for perfectionists is that submitting one's work someplace is not the same as publishing it, so he/she will have more opportunity for feedback and revising. Of course, he/she have to be ready to accept criticism and even rejection. Part of being ready is as much about one's emotional readiness as it is about his/her writing.
