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| Caruth Hall on the campus of Southern Methodist University |
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This morning I returned to Chapter One and Chapter Two. Actually, I condensed the chapters into a 40-minute public lecture that I will giving tomorrow night at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In the process, I realized that there is a lot of information in Chapter One that is repeated in Chapter Two. This made it easier to condense the two chapters into one lecture, but such repetition does not bode well for a book manuscript. Preparing this lecture has allowed me to streamline some of my prose and avoid unnecessary repetition.
This morning reminded me how important it is to take on speaking engagements or conference presentations when working on a book manuscript. Even if the audience does not offer helpful suggestions for improving the project, the opportunity to think about the best way to communicate your material to audiences of all kinds is an invaluable exercise. I find that it often helps my writing more than it does my public speaking.
See you in Dallas.