I'm still writing a book

One of my new year resolutions was and still is to write an e-book on nosocomial infections. I am no stranger to writing, especially in my native language, it has always been a passion of mine alongside Science, Music, Football, Literature, Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman. I've always wanted to develop my communication skills with a piece of information that'd be relevant, contemporary and pertinent. By the end of January 2018 I was informing this blog's readers that I was game (see Here). Something that is simultaneously scary and challenging, but personally, I am loving it. Almost 9 months on and the first words are being put to the test. Yep, I am very much still in the early process of defining the direction this e-book will take. Completion will definitely take a while, but I have now ticked one of the most important parts of the process (I'll explain it better later on) ... and with it  triggered the creative momentum that will provide the necessary energy to the process.

But writing a book is much more than a simple 'arrogant' intention. It is an education process to/of the writer itself. The structuring, the going past the fluff and the irrelevant information. Just for starters there is an intense organisation process boiling up within one's brain, and that simply to be able to structure things in a manner that will allow a speedier and cleaner writing flow. I followed an initial set of steps that I personally consider crucial to ignite the process:

The first thing I did when I took the decision to prepare a guide on nosocomial infections (entirely based on free scientific articles available on the web) was to separate the many relevant articles I managed to find through a set of 9 folders; and that just to organise my brains. The amounts of information out there is vast and I needed an initial filtering process that later on will develop into proper chapters, sub-chapters, sections and sub-sections thus giving an early body to the final document. The temporary folders I've created and that do not have to match the final chapters' distribution or classification are listed below:

- Definition
- Prevalence
- Epidemiology,
- Infection,
- Control,
- Economy,
- Some important viruses,
- Reviews,
- Antibiotic resistance.

Definition will be defining nosocomial infections as practical and theoretical objects/ideas.

Prevalence and Epidemiology will analyse the numbers around prevalence of different types of pathogens, incidence, geographical regions, involvement of clinical premises, etc.

Infection will talk about the different ailments and health problems caused by said pathogens.

Control will cover the many different approaches that are clinically/organisationally applied to prevent and correct the onset and spread of these infections/contagion vectors.

Economy will be covering the financial aspects related to the impact of nosocomial infections on the different health services and government budgets.

Some important viruses because I honestly believe that pointers toward other types of infection vectors should be addressed, even if just in a generalised manner.

Reviews always help the writer think the writing process through because these can be used as an induction on the overall context (via the thinking process of other more experienced people).

Antibiotic resistance will cover the many problematic and challenging resistances that these nosocomial pathogens are gaining and that represent one of the biggest health challenges for clinical premises worldwide.

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The second thing I did, having in mind how important it is to keep up with the new information that is frequently published, was to start a PubMed alert email that will periodically inform me of the newest publications on nosocomial infections, hence providing me with an immediate look on whether relevant information was made available to the public. That will help me keep the book actual and more informative.

***

I am now transiting to the part where I actually prepare a PowerPoint with the ongoing structure of the eBook itself. This is highly entertaining and will be continuously mutable as I read through the thick load of pre-selected articles.

If you have any ideas, instructions, hints, guidelines, opinions on how to make this eBook writing up and self-publishing journey a success, please let me know. If you have any stories that you'd like to share or data that you find valuable, contact me privately (private message on Twitter, Facebook or gmail) and I will be more than happy to talk to you.

Cheers

Post image kindly taken from [https://www.epicbundle.com/bundle/the-ebook-self-publishing-bundle]