Behind the scenes: How I wrote my book
I’ve been guesting on podcasts to promote the book, Another Door Opens. Some podcasts are more about being a writer, and writing books (rather than about the topic of the book). It’s been a reflective process thinking about how I write, why I write. And while on one of the podcast I realised that I put quite a bit of thinking into how and why I write. Especially this book. I thought I’d share a few things about how I wrote my book.
First of all this book started 9 years ago when I lost my job. The WordPress blog I created about being made redundant was called ‘Howtobe.com’ and was about ‘How to be made redundant’. I had no idea what I was doing and the blog was just daily thoughts and reflections. Until I could WordPress no more. I moved to Squarespace and renamed the blog ‘Another Door’. The content from that blog became my first book ‘Why losing your job could be the best thing to happen to you’. After that book came out in 2020 I got messages from people saying they hadn’t lost their job but they connected with the stories, podcast, themes from the book. This got me thinking about the wider theme of change, and what really happens when change comes our way. And so the second book idea was created, in 2021.
I started writing around the question - “What if we can change how we feel about change?” and later the question “How can we do change better?”. So rather than starting with a title and theme, I started with some questions.
I then began noting, and mapping, what I observed working on change and transformation programmes in organisations. Noticing where we got stuck, noticing what people said, their behaviours. I mapped what people do, then mapped what could we do that would give us a better outcome and the missing pieces.
Change is a huge subject and I’m a great rambler - I wrote nearly 120,000 words while exploring the topic. So I had to set myself a few guiding principles to tune in and focus the writing to shape it into a book.
These were -
1. Reader first
When I started to write, the first shitty draft I wrote to the reader, a specific reader who had dropped me a note about a door that was closing in their life. My writing, as rough and as it was, was very much a letter to them. As I wrote it became clear the book was not going to be about me or my story. The book had to be for the reader. That might sound obvious, but it changed the idea development. Instead of asking, What do I want to say? the question became, What is reader going through? What do they need to hear (read)? I reduced the ‘I’s throughout the book, and made it very much about ‘You’ the reader.
2. Familiar surprises
One of the principles I held onto came from observing how people respond in times of transition. When everything around you feels uncertain, you need some familiarity to steady you. But you also need a spark of surprise to shake things up, to open up fresh perspectives.
This idea came from reading about Raymond Loewy, the industrial designer, the person behind the MAYA principle (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable), he called it “familiar surprise.” He noticed people are drawn to designs and ideas that strike a balance, advanced enough to feel fresh and exciting, but familiar enough to feel safe.
That concept became a principle for the whole book. Too much surprise or fresh ideas and it risks overwhelming the reader, or even confusing them. Too much familiarity and it risks becoming flat, boring, same old stuff. So I tried to create a rhythm, a pace, that offered readers a safe landing place, something they could recognise, before nudging them into a new perspective, a different way of seeing, or a question that disrupted their usual thinking.
Sometimes this was about structure, short sections, easy to digest. Sometimes it was about pace, offering a quote, a graphic, or a quick exercise to reset attention. People in the middle of change don’t have long attention spans, so the book had to meet them where they were.
3. Fresh and different perspectives
You can’t write a book about curiosity, creativity, and change and only rely on your own voice. I wanted to include different points of view - not all I agree with. Things that might disrupt our usual thinking. or give a fresh perspective.
That meant bringing in a wide variety of perspectives, not just the “usual suspects” you often find quoted in business or leadership books, and not just the same old (perhaps male-dominated) voices that line so many shelves. I wanted artists, musicians, actors, academics, travellers, and creatives to be part of the conversation. Different worlds. Different languages. Different ways of seeing. I included many many random stories and tangents in the original writing. Most got taken out (too random!)). But the ones that were left in are invitations to think differently.
4. create a framework to think through change
The purpose of the book wasn’t to provide answers (because no one can have answers for someone else). It was to give people a framework to think with.
From my years of working with organisations and coaching, I’d noticed patterns in how people moved through change. Over time, I started mapping those observations into a framework. Not a checklist. More like a framework to move through. Could even be a shared language - ‘I’m in my Play phase right now’.
And alongside that framework, I wanted the book to feel accessible. That meant writing in short, snappy sections, always mindful that when you’re under pressure, your capacity to read long chapters disappears. The book needed to be something you could dip in and out of, finding a thought, a quote, or a question that landed right where you were.
One metaphor that really shaped me was from David Lynch, who talks about “collecting firewood.” That’s how he describes the scraps of ideas and inspiration he gathers over time, little pieces that might one day become something bigger. I took that approach to gathering ideas for the framework. A shoebox of articles, a Pocket app full of links, notes scribbled after conversations.
5. Encouraging, but real
I knew I didn’t want to write a book that pretended change was easy or offered false cheer or wild promises. Change is rarely straightforward, it can feel exhausting, disorienting, and uncomfortable. To gloss over that reality would have felt dishonest.
At the same time, I didn’t want the book to be heavy or bleak. The challenge was to strike a balance: to write something that acknowledged the difficulty of change and left people feeling encouraged. Something that was hopeful without being naive. That tone, encouraging, but real, became my north star as I edited, reworked, and shaped the final manuscript.
In summary…
These five principles became my compass:
Reader first – it’s not about you, it’s about them.
Familiar surprise – advanced yet acceptable, safe yet fresh.
Fresh perspectives – go beyond the usual suspects.
Written to help people think through change – offering a framework, not answers.
Encouraging, but real – honest about the hard stuff, while still hopeful.
If you’re thinking about writing a book, it great to set out some principles which will help shape the book. Start with questions about why you are writing it, why would someone buy it, what is the problem you are solving for the reader, who are they and then some creative principles which will then make it yours and unique to you.
If you ever want help to shape your idea, ship the book, I offer full day 121 workshop ‘Nail your book idea’ where we work on your idea until you have a framework to write around. Drop a note to eleanor@anotherdoor.co.uk.
This is a great podcast to listen to if you wanting to further your writing:
Listen here > https://extraordinarybusinessbooks.com/episode-468-another-door-with-eleanor-tweddle/