When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at a nearby college library. I loved being surrounded by all that information and I spent many hours pulling books and old magazines off the shelves just to discover what was inside. I harbored a secret fantasy that one day I would have the time and the means to read every book in that library. That fantasy was unrealistic in 1970. Today it’s a ludicrous.
We are drowning in information. The amount of technical information available online is doubling every few days. More than 3,000 books were published today and that many will be published again tomorrow. Publishing is so cheap and easy that we can share nearly every detail of our lives with others at zero cost and with minimal inconvenience.
Of what relevance are books in this context? Some people argue that books don’t even matter anymore. Book sales have been declining slow slowly for several years and the long lead times required for print publishing are an anachronism today. Why go to the trouble of writing and publishing a book when half the information is irrelevant by the time it hits the shelves?
Because we need books. They fulfill an essential purpose in a world that is dominated by sound bites, tweets and passing thoughts.
I’ve been a writer all my life. I’ve probably written more than 1,000 published articles. Yet for the first 30 years of my career I never wrote anything longer than 3,000 words. When I tackled my first book at the age of 49, the prospect of writing 75,000 words about anything seemed overwhelming. Yet I found it surprisingly exhilarating.
Writing a book forces the author to think differently about his or her subject matter. Books demand context, perspective and analysis. They require questions that are easily glossed over in a short-form format: Why do I believe this? What other ideas am I overlooking? What are the implications of what I believe? Such questions are desperately needed in today’s continually distracted, attention-challenged world. Our lives have too little context today. Books provide that.
The best books demand propositions and proof points. They require the author not only to state an opinion but to support it. The process of thinking through an idea to that level of detail is self-correcting. If I can’t prove my point with 75,000 words of supporting evidence, then maybe it’s not a point worth proving in the first place.
I’m an active blogger, tweeter and social networker. I revel in the short form and the flexibility it provides to quickly share my discoveries and insights. Yet I’m also a big believer in books. As an author, they force me to think, persuade and support. As a reader, they require my commitment to learn. A book is a pact between those who believe in an idea and those who wish to understand it better. Let’s hope we never lose sight of the importance of that relationship.
Paul Gillin’s books include The New Influencers, Secrets of Social Media Marketing and The Joy of Geocaching.
