Rework
A business book by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, built from short essays.
Where Rework comes up1 episode or test
Rework's authors were contracted for about 40,000 words but cut their short essays roughly in half because the set was repetitive. They then added drawings, tighter margins and a slightly larger font to satisfy the publisher. The lesson: write in your natural form and length, publish pieces one at a time, and assemble the book later.
- 1Publish short essaysOver years, no book in mind
- 2Pick the best onesAssemble the book from them
- 3Edit into one voiceFried and David write differently
- 4Cut and add drawingsCut roughly in half, drawing per essay
From Jason Fried on writing Rework
What was said about Rework
Rework was cut to half its contracted length because the essays repeated themselves. The contract called for about 40,000 words, but Fried and Heinemeier Hansson felt the full set of essays was repetitive and cut it roughly in half. The editor liked the short version but said it was too thin, so they kept the short text and added drawings, tighter margins and a slightly larger font.
Fried says a book is judged as a collection: each essay was fine alone, and spread over ten years of blog posts 40,000 words would have felt fine. A drawing with each essay turned out to be a happy accident, since business books rarely have them.
Publish essays first, then assemble the book from the best of them. Rework, like Getting Real and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work, came from short essays published over years without a book in mind. Only Remote was planned as a book from the start.
Fried writes short pieces by nature and says he would be bad at 30-page chapters. Because his style differs from David's, they edited the pieces into one voice. "It's not enough just to collect the essays but it's enough to have them first."
A close-reading editor made Rework far better than Fried expected. Rick Hogan, Fried's best editor, worked on Rework by printing pages and marking them in red ink. Fried arrived skeptical and left convinced an editor can improve a piece a lot.
The New Rules of Business Communication — Jason Fried
The contract asked for about 40,000 words, but they cut the essays roughly in half because the set was repetitive. They kept the short text and added drawings, tighter margins and a slightly larger font to satisfy the publisher.
Rework was cut to half its contracted length because the essays repeated themselves. The contract called for about 40,000 words, but Fried and Heinemeier Hansson felt the full set of essays was repetitive and cut it roughly in half. The editor liked the short version but said it was too thin, so they kept the short text and added drawings, tighter margins and a slightly larger font.
Fried says a book is judged as a collection: each essay was fine alone, and spread over ten years of blog posts 40,000 words would have felt fine. A drawing with each essay turned out to be a happy accident, since business books rarely have them.
Publish essays first, then assemble the book from the best of them. Rework, like Getting Real and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work, came from short essays published over years without a book in mind. Only Remote was planned as a book from the start.
Fried writes short pieces by nature and says he would be bad at 30-page chapters. Because his style differs from David's, they edited the pieces into one voice. "It's not enough just to collect the essays but it's enough to have them first."
A close-reading editor made Rework far better than Fried expected. Rick Hogan, Fried's best editor, worked on Rework by printing pages and marking them in red ink. Fried arrived skeptical and left convinced an editor can improve a piece a lot.
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