Time, and keeping client secrets out of print

How busy professionals found the hours

Many of the authors on this site tried to write alone first and stalled, sometimes for years. Dr. Michael D. Lewis started and stopped for nearly five years (story). Dr. Robert Silverman waited five years after deciding he needed a book (story). Chad Willardson kept a notebook of ideas for four years without it becoming a book (story). The problem was rarely knowledge. It was structure, and protected time.

The ones who finished found their hours in different ways:

• Fixed weekend blocks. Harris Nydick, after a decade of stop and start, committed to every Saturday and Sunday from noon to five until the book was done (story).
• Late nights after patients. Dr. Tod Stillson finished full days of seeing patients and worked on his book until midnight, night after night (story).
• A gap between clients. Rachel A. Williamson used a two-month gap between engagements to write heads-down in her home office (story).
• Talking instead of typing. Sam Marrella, who calls himself "a numbers guy" and not a writer, says all he had to do was get on the phone and talk about what he already knew (story). Kirk Drake compared spending 100 hours on a book with spending 1,000 writing it himself (story).
• Recording conversations. Jake Falcon, more talker than writer, recorded podcast episodes made for the book, had them transcribed and edited from there (story). Matthew Ray Scott and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Sigman met on Zoom, recorded their conversations, marked up printed transcripts and aimed for two finished chapters a week (story).

And some took a long time on purpose. Mark Aho spent two years on his book and says he needed that time to make it right (story). Timothy Arrigo also took two years, returning to the manuscript in waves (story). A book you will hand to clients for a decade is worth the time it takes.

Three ways a book gets written

Whatever the route, the book has to sound like you. Michael Mogill valued writing the book with Scribe rather than having it written for him, so everything was in his own voice (story). Mark Organ worried he would forget what he had said across interviews, then received a draft with his ideas in his own words (story).

The parts only you can do

Even with the most help, some work cannot be handed off:

• The decisions. Who the book is for, what it must do, what it argues. See choosing a topic.
• The substance. Your methods, your reasoning, the patterns you have seen.
• The stories. Which ones, and whether each is safe to tell (below).
• The review. Reading every draft for accuracy, voice and confidentiality, then shepherding it through compliance, bar rules or privacy review.
• The use. Putting the book into your client process. See using the book in your client process.

Confidentiality: the story ladder

Stories are what make a professional's book readable and memorable. They are also where confidentiality breaks. Think of story types as a ladder, from safest to most demanding:

1. Your own story

   How you came to the work, your mistakes, what changed your mind. Safe, and often the most trusted part of the book. Jeb White was pushed to add his own story and found it made the material more compelling (story).

2. Patterns across many clients

   "Most families I meet wait too long to..." teaches without describing anyone.

3. Labelled hypotheticals and composites

   Say clearly that the example is illustrative. Build it so no single client is recognizable. For lawyers, ABA Model Rule 1.6's comment allows hypotheticals only when there is no reasonable likelihood the client or situation can be identified.

4. Real cases, de-identified

   Harder than it sounds. HHS's safe harbor method for health information lists 18 identifier types, including small-area geography, dates and "any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code." Dr. Laura Brown built her book around real patient stories with identities removed.

5. Real cases, named, with written consent

   The client reads the passage and agrees in writing. For HIPAA covered entities, that means a valid authorization. For lawyers, informed consent. For advisors, compliance will also look at whether the story works as a testimonial.

Sources: ABA Model Rule 1.6, comment; HHS de-identification guidance. Checked October 20, 2026. Profession details are in the attorney, physician and dentist, advisor and consultant and coach guides.

Working with a writer without sharing files

A writing partner needs your thinking, not your files. A practical way to work:

• Never send records. No client files, charts, statements, emails or case documents. Talk through patterns and invented examples instead.
• Strip names in conversation. Use "a client in her sixties who sold a business" rather than a name, even on a recorded call. Recordings and transcripts last.
• Put confidentiality in the contract. Ask how recordings, transcripts and drafts are stored, who can access them, how long they are kept, and whether the writer will sign a confidentiality agreement. Lawyers should also consider their duty under Model Rule 1.6(c) to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure.
• Keep final say. Make sure nothing is published without your written approval of the final text, and build time for your reviewer into the schedule.

The six-question test for every story

Run every client, patient or case story in the manuscript through these six questions. If any answer is "yes" or "not sure", rewrite the story down a rung of the ladder or get consent.

When the manuscript passes, map how you will use it with the practice worksheet.

Nothing on this page is legal, compliance, medical or financial advice. Your profession's rules and reviewers decide what you may publish.