What in the ___ is a ‘Literary Engineer?’

I’ll start by telling you that it’s not someone who writes technical documents. At least not in my world.

When I first used the term Literary Engineer, it was somewhat in jest. I was trying to mesh my two worlds—the comfort of my old identity with the unfamiliarity of my new. The funny thing is that I’ve never been a ‘true’ engineer. I’ve spent my time in customer support, recruiting, and marketing. But by degree, I’m an engineer. I earned it, so I’m claiming it.

Then, suddenly, I’ve published a fiction novel. Yes, I know it took me 1.5 years to write and publish which is not exactly ‘sudden,’ but it felt like it was. In this sudden shift, I struggled with my new identity. A good example is when shortly after publishing I took my car in for service. It would be there for the day, so I utilized the shuttle to take me back home. On the way, the gentleman asked me, “So, what do you do?”

My response, “Um, well…”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I ended up giving some long-winded response about how I was on leave from Cummins but had just published a book. Why couldn’t I have just said that I was a writer?

Because I hadn’t yet embraced it.

I knew I had to figure out a way to explain who I was and what I did without sounding like an idiot. I mean, who wants to buy a book from someone who can’t even articulate what it is they do?

Enter Literary Engineer. Why? Because while I was ready to embrace who I had become, I wasn’t ready to let go of my old identity. And the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

You see, I think of what I do as engineering a story and an experience. I don’t just write. I create something from nothing that has purpose. To me, that’s engineering.

Need more proof? Let’s look at some of the key process steps to writing a book:

1) Concept generation

2) Identify specifications/requirements

3) Construct prototype (a.k.a. manuscript)

4) Beta test

5) Re-design based on feedback (a.k.a. editing)

6) Quality check (a.k.a. final proofread)

7) Launch (a.k.a. publish)

It sounds a lot like some of the key steps in any other engineering project.

I know some of my ‘true’ engineering friends are out there shaking their heads. They want to point out the lack of math, physics, science, etc. in the process of creating a story. For you, I have one final point. One of the definitions of engineering on Dictionary.com is:

“to arrange, manage, or carry through by skillful or artful contrivance”

You can’t deny me that one at least. Besides, how many other Literary Engineers do you know? It’s kind of cool to be unique.