>> ...well, I end up drafting and re-drafting in an endless cycle which
>> never produces a document of more than a few dozen pages. :-(
>
> Surprise, this is the process of writing.

No, a successful writing process eventually involves *solving* the 
ordering problem. I never seem to reach that point. I either spend 
forever writing and rewriting the outline, or I eventually give up and 
try to write the text, and spend forever rewriting that instead. Either 
way, I never get to actually produce a large document.

> It's been my experience, though, that with practice one can learn how to
> properly organise things so they can be presented effectively.  I have
> created training materials on highly complex technical topics, and my
> classes always got good feedback and people would walk away understanding
> what they were taught.

You're obviously way better at this than I am.

> Hyperbole really doesn't help you make your case, though.  It's not NP-
> complete, it's a matter of breaking the topics down into digestible
> units, and then organising the units in the most effective manner
> possible.

There are plenty of problems which *actually are* NP-complete, but it 
doesn't stop people solving them on a regular basis. (Travelling 
salesman, anyone?) To split hairs, most of these problems are only 
NP-complete if you want the "perfect" solution. Sometimes nearly-perfect 
is good enough.

> Give me an example topic and I'll walk you through it.

I'll have to have a think about that one.

>> Writing a page or two isn't too hard. (Parsec, anyone?) Writing
>> something that's 30 pages long is another matter.
>
> No, it's writing 30 pages one page at a time.  You start with an outline
> to structure your topics and thoughts, and then you write.
>
> In recent times, I've found that a mindmap is a very useful tool for
> organising thoughts.

I tried drawing a mindmap for Haskell. (When I eventually found a tool 
that can actually draw them!) What I discovered is that everything is a 
prerequisite for everything else! >_< Looking at the dense tangle of 
intimately related topics, it's difficult to see where to start.

>> I don't know anybody who is this patient.
>
> We're right here.

Most people will only read something once - if you're lucky.

> There's a lot more free information out there if you just search for it.

Not if you suck at research...

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