People jump into their memoir writing projects without giving the function of project manager much consideration.
A manager is someone who gives thought to the execution of the project: organization and timetable and the use of materials.
Succeeding in writing a book of memoirs in an expeditious and meaningful fashion is important.
If you dwell in your manager function for even a short while before you jump into your worker mode and write, write, write, you may be very pleased at how more smoothly and quickly you create.
I am not talking about outlining a story here.
No, I am talking about setting writing schedules that don't interfere with commitments, with clearing unnecessary commitments so that they don't nag at you, getting cooperation from other people in your household and making sure you have the research capacity to pull off writing your memoir.
Writers love to dream and to do the writing.
What they don't like is planning their writing life.
So...
the planning is overruled and then the writing life is full of interruptions and rough going.
Sometimes people don't like to think of writing as a project, but any endeavor can be considered to be a project--from novel writing to house construction to taking the dog for a walk.
When you break a project down into the functions that need to be well filled if the project is to be a success, you find that someone designs the project (what the product will look like when it is finished: "Using a leash, you will have walked the dog around the block") and someone has to do the work (the guy who holds the leash and does the walking).
Between the two is a project manager.
When we were kids, the project manager was our mother telling us it was time to take the dog for a walk--NOW!) Of course, these functions can be performed by the same person but that heightens the risk that a person won't do the functions s/he finds least interesting.
For creative types, that is the manager function.
Another person tends to see the situation with more clarity.
When I serve as a writer's project manager, I help the writer establish goals--esthetic (what the book will be about, how it will be shaped and paced, etc.
) as well as highly practical (end date, length, writing schedule).
When I serve as a writer's coach (writing project manager), I keep the writer on the straight and narrow, address what appears to be procrastination and fear of creativity, etc.
It's different for every writer, but a coach can often get a writer to complete a project more quickly, satisfactorily and well than the writer might on his/her own.
Traditionally, editors at publishing houses served this function or an agent would.
These people no longer serve in the project manager function for your writing.
"Project manager" is simply a metaphor for the coaching and editing functions.
Often, a distinction is made between coach and editor, but in practice the two function in a continuum.
Is your project manager being honored in your writing life?
A manager is someone who gives thought to the execution of the project: organization and timetable and the use of materials.
Succeeding in writing a book of memoirs in an expeditious and meaningful fashion is important.
If you dwell in your manager function for even a short while before you jump into your worker mode and write, write, write, you may be very pleased at how more smoothly and quickly you create.
I am not talking about outlining a story here.
No, I am talking about setting writing schedules that don't interfere with commitments, with clearing unnecessary commitments so that they don't nag at you, getting cooperation from other people in your household and making sure you have the research capacity to pull off writing your memoir.
Writers love to dream and to do the writing.
What they don't like is planning their writing life.
So...
the planning is overruled and then the writing life is full of interruptions and rough going.
Sometimes people don't like to think of writing as a project, but any endeavor can be considered to be a project--from novel writing to house construction to taking the dog for a walk.
When you break a project down into the functions that need to be well filled if the project is to be a success, you find that someone designs the project (what the product will look like when it is finished: "Using a leash, you will have walked the dog around the block") and someone has to do the work (the guy who holds the leash and does the walking).
Between the two is a project manager.
When we were kids, the project manager was our mother telling us it was time to take the dog for a walk--NOW!) Of course, these functions can be performed by the same person but that heightens the risk that a person won't do the functions s/he finds least interesting.
For creative types, that is the manager function.
Another person tends to see the situation with more clarity.
When I serve as a writer's project manager, I help the writer establish goals--esthetic (what the book will be about, how it will be shaped and paced, etc.
) as well as highly practical (end date, length, writing schedule).
When I serve as a writer's coach (writing project manager), I keep the writer on the straight and narrow, address what appears to be procrastination and fear of creativity, etc.
It's different for every writer, but a coach can often get a writer to complete a project more quickly, satisfactorily and well than the writer might on his/her own.
Traditionally, editors at publishing houses served this function or an agent would.
These people no longer serve in the project manager function for your writing.
"Project manager" is simply a metaphor for the coaching and editing functions.
Often, a distinction is made between coach and editor, but in practice the two function in a continuum.
Is your project manager being honored in your writing life?
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