Summary

The article discusses the application of project management principles to personal writing goals, using the author's experience with a 30-day writing challenge as a case study.

Abstract

The author, reflecting on their personal goal of writing and publishing 30 stories in June, draws parallels between project management techniques and achieving writing milestones. They emphasize the importance of breaking down goals into manageable tasks, setting milestones, and regularly reviewing progress. Despite not always meeting personal goals, the author acknowledges the value of planning and monitoring, similar to professional project management. They share their current status of having written 25 stories with three days remaining, highlighting the need for inspiration and meaningful content. The article serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of setting and adhering to milestones, with the author admitting to not reviewing their progress mid-month as they should have. It also touches on the challenges of writing every day, the impact of life's interruptions, and the personal struggle with longer writing projects due to a preference for a 'pantser' writing style over outlining. The author concludes with advice to let go of perfectionism and encourages others to consider participaing in NaNoWriMo for novel writing.

Opinions

The author believes in the effectiveness of traditional project management techniques for personal goal achievement.
They confess to not always applying the same level of discipline to personal projects as to professional ones.
The author values quality over quantity, preferring to produce meaningful stories rather than rushing to meet a goal.
They recognize the importance of inspiration in the writing process and the need for a structured approach to longer writing projects.
The author identifies as a 'pantser' writer, typically writing without a detailed outline, which they admit can be a hindrance for longer works.
They advocate for setting milestones and regular progress reviews to ensure success in writing challenges.
The author suggests that NaNoWriMo can be a motivational tool for aspiring novelists to overcome procrastination.
They encourage writers to strive for progress over perfection, especially when facing tight deadlines.

Achieving a Goal

Project Management and Writing on Medium/Illumination

Project Management

I’ve been a project manager all my life so I know how to set up and manage a project to successfully complete it on-time, meeting the requirements, and coming in at or below budget. You break the project into tasks, assign the tasks, set due dates and monitor progress.

Of course, it helps to have all this written down. If you keep a diary or planner, or just a calendar, that will work.

I’ll be the first to confess that I haven’t always achieved my personal goals. Maybe if I approached them with the same attention and diligence as I gave to my professional projects, I would have better success.

Milestones

A key ingredient of successful projects is milestones. At certain points you pause, take stock of where you are, and make needed corrections. You need to do this early enough and frequently enough that the changes you implement have time to take effect before you run out of time or money. If you keep a calendar or journal or planner, break your goal down. How many words or stories do you need to publish each week to meet your goal?

My Goal

I just took stock of where I am on my goal of writing and publishing 30 stories during the month of June. I got the idea for this goal from a challenge presented by Sarah E Sturgis in her article

June Writing Challenge

Day 1 — June 1st

medium.com

As it turns out, I’ve written 25, which means I’ve got 5 more to write and three days left, including today.

That translates into two stories per day. I can do that, but I don’t want to put out garbage. I want each one to come from something meaningful to me which I think will be helpful and meaningful to you. I’ll need inspiration, and I know I’ll get it. All I have to do is read and think.

I know, I should have set a milestone to review my project at least mid-month and preferably each week. I could have done as the challenge suggested and written one story every day. I got lazy and didn’t do that, so here I am rushing to make my goal before the clock runs out. I’m sure you’ve never been in that boat, right?

The Takeaway: Let this be a lesson in what not to do. Set milestones and monitor your progress.

Plan the Work — Work the Plan

We should always plan the work, then work the plan, which means, in part, to monitor progress. Of course, the easy way to guarantee I meet my goal would have been to actually write something every day. But some days I feel more like writing and may write two or more stories. Other days no words come to me — I just can’t get inspired, so I write nothing. I suspect most writers are like that.

Besides, life sometimes interferes and we find ourselves with no time to write. Now that I’m retired, that doesn’t happen to me so much, but I can appreciate how it might affect you. When I was working full time, finding time to write challenged me. I was either too tired or too busy to write.

NaNoWriMo

Last year I signed up for the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month — run each November) novel-writing challenge. The goal is to write 50,000 words starting November 1 and ending November 30. That figures out to an average of 1667 words per day. Totally feasible, right? I think I made it 3 or 4 days before I started falling behind. Eventually, I gave up.

I learned something from the NaNoWriMo experience, though: I have a real problem with longer pieces of fiction. I write like a panser. I just sit down and start writing trusting my muse and the story to lead me where it wants to go. Usually this works, but for longer works such as a novel, it doesn’t work for me.

Outlining vs Panser Approach

I probably need to outline more so I can stay on track. I need something to tell me where to go next and something to remind me where I’ve been. I am forgetful and no one wants to read a novel that repeats what’s already been said.

I also tend to be a perfectionist. If I see a misspelled word, I have to correct it. I want the punctuation to be right and the grammar flawless.

I have a hard time doing a rough draft and then going back and revising. I want to get it right the first time. I think that comes from my engineering background. “Right the First Time” was actually one of our quality slogans at a place where I worked back in the 80s. My boss and I didn’t care much for it. He’d grumble that if he knew how to do it “right the first time” he would, but in our lab work, we were trying to find that “right” so others could follow.

My writing is a lot like that. I’m trying to find the right way to express what I’m trying to say. Some days I do that better than others.

Today I need to let go of perfectionism and get on with writing. Thanks for the encouragement of your read. I hope you found this idea of project management helpful.

If you have a novel percolating inside you, think about NoNoWriMo. It may be just the burr in the saddle you need to get you to write it. As for me, I’ll probably just do another 30 stories in 30 days. But next time I’ll monitor my progress more closely.

Happy Reading, Writing and Connecting