writer, coach thyself

If you’re reading this, you likely know I have a business offering coaching for faculty. Because of my background in writing (I do developmental editing, was a writing center administrator, and am an academic writer myself), many of my coaching clients come for writing help. In fact, one of my biggest referral sources is other developmental editors.

However great I think my services may be, not everyone needs, wants, or can afford to work with a coach. So, consider this blog post a twofer. In it, I’ll describe one of the things writing coaching can look like. In the process, I hope to empower some of you to adapt these strategies for yourselves.

There are lots of topics I discuss with coaching clients, including long-term goals, creating time to write, publicity and self-promotion, trouble-shooting unproductive habits, as well as the particulars of their arguments, but the most frequent thing clients ask me for is help with project planning for their academic writing.

So, without further ado, here’s a rough sense of what this looks like.

Creating a Plan for Your Scholarly Writing

 

First, articulate the goal

This can feel less practical as a starting point, but I like to ask clients to talk to me about what they need their writing to do. Sometimes, they just need to get an article out so they can receive a merit raise or to break through a rut. Sometimes, they want to write something that sparks interest in their next book project. These are very different writing goals that affect our planning.

 

Second, define the container

When I talk about defining the container, I’m asking clients to tell me about their timeline, but also other aspects of their working lives. I want to know if they write every day, if they take weekends off, as well as if there are times they know they won’t write at all because they are chairing a search committee that’s bringing job candidates to campus. I also love to ask writers about any special writing times or places coming up. For parents, this is often the airplane on the way to a conference. Set a parent of young children up with a pack of Twizzlers and a four-hour flight: magic!

Third, brain dump

Pretty basic. We list all the tasks standing between the writer and submission.

Fourth, refine the brain dump and add time estimates

Less basic, we go back through the task list and get real nitty-gritty. (Maybe shitty? Sometimes clients don’t enjoy this part.)

When clients say they need to “write the background section,” I’ll ask them what is included in that. Sometimes this includes discussing what the reader needs to know. Sometimes it includes guesstimating how many paragraphs this is.

Similarly, when clients say they need to finish reading other scholarship, I’ll ask them to name it, creating a very specific list as well as, if necessary, guesstimating how much that list is likely to grow through the process of discovery.

Then, the really tough part: we go through this much more specific list and add time estimates. How long does it take to gut an article? A book? How long does it take to write a page? The client makes best guesses and we add this together to get a sense of how many hours a given project will take. Sometimes it’s 25 and sometimes its 96. There’s no judgement. We’re just trying to get a realistic sense of the project’s scope.

Fifth, calendar the time

Another toughy: now the client and I need to put these hours on the calendar. When we do this, we’re also thinking about the client’s energy and what’s realistic. Are there certain times of the day that will work for reading, but not drafting? Is the client grading a bunch of papers in a particular week?

If there’s not enough time in the container, we have hard conversations. We think about questions along these lines: If the goal of this project is more modest (I need to get something submitted, but this article is not my life’s work), we might decide that not all tasks are strictly necessary. We might think about how the client can bring in help (could a friend copyedit?). Or, we discuss whether deadlines might have to be renegotiated.

Sixth, create accountability systems

With some of my coaching clients, I act as an accountability system. We establish a schedule for me to email and check in or for them to send me pages of writing. Certainly, you could do this with a willing friend or colleague. Other times, we look at opportunities to share work along the way, such as a writing group or planned exchange of work with a colleague.

Seventh, plan for disruptions

Increasingly, I’ve been working with clients to create plans for when the work doesn’t come easily or interruptions get in the way. You can do this for yourself by creating a list of likely roadblocks and then the plan for how you’ll address them. For example: I’ll feel grouchy about having to work in the afternoon, so I’m going to go to the very special coffee shop and treat myself to a molasses cookie. Or, when I space out, I’ll get up and go for a walk before coming back and working on something easier.

And that’s it. You can do much of this yourself, or with the support of key colleagues and friends. However, if you’d like an experienced writing coach to help you strategize and offer gentle accountability, please reach out for an informational session. Also, if you are part of an institution who’d like to offer a Zoom workshop, hit me up!