Sumita Mukherji’s Post

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🔷 Editor | 🔶 Writer | Editorial production professional | Editorial project manager

Being a writer makes me a better project manager. How so? Writing a great essay, article, story, or post requires iteration (and agility--pun intended!). Let's say you're writing a story. First, the writer comes up with a plan for the piece. I know that some writers say that they don't plan what they write, and I believe them. What I mean is that having an initial image or spark or quote can also be loosely defined as a plan, a starting point that a writer can jump off of. Second, the writer designs the story. If they're under a deadline, they'll write the first draft fast (and will produce, ahem, the *crappy* first draft--writers will understand this joke), and even if there's no tight deadline, an efficient writer will write the first draft fast anyway so that they can show it to reviewers sooner. Third, the writer shares the story and notes the feedback from reviewers. I've learned throughout my years of writing that it's better to share an early draft rather than a later one so that I don't get too wedded to my ideas and am more open to feedback from other people. Fourth, the writer implements the feedback into a second (or third) draft and tests the new draft with reviewers (ideally, the reviewer pool will include a mix of previous reviewers and different ones, too). Fifth, the writer iterates again and incorporates relevant feedback into still another draft and sends the story out for review one more time. At this point the story will either be done or will need several more rounds of iteration to get it right. With constant iteration, a writer will continue to improve, just like a project will continue to improve with the same principles. How about you--what other modes of work or play have improved your project management skills?

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