Episode 175 #HowtoUseaBurnChart

The burn chart mindset, whole book project management, and a how-to for finding a progress tracker that works for you.

KJ’s an avid user of burn charts. Sarina uses a desktop variant (and has her own style). Jess doesn’t entirely see the appeal. What’s the difference between a burn chart and to-do list? Maybe nothing, if your to-do list goes all the way to the end of your project—and maybe everything, if you’re not paying attention to the difference between what you’ve got on your list, and what has to be done by when and by who in order to meet a deadline. This week on the podcast, KJ tries to talk Jess into the burn chart mindset, Sarina talks whole book project management, and we all come down to a how-to for finding a progress tracker that works for you.

Episode links and a transcript follow—but first, a preview of the #WritersTopFive that will be dropping into #AmWriting supporter inboxes on Monday, September 9, 2019: Top 5 Reasons You Need a Burn Chart. Not joined that club yet? You’ll want to get on that. Support the podcast you love AND get weekly #WriterTopFives with actionable advice you can use for just $7 a month.

As always, this episode (and every episode) will appear for all subscribers in your usual podcast listening places, totally free as the #AmWriting Podcast has always been. This shownotes email is free, too, so please—forward it to a friend, and if you haven’t already, join our email list and be on top of it with the shownotes and a transcript every time there’s a new episode.

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LINKS FROM THE PODCAST

Pacemaker Planner

KJ’s Burn charts: Happier Parent, left; The Chicken Sisters revision, right.

Sarina’s Pacemarker chart, left and burn-up columns, right.

#AmReading (Watching, Listening)

KJ: The Beautiful No, Sheri Salata (As you consider this one, you might want to take a look at KJ’s Goodreads review here.)

The Writer Files (a podcast)

Sarina: The Rest of the Story, Sarah Dessen

Jess: Daisy Jones and The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets (a podcast)

#FaveIndieBookstore

Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT

This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwritingfor details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s Inside-Outline template.

Find more about Jess here, Sarina here and about KJ here.

If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship.

Transcript (We use an AI service for transcription, and while we do clean it up a bit, some errors are the price of admission here. We hope it’s still helpful.)

KJ: 00:01 Hey all. As you likely know, the one and only sponsor of the #AmWriting podcast is Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps writers all the way through their projects to the very end. Usually Author Accelerator offers only longterm coaching and they're great at it, but they've just launched something new inside outline coaching, a four week long program for novelists and memoir writers that can help you find just the right amount of structure so that you can plot or pants your way to an actual draft. I love the inside outline and I think you will too. I come back to mine again and again, whether I'm writing or revising. Working through it with someone else helps keep you honest and helps you deliver a story structure that works. Find out more at www.authoraccelerator.com/insideoutline.

Jess: 00:57 Go ahead.

KJ: 00:58 This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone like I don't remember what I was supposed to be doing.

Jess: 01:02 All right, let's start over.

KJ: 01:03 Awkward pause, I'm going to rustle some papers.

Jess: 01:06 Okay.

KJ: 01:06 Now one, two, three.

KJ: 01:15 Hey, welcome to #AmWriting podcast.

Jess: 01:18 I'm Jess Lahey. I'm the author of the Gift of Failure and some articles you can find if you Google my name and a forthcoming book on preventing substance abuse in kids.

Sarina: 01:28 I'm Sarina Bowen, the author of 30 romance novels. The next one will be called Moonlighter.

KJ: