This week, I'm introducing The Guidebook, a structured process for creative projects. And, I'm recruiting a cohort of people to work on creative projects alongside me this fall.
Here are my posts, so far:
Today, I'm going to answer questions and address concerns.
How much time will this take?
An advantage of working through The Guidebook in September and October is that we'll gradually ramp up the amount of time we're spending on this project. November won't be such a shock if you're already spending several hours a week playing with ideas.
Also, like NaNoWriMo, there's plenty of time to catch up. If you fall behind in September, you'll have all of October to catch back up with the group. No worries. Life happens.
How much time do you have? One of the things I've learned using The Guidebook is that a project has to get done in the time I have to devote to it. It might take longer than I planned, or be less grand than I envisioned, or not be as polished as I hoped. None of that matters as much as getting it done. As I learned from Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic, done is better than good.
Will my stuff be private?
That said, we'll engage in spaces where only our cohort is invited and we'll ask every one to follow the Vegas rule - what happens in our space, stays in our space.
Our Slack work space will only be open to people who have joined the cohort.
Guidebook Fridays, our video meetings, will be available only to people who have the link. I will share the link to the replay in the Slack work space and nowhere else.
Keep in mind that our cohort will focus on process not content. This is not a writer's workshop. You can fully participate without ever sharing any content. Most of us will probably want to share a bit about our project to talk through the process or to ask for advice. There's no reason to share anything that feels like it should be protected or private.
What books inspired The Guidebook?- A Kick in the Seat of the Pants by Roger Oech
- Peak Learning by Ronald Gross
- Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono
- Mapping Inner Space by Nancy Margulies
- Wishcraft and Refuse to Choose and It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now by Barbara Sher
- Visioning by Lucia Capacchione
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- The Universal Traveler by Don Koberg and Jim Bagnall.
- The Nine Modern Day Muses by Jill Badonsky
- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
...and probably more that I've forgotten.
How is The Guidebook different from those books?Books tend to focus on how to be a more creative or productive person. Once the books convinced me that I had that potential, I needed a method that helped me improve the flow of my projects. So, The Guidebook is more project-focused with less emphasis on improving myself as a person.
Who else helped The Guidebook get to a shareable state?Doug Neill of Verbal to Visual and the great community he pulled together. Most recently, I've been part of a small cohort of people that Doug brought together to work to build online courses. So, thanks also to Raven and Paul.
What else do you want to know?I'm happy to answer questions in the comments.
Do the reassurances about time and privacy make you want to join our cohort of people working through The Guidebook on our own projects this fall? Send me an email or reply in the comments.
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books
