I am a project manager, both by trade and inclination. I cannot perform three related tasks without worrying about how I will track them, what metrics I will use to determine my performance and fretting about something being dropped through the cracks. 8)
So, now that I have been writing for the past 4 months, I developed an aching need for good project mgmt tools. I've been googling, researching, and dropping otherwise perfectly good writing time into fretting about this.
8)
Being addicted to the concept of best practices and too analytical for my own good; I carefully listed all the things I needed to track and manage and then began my search. I tried various Wikis (tiddly and Voodoo pad for starters) and found them too unstructured for my mgmt. needs. I tried using my normal tools (Omni Focus and visio) and found them too general.
What I was looking for was a toolset that would allow me to:
-Manage all my writing activities, from ideas through crits, edits and submissions.
-Manage my crits for other people.
-Manage the content of my projects (see above).
-Integrate with my current project mgmt toolset (I'm a 43 folders gal).
-It should be simple to maintain.
-And integrate with the Mac tools that use and love like Calendar and Mail.
So, I finally think I am happy with my tools and thought I would post to all those other organization freaks who are lurking out there.
8)
I use a Bento db for overall project mgmt. It is the hub and has links to all flies and email addresses. I track both writing activities and critting. It is my dashboard and integrates into my filesystem, Mail and Calendar.
I use Voodoo pad for ideation. It is unstructured, but I can then link ideas back to Bento, so I don't lose ideas. This has been a real problem for me, I think of a great idea, jot it down in my phone and then lose it in the hoary depths of the filesystem after a sync. A few weeks later I roll across it and it's like Christmas! Ugh, not a good way to manage a project.
Finally, I use MindManager MindMaps for story outlining, character development and and structured free associations. These too, are linked back to the Bento Dashboard. I have also created MindMap templates for a number of the writing best practices from LibertyBell and here such as the short story outline, character description and Novel outline. The LibertyBell ticklers have really decreased the time that I churn before I have a short story fleshed out.
Ok, OK, but I am business consultant and tool developer by trade! 8)
Anyway, if anyone is a Mac user and would like to have any of these templates or the Bento db Project let me know. Or if anyone knows of other tools, I am always looking for a better mousetrap!
Leslie
[This message has been edited by LAJD (edited October 08, 2008).]