TRANSCRIPT

As you work on your manuscripts, it’s important to stay organized to keep track your writing… but there’s actually a more important reason for doing this than just staying organized. And I will get into that in just a second.

But first, just as far as organization goes, I know some authors like using Excel. Personally, I like using a Kanban board, which is a project management tool, that I just use as a to-do list. These types of boards have columns that you can add notes to, sort of like adding sticky notes. And so when I use a Kanban board, I devote each column to a different manuscript and then I track my progress on that in each column. So for example I say I edited this manuscript on this day, or queried agents and publishers with this manuscript on this day, and so on.

You can even have a column for new ideas where you simply dump in thoughts that come to you for new characters or concepts for other manuscripts.

But for me, the more important benefit of keeping track like this no matter how you do it is to periodically go back to your board or your spreadsheet and see how much you’ve accomplished. If you follow the Unstoppable Author Goal, which is submitting a new manuscript every two months, you’ll be amazed at how much you’ve accomplished in a short amount of time. Seeing what you’re capable of breeds enthusiasm, builds confidence and keeps you moving forward towards your goal.

So let me ask you, do you take time to kind of go back and look at everything you’ve accomplished? Let me know in the comments.

And as always, thank you so much for watching. If you got any value out of this video, like it, subscribe to my channel and be sure to share the video with other aspiring picture book authors. Thanks so much.