A Monumental Approach
Call it a project management template or a syllabus or a progress journal. Whatever it is, I thought you might want to see how I'm doing it.
Hello friends!
I'm about to start something new, and this week I thought I'd share the project management template I made to build momentum for my idea. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm considering a film and book project that, in broad strokes, is about monuments and memorials in the American West.
What I've done is put together a 10-week syllabus of books and articles and reports I need to read, films I need to watch, podcasts I need to listen to and events I need to attend in-person or virtually. I even scheduled time to put a website together! And I established self-inquiry deadlines to meet so I can determine whether the project has legs.
I've given myself 10 weeks to explore this idea. But it can't just be 10 weeks of aimless research. Which is why I made a research and learning plan—one that includes networking and training events at a documentary film festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and travel to Colorado for a book event and for interviews about this project. I need 10 weeks time to get up to speed as a general expert so I can refine my idea down to something that has a strong narrative thrust that gives it potential as a book or film project. It’ll take a general understanding to get me to the specific.
The project is in very early development and my research is still general—it'll get more diverse and yet also more specific as I learn more. Consider the syllabus the first draft of my bibliography. Please feel free to suggest additional reading or films or rabbit holes for me to wander down!
Why am I doing this?
I'm launching this project because for much of my life, I've been intrigued by monuments and memorials as representations of the American ideal. We can learn a lot from what it is we chose to memorialize in the past, and what in the present we choose to represent who we are to the future. Even the disputes we have about monuments tell us something about who we are as a nation. Much of the storytelling around this topic focuses on tearing down Confederate monuments; I want to consider the story of the American West in monuments. I also want to think about what we decide to memorialize in the face of climate change.
The project management template I'm sharing with you is a way of keeping myself on track. I found this approach helpful for writing portions of Windfall—particularly the first draft. I used weekly 20-minute writing check-ins to reflect on what I'd gotten done and to consider why some things weren't working. Writing about problems helped me untangle them and focus on how to move forward. Writing about my accomplishments helped me see how far I'd come each week.
Also: A couple of years ago in a screenwriting class, a producer said something I've never forgotten. Often, movies get made because someone puts a date on the calendar and everything starts moving toward that target. Things get done because they have to get done.
Making my own work
This is, admittedly, a financially risky move. Especially since I woke up to this 6:28 a.m. text from the government today: "Student Loan payments resume in October." On a Sunday! As if I didn't know! Rude!
I'm at a tricky money and creative moment—no more major income coming in from Windfall, probably not for years, if ever. No full-time job. Even my main part-time gig for Stateline will have substantially fewer assignments under my new contract. I'll be honest: I have about $9,000 of income coming in through the end of the year from work I'm wrapping up this week, and I'll have to make do on that, without generating anything new until December. The travel I’m doing in October is partially subsidized by my publisher and the book festival, but much of it is on me.
So why would anyone do this, without income coming in the rest of the year and when they're facing $1,100 in monthly student loan payments for the next several years? And when they really ought to be saving more for retirement? Well, if you've read Windfall, you probably have a sense for my comfort level with betting my whole stake on black and spinning the wheel. (It's high, in case you were wondering.)
The alternative is playing it safe and small. Or perhaps finding a full-time job where other people and institutions control my time and I'm unable to chase my creative dreams. I'm not interested in safe and small anymore, and the right job hasn't come along. If I don't make my own work, no one else will do it for me.
What if I fail? I might. This idea may not pan out. (A Gold Rush metaphor from the Old West!) My idea may not be original enough, creative enough or commercial enough. And if it’s not, I’ll find something else. But how will I know if I don't try?
Why share?
I've said this before, but I'll know if someone tries to steal my idea. And they will know, too, and will not only be cursed with self-loathing for being an intellectual thief, but will be subject to our public ridicule and scorn. We will roast them alive, won't we? But the topic is so broad that no one will do the exact same thing I'm considering. I’m not sharing everything—no spoilers! And not everyone has my tolerance for risk. (Or debt, hah.)
But I am sharing this first iteration of my project management document because some of you who are contemplating big projects might find the template useful. Feel free to copy the template! I want to hear from all of you about how you tackle big projects or moments of transition—and how you tolerate risk.
By doing this, I'm sharing with the world what it costs creative people to make things—in time and money and energy. Also: I want to show how difficult this work is and how much energy goes into developing the early stages of an idea. You're getting an inside peek at how an idea might come to life. How cool is that?!
I suspect also that it's interesting for people to see what I'm doing. I want your support, and by sharing my approach, you all are more fully invested in the project and its outcome. It's so fun to have people rooting you on!
As always, thank you for reading and for your support!
Erika
P.S. Funny story. I tried to buy "monumental.com" from an online URL broker. I offered $20. The company declined, saying the URL was valued at "over USD$100,000." Um, if no one is willing to pay a hundred grand, it isn't worth that much, is it? Instead, I bought makingmonumental.com for $12.
THE NEWS
All the links and events…
If you’re in Portland… Come to Powell’s Tuesday night to hear Rebecca Clarren (a FOTWD) read from her new book, The Cost of Free Land, which comes out Tuesday. If you liked Windfall, you will definitely appreciate Rebecca’s book, which looks at the effect her Jewish refugee ancestors had when they settled on Lakota land in South Dakota in the early 1900s.
If you’re in Kansas City… I’ll be on a panel this Saturday at noon at the Heartland Book Fest. I’ll be part of a panel (all women!) talking about how we blended history and memoir to write our books. The festival is free and the lineup is amazing. Spread the word! And come say hi!
On how a post in Kara Cutruzzula’s Brass Ring Daily spurred me toward making my syllabus:
On modern masculinity. One of my favorite newsletter writers, Rosecrans Baldwin, went to a men’s retreat in Colorado and learned quite a bit about himself. Loved this takeaway in particular: “But what if a man flipped the order, focused on “be, do, have,” by putting effort into becoming the type of man he admired (kind, confident, self-reliant), which then led to doing the kinds of things such a guy might do (attract others, find purpose, feel comfortable in his own skin), which then could result in desired outcomes?” Find his newsletter here:
Finally: Want to know more about integrating your research into a big project? Journalist Julia Rosen wrote about it here:
"If I don't make my own work, no one else will do it for me." << YES YES YES! I love this and your syllabus so much. It's incredibly inspiring. Go get 'em, Erika!
Love this! Check out historian Cynthia Prescott's work on pioneer monuments, too, including website: https://pioneermonuments.net/about-us/ and book: https://www.oupress.com/9780806161976/. Also see The Scout while you're in KC! https://kcparks.org/places/the-scout/ So excited to talk with you while you're here. :)