Using scrum to write novels?
Winkletter • 23 Nov 2021 •
Last night I set up a Jira project based on their scrum template. A board for Writing and Publishing Fiction. The workflow needs more development, but it should be worthwhile just to have bug tracking. When writing or rereading I notice problems I can’t stop to fix.
This dialogue needs more conflict. I changed that character’s name and need to update earlier chapters.
With bug tracking I can jot a quick note and drop it into the backlog. Work it during a later sprint.
In fact, I’m not planning on editing my first novel until I’ve written another. Possibly a few. I’m focusing on “the machine that builds the machine” and right now this machine needs to streamline its drafting process.
I want to be able to write the first draft of a novel in a month. It’s not a ridiculous goal. I know I can write 3000 words of fiction in a couple hours, but I need to work more consistently. I started the year completely blocked, so I’ve seen the power of persistence and patience at work.
I like how scrum keeps the backlog separate from the sprint. I know with kanban my board ends up being front-heavy with items piling up in the To-Do column. Someday someone should set up a kanban that has a backlog panel that spans the top of the board and one-clicks into a corner.
Scrum is optimized for small teams, so my system needs some modification for this team of one. I like the idea of separating out roles and completing actions in steps. I need to wear different hats to complete those steps.
- When filing up the backlog I’m the product owner and need to think about the stakeholders, i.e. the novel’s readers and reviewers.
- When starting a sprint I’m the scrum master picking out the important parts to work next and estimating a week’s worth of work.
- When writing I can just focus on being a writer and completing the task at hand. If I notice problems, add a bug to the backlog and keep writing.
This week I’ve assigned myself two scenes to write to finish a chapter. Not much since I’m also working on articles for next week’s publication cycle. If I finish early I can add tasks to the sprint. That’s always better than carrying over unfinished items into the next sprint.
Comments
@jasonleow Thanks. It’s a work in progress. My workflow definitely needs to be reconfigured. Right now its defined more by the structure of the novel which is too serial. I want to figure out how to use the concept of “user stories” to define a novel. “I’m writing this passage because readers need a particular feature the passage delivers.”
@Winkletter lol love the pun on “user stories” for writing a novel. So meta! Though it does sound like it’s more useful for writing a non-fiction book… can a novel be categorized so pragmatically?
@jasonleow The design approach may end up being a dead end. Especially if it becomes a lot of extra work to do what my brain does intuitively.
Novels have features that the user/reader wants or needs, just like any designed object. Can I write a story by writing passages that add those features to my product? It seems like it could work. It’s very easy for a writer to forget the reader exists, so a system built on user stories might be able to “put the reader in the story” as I’ve heard it described.
@Winkletter makes sense! If anything it’s a forcing function to not get carried away with our own writing fantasies and always come back to thinking about the reader. Pretty excited about how you’re doing this. It’s worth a deep dive into on Medium or on your blog.
@Winkletter WOW, this is such a brilliant idea. Writing code and writing words aren’t as different, based on how you compared it. Imagine using the burndown charts to estimate if you’ll make your deadline 😮
Looking forward to reading more how this experiment turns out for you. Btw, somebody needs to go make this scrum tool for writers!