Project Development
You want to go deeper!
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Perfect for: Longer Projects, Series, Ongoing Strategy, Accountability
Includes three 75-minute Zoom sessions, Golden Notes™, and a final review. Delve into longer projects, manuscripts, and ongoing strategies, while benefiting from editorial development for stand-alone essays, flash fiction, memoir chapters and more. Use the Project Development series for writing coaching, career development, and monthly accountability for up to 2,000 words to ensure your progress and success in the writing process.
You're working on a series of essays, a full manuscript, or you want to unpack a larger story into smaller sections. Let’s go deeper into your project with three personalized 75-minute Zoom sessions tailored for your specific goals.
This is perfect for writers who want to connect a batch of personal essays thematically or who have a manuscript with chapters that need special attention. Perhaps you need to cut 40,000 words from a 120,000-word manuscript. Let’s come up with an editorial strategy that doesn’t require killing your darlings. If you have a project that’s lived with you for years and need a fresh start to get it going again, let’s talk about new ways to approach the material. Project Development is also ideal for writers who want to focus on a particular narrative aspect of a project, like character development, dialogue polishing, and scene building.
Deliverables of this service:
✔ Project Questionnaire & Preparation
✔ 3 x 75-mins recorded Zoom session tailored to your project needs
✔ Action Plan + Golden Notes™
✔ Follow-up Accountability Emails
What can we do with a Project Development Series?
Once I receive your Project Questionnaire, I’ll prepare for our first 75-minute session with research about the subject, potential outlets, your background as an advantage, comparable titles or projects, and anything else that will make our time together uniquely productive. I will follow up with a plan of action and Golden Notes™ (a list of the most important topics we cover in our call). We will set additional goals & deadlines for two more 75-minute Zoom sessions that will build on our initial Strategy Session.
What we could work on:
Deep Dive into a larger project in Series:
Chapters, Chapbooks, Essays
Editorial Development:
Stand-Alone Essays, Flash, Memoir Chapters, Synopses, Chapter Outlines, Newsletters (2,000 words or less)
Writing coaching / career development:
Ongoing strategy sessions & action plans
Webinar / Podcast hosting / Speech writing:
1st person script writing
Monthly accountability & Personal workshop:
2,000 words
By Request:
You pitch me! What do you want to work on?
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This is perfect for you if...
YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR APPROACH
You know what you want to achieve but haven’t found an approach that feels authentic to your personality & voice.
YOU FEEL STUCK IN A PROJECT & NEED A JOLT
You feel like you’ve tried everything for your manuscript or essays and need a jolt of brainstorming and solutions to move forward.
YOU WANT A PLAN OF ACTION
You want someone with media and narrative experience to help you navigate commercial, dramatic, and literary outlets for larger projects.
This isn't the best fit if...
you are writing in a specific genre
I love poetry, fiction, and some fantasy, but I specialize in creative nonfiction. (If you're looking for help in another genre, I’m happy to recommend someone.)
YOU NEED A COPY EDITOR
You need help with grammar, punctuation, and syntax on an essay or pitch draft you want to publish or submit to editors. (If that's what you're looking for, check out my Last Look service.)
YOU HAVE AN IDEA YOU WANT WRITTEN
You’re looking for someone to write your entire script/essay/pitch for you. (If that's what you're looking for, you can hire me here.)
The Process
Get your action plan
You’ll receive an email with an Action Plan and Golden Notes based on what we covered in our initial Strategy Session. This document will be updated after every session. This includes:
I’ll cut the fluff out of our Zoom recording notes and create a hierarchy of action to achieve the goals we outlined in our first call. These personalized Golden Notes™ apply only to you and your project. We will then agree on a realistic timeline for the next two calls and a follow-up accountability plan to make sure you feel supported going forward.
INquiry & Questionnaire
Book a consultation call to receive an in-depth questionnaire that addresses you and your project's:
Current status. What’s happening now. Origin story. How it all began. “Why you? Why now?” A sense of urgency. Immediate and long-term goals. Current & Future audience. Any burning questions.
3 X 75-MINUTE ZOOM SESSIONS
We’ll use your questionnaire as a blueprint for our first call and set achievable goals & deadlines for the second and third.
In addition:
I’ll research the material, look for opportunities for the project, and craft a personalized approach to the series of sessions for you to consider resources and directions you hadn’t thought of before. This is an opportunity to break free of habits or fears and speak openly about your project and what it means to tell your story so we can come up with a strategy that will work for you over a specific period of time.
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What They're Saying:
Whether it’s a personal essay in first or final draft, a pitch or book proposal, Michelle’s incisive questions and detailed comments guide and strengthen my work toward acceptance in literary magazines, newspapers, and book publication. Michelle helps me clarify my ideas and write the story in an artful way. She is not only an extraordinary writing coach but also a savvy marketer with her “ear to the ground” for publication opportunities. I highly recommend Michelle’s services.
"She is not only an extraordinary writing coach but also a savvy marketer with her “ear to the ground” for publication opportunities.
- Carole Duff, Writer