By Dame Toni
Before I became a novelist, I was a business analyst. When I told someone my title, they’d get this glazed look, then nod and say, “Oh” in a knowing tone. Which I knew perfectly well meant “I’ve-heard-of-that-but-have-no-idea-what-your-day-to-day-job-actually-consists-of.”
It’s meant to be vague. It’s how we BA’s justify our hourly rates. But, if you’d like to know what a BA does, I can sum it up in a short sentence: We figure out how to get there from here.
I’m going to turn 50 in 2009, and lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I’m calling “the second half of my life.” And, as a former Business Analyst, I’m starting to formulate a plan.
When I put on my novelist hat, I’m all about the imagination. That’s great, but there’s a hazard: I risk too much what-iffing. As in “what if I’d known then what I know now?” That way lies madness—I can’t turn back the clock and reinvent myself with a smaller jeans size, better credit, and a more mature writing career. What I can do is put on my BA hat and take a good, hard look at where I am in relation to where I want to be.
If you go to business school (which I didn’t—I was a Performing Arts major. No shit.) you may learn to use a tool called a SWOT CHART. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
You would probably take about half a semester on SWOT Charts in that business school, but I’m going to sum it up in a couple of paragraphs. The chart looks like this:
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Opportunities:
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Threats: |
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Strengths:
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Weaknesses:
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Then, you fill in what the personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your personal career at this time. No two people will have the same chart. Here’s a very incomplete list for me:
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Opportunities: - Publishers are buying comedy romances - (Anon editor) likes my Mercy series. |
Threats: - Publishers are cutting back on purchases & print runs - Paranormal market becoming saturated |
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Strengths: - Have a history with major publishers. - Several viable book ideas in development phase
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Weaknesses: - No 2010 releases scheduled
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Once you’ve listed some in each of your SWOT boxes, look at the intersecting boxes and brainstorm a few ideas.
For example, if I look at the intersection of Strength: “Several viable book ideas in development phase” and Opportunity: “Publishers are buying comedy romances,” it gives me an idea:
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Opportunities: - Publishers are buying comedy romances - (Anon editor) likes my Mercy series. |
Threats: - Publishers are cutting back on purchases & print runs - Paranormal market becoming saturated |
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Strengths: - Have a history with major publishers. - Several viable book ideas in development phase
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Go through undeveloped book ideas and see if one lends itself to romantic comedy. |
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Weaknesses: - No 2010 releases scheduled
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And, voila! I have an item to put on my career to-do list.
This is a huge oversimplification, but you get the idea. A lot of the ideas you come up with won’t be viable, but that’s okay. Throw out the bad ones, keep the good ones.
And, for you non-writers, you can do a SWOT chart for any kind of career, or even for your family life. And, you can tell everyone you’re using a tool that’s taught at Harvard Business School. For real.
By the way, let me get in a plug for a terrific writer’s contest coming up on May 2 in Meriden, Connecticut. We have an impressive lineup of Editors and Agents to hear your pitches, great workshops, and the first twenty requestors get a free manuscript analysis from the Book Doctor who literally wrote the book, Leslie Wainger.
Click HERE for more info about Connecticut Fiction Fest.
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I like this idea…and working one up for my character seems like it would be beneficial too!
Thanks, Toni. Looks like this will be quite useful, just so I don’t have to start talking with a Hahvahd accent.
And Linda – excellent idea. I have a general idea where my character is going over the course of the series, but this will help map things out with a bit more detail.
Thanks for this, Toni.
I did something like this very recently…which is why I’m working to redo my YA urban fantasy as a MG urban fantasy.
Might I say you’re going to be a Fabulous 50?
I’d love to be in Meriden in May but no funds for flying half-way across the country for a day. Someday. Maybe. In the meantime, SWOT is very similar to some of the “Black Box” graphing I did as a government student WAAAY back when. I hadn’t thought to apply it to my writing. Thanks for the nudge, Toni.
And welcome to the Fabulous Fifties! We’re fun, frisky, *free* (except from the occasional hot flash), and since we’ve got it, we can flaunt it!
Love the chart. Since I’ve been pondering my next project to write, this might help me decide which story (and genre) to pull out of my ideas file.
What do you mean the paranormal market is saturated, lol, just when I was considering adding a paranormal element to one of my stories!
Charts provide great visiuals to help put things in perspective. Thanks, Toni! Going to give this one a try.
Sounds like a great plan, Toni. I tend to “fly by the seat of my pants” (However, I think there really is a SWOT plan in my subconscious. I just don’t write it down).
I’ve heard that this kind of tool really helps you focus, Toni. There’s something very different about seeing a plan in writing vs. having it in your head. Good luck!
The chart is awesome! Thanks, Toni.
I lived in New London, CT from 2002 to 2005. Have you ever done Boats, Books, and Brushes, Toni? It seems every time I move something cool happens in the state I left. Hubby’s NAVY. I wish I could make it to Meriden.
Hi Toni,
Am I the Grande Dame of Historical Romance or what? I turn 79 on Sunday (2.15) and my book TOO HOT FOR A SPY (kensington) comes out March 3! I’m a plotter, by the way, but I never really stick slavishly to it. See you soon. Pearl
I’m a BA. I know what you do! It also helps if you can tell others what they did wrong.
This is really interesting – thanks for the post, Toni. It’s nice to see something practical to try… And it can be applied to all sorts of things!
I am also a BA – but I’m more of a technical BA, starting my career as an Analyst Programmer. Recently I returned to the dark side — programming. I like working with logic all day, it allows my creative side to be used for only writing stories.
Thanks for the tips, Toni. That’s useful info. Is it true editors are buying romantic comedy again? As for the paranormal market being saturated, I am hoping that refers to dark paranormals. I have a manuscript circulating now that is a lighter paranormal with elements of humor. All it takes is the right editor in the right mood on the right day….
Great post, Toni!
I should have gone to business school. I love charts. This one looks helpful. I may give it a try.
Ash
The paranormal market saturation comment was really just an example. While people are always saying that, editors and agents are still acquiring them. And people are still buying them.
But the romantic comedy thing does seem to be true, at least with the editors and agents I’ve met.
Thank for the suggestion, Toni. I can see where it might be a good character development or even a good story development tool.
Or, of course, I could actually plan my life. But then I’d know how I got places…
[...] http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=397 Toni Andrews on using the skills she got as a business analyst [...]
[...] Toni Andrews, at Deadline Dames, writes about using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) charts to help plan your writing career. [...]