“Playing Catch”: A Strategy to Regain Momentum with Authors

You’re working with an author on a project, and things are going great. Then, out of the blue, they go silent. Deadlines fly past, multiple emails go unanswered and if you do get a response, it’s the author admitting that they’re really, really stuck. Even just opening the document feels impossible. 

This was the case with an author I worked with. They wrote the first draft of their manuscript in a flash. I did a substantive edit, and we discussed the next steps. Substantial additions and rewrites were required to help the reader emotionally invest in the story. The deadline passed — no manuscript. I checked in via email, and we set a new deadline. Still no new manuscript. After a few rounds of this, the author stopped answering my emails altogether. When they finally did respond, it was to admit that they were completely discouraged and having trouble working on the manuscript at all anymore.

How can we, as editors, help the author find their groove again?

As an author, an editor and a person with ADHD, I’m all too familiar with both sides of this problem. Sometimes, I just get too overwhelmed by the scale of the revisions for a writing project, or there are too many other things in my life stealing momentum. I’ve worked with several authors and artists who’ve had this problem too. 

If you suspect the author you’re working with is at this point, try “playing catch,” a strategy I came up with to help that author, and that I’ve used ever since for this type of situation. 

How to “play catch”

First, you may want to meet with the author or arrange a phone call to talk about this strategy rather than discussing it via email. A compassionate conversation itself may help get the author unstuck, in which case “playing catch” will help them maintain their momentum. 

The idea behind this strategy is to rapidly exchange the work in progress back and forth with the author, just like you would a ball in a game of catch. Ask the author to regularly “toss” (that is, send) you the work in progress with at least one small change included. For example, have the author email you the document they’re working on every Friday. The change can be as small as they need — even adding a single word or changing a punctuation mark counts. Don’t edit this document — when you receive it, simply “catch” the document and “toss it back” by replying to say you’ve received it and that you’ve seen that they’ve made a change. This acknowledgement is what builds the necessary momentum to motivate the author to keep going.

This strategy can work on whatever schedule you agree to, but it is generally most effective at least once a week, if not every few days. To avoid confusing versions, have the author add “Catch” to the subject line of the email and/or the document’s name, with “Ready to Review” used to signal when it’s time for editing again. Since the author’s changes will have been cumulative, you will only need to edit the final “Ready to Review” version.

Starting is often the biggest hurdle, so making an extremely small change that feels doable can help the author begin to make progress again and stop avoiding the project. However, note that this level of accountability is best used only for short-term projects or to find momentum again, as it can create anxiety and shame if used for too long.

This strategy can also be particularly useful for working with ADHD authors, a topic I’ll be covering in a future article. 

What strategies have you used to help an author get “unstuck”? Do you think “playing catch” would work for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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