I did this last night as part of my effort to better stay motivated on my writing goals this month.
This is a trick that a lot of writers use – I’ve even done it using Post-It Notes on the wall, but in this case I wanted my tasks to be a little more portable. I tend to need this when I’m in the middle of a novel trying to work my way out, and trying to manage both new scenes I need to write and revisions I’m going to need in what is already written.
You take your cards or your sticky notes and you write down scenes you need to write or problems you need to solve – in my experience aiming for tasks that should take you about 30 minutes or less is ideal. Then when you have time to write you don’t have to stress about what to work on – you just pick a card and get to work. I think this trick is especially good for those of us who don’t necessarily like to work on our novels or other big projects in any kind of strict order. The cards not only serve as a To Do list, but as a method of organizing the chaos.
Jenel Alan 