Tag Archives: to do list

To Do List Trauma

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Sophie needs a new smart phone but…

Close up of woman's hands with to do list

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Last week I cleared a surprising number of difficulties presented by my Continuous To Do list. I was really pleased with myself. Some of them had been accumulating Reasons Why They had to Wait for months.

Let joy be unconfined, then.

Ah. But the inevitable corollorary is that I’ve pretty much hit the bottom of the barrel as far as The List is concerned. And they are the real nightmares.

Two little kids reading book under blanket with long fingered black spooky figures reaching for them from the wall behind.

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Two things in particular have been haunting my sleep and bringing me out in hives: finishing a story; buying a new smart phone. My resistance to both has pretty much reached neurosis level.

WHY? Continue reading →

The joy of lists for writers (and for normal people too)

The to-do list

lists of lists

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This weekend, with the revisions for my second crime novel on my editor’s desk rather than on mine, I spent the weekend working through lists: essentially my “to do list”, catching up on housework, the ironing and reading a “treat” book.

They were on my mental list of things to do and, mentally, I ticked them off.

One of the things I did, once the heavy lifting was done, was sit down with a cup of tea. The radio was on – I love the radio – and Weekend Woman’s Hour was playing.

shopping list

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Lucy Ireland Gray was talking about the 200 discarded shopping lists that she’d collected from shopping trolleys (we’ve all seen those) and picked up from the ground. They went on display at the Museum of London Brands, in Notting Hill. 

One of her friends was horrified that one of the lists might be hers. Not so much worried that her shopping list would betray her inner secrets, but that it would out her as a litter lout. 

Why do we make lists?

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I’ve got a little list for when I’ve finished the book

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When I say I’ve got a little list, it’s growing longer by the day.

Obviously, I always have lists of things I have to do – last month it included “Pay My Tax”, but also check my Public Lending Right statement, to see how much I’ve earned from the wonderful people who borrow my books from libraries.

Times are tough. Your library is a free resource and they’re under threat everywhere, so do make the most of them.

Public Lending Right for those who have never heard of it – and if you’re not a writer, why would you? – was spearheaded by the Society of Authors, an organisation that offers advice to, and lobbies for the interests of authors.

If you’re an author but not a member, Writer Beware gives information about scam merchants who try to rip off authors with fake competitions and dodgy publishers – the people who ask you to pay vast sums of money to publish your book and, having pocketed it, do nothing to sell it. Check them out before you sign a contract.

But back to my list

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