Another vote for check boxes style. If we had active check boxes (those that could be checked and unchecked with a click of the mouse) we’d be able to create to-do lists in our documents and notes.
1 Like
You want to use Apple Numbers for that
1 Like
Obsidian is good for that too, or simply use Notes.
For 'to do’s, I just use an inline annotation (in Scrivener) with a unique tag – TODO:, say – then create a Collection to find them all. For large to do’s, I create a sub-doc under the appropriate doc, or put it at the top of Drafts.
You can also export Annotations and Comments from Scrivener if you want them in a separate document.
A while back, I wrote down several of the mechanisms that I use for keeping track of things that need to be done in a Scrivener project. I think the most important concept to understand—within the narrow scope of tracking work relating to writing toward a goal in a project—is that in my opinion the concept of a separate checklist mechanism is as obsolete as the concept of a spreadsheet used to keep track of details.
Scrivener gives us the tools to record the types of things we would use a spreadsheet for, like keywords, text fields large, small and custom, checkboxes even, dates and list dropdowns (if Label and Status are themselves too limiting). And of course the spreadsheet was a replacement for boxes of index cards—a tradition Scrivener tips its hat to.
Likewise Scrivener gives us ample tools for tracking what we need to do yet, embedded right into the framework of what we are working on itself. The simplest example of this is the provided “Status” example dropdown. Rough draft, First draft, Second draft, Done… we’re already tracking thing in an embedded fashion in a simple way with that. I mentioned how each section in the binder can have a checkbox, at the bottom of that post is a method that takes that idea all the way to a separate checklist—if you really do find that more useful than the so-called “embedded to-do system” I described otherwise.
To speak on that option specifically: to my mind, at some point the question fundamentally becomes: what advantage is there to having your to-do line with a checkbox in a text editor, as opposed to in the outliner? The answer is, not much. Just about the only thing I can think of that a line in a text editor is better at, is that with that you press Enter once to add a new line, and with the other you press Enter twice. 
And for that small price you get all of the metadata we’re talking about to help you organise your to-dos, you get to throw them into collections along with the stuff you’re working on, you get to compile them for making reports, you can create a network of links between them, tag them, sort them, even turn them into a list in a text editor if you really want, and so much more…
Somewhat of a tangent is this how-to on tracking revisions. While the use case may be different, the idea itself is something flexible enough to be applied to to-do tracking. Make a row in the binder for the thing you need to do, and link it to the things in the book that are related to getting it done.
Here is an older discussion for this same request. Normally I would merge them to avoid sprawling duplication of conversation, but in this case the thread is so old it doesn’t really showcase anything Scrivener can currently do. Back then we had to use workarounds to get checkboxes in the outliner.
2 Likes
I’m confused. So are you suggesting that I create text document for each to-do item so that I can access metadata and list it in a table view? My to-dos are often spread across many documents/chapters, for example: Review protagonist’s emotional repertoire, or change from 12hour to 24 hour clock in narrative.
Here’s a list from my WIP…
Story Level Revisions
Timeline Holes
1 Move time period of novel. In 1888 Ludovika only had cadets ages 14-18. Probably too young to contemplate the type of murder in my story. Changing the dates will require:
2024-Mar-14 10:59 DONE. Received info from Lajos. Dates and times are good. The structure of the curriculum is complex. I am ok with simplifying it to make it understandable to the reader.
7 May have to adjust story dates so that final chase happens on a Saturday, the day the Orient Express runs from Constantinople to Paris.
HOLD - Waiting to end to make this change. I’m not sure which scenes have day-of-the-week specific content.
2024-May-10 15:58 DONE.
5 I need to do more with the count and his stroke.
2024-Mar-14 10:55 DONE. Couldn’t find more to do. Cleaned up language and tagged. Hold until next read-through. Looking for another place for him to appear. Doesn’t feel real without ever seeing him.
Dankó and Szvetics
01 Add two dialogs between Máté and Szvetic where he is mentored on how to adjust his view of the nobility. Supports convention for worldview internal genre.
2024-May-10 16:04 HOLD - Not sure about this now, that Szvetics would be a mentor to Máté.
Máté’s Emotions
1 Máté still needs more angst over the death of Gusztáv.
2 More grief from Máté especially at the death of Gusztáv in Postmortem
2024-Mar-10 22:02 DONE Enhanced first scene where Máté sees Gusztáv’s body
3 I need more anger from Máté, to make him more masculine, strong. Find at least three no more than five instances to put in his anger.
2024-Mar-10 21:29 DONE Ratcheted up Gusztáv arrives, A turn of events, A cell
4 Need moments of the cold killer in Máté. Change profile in Duel
2024-Mar-11 11:22 DONE
5 Deepen Máté’s personality. See Máté Nádasdy
Plot holes (cont.)
11 be sure the style of conversation of the apothecary is consistent and review his past association with Máté to be sure all is reconciled with his deceit apothecary. Where else is the apothecary listed? Gáspár’s apartment
2024-Mar-12 16:47 DONE. Will be resolved when the scene is rewritten.
16 go back and check to see what impression Máté may have given Irén in their conversations backward in the story. Was there enough there for her to infer there might be a relationship?
2024-Mar-11 14:28 DONE It’s fine.
17 are the Pongráczs accepting payments from the Baloghs or not. I think not is a better plan. But I also have to explain why with the saltpeter plant they were still destitute. The terms of the Austro-Hungarians need to be oppressive. So in order, check: (a) Róbert’s support, (b) Count von Balogh, and (c) In the park.
2024-Mar-11 15:14 DONE Took the loans out.
18 do I want the Ottoman treasure in this story??? I really don’t develop it at all. It seems almost comical. But if not that, what? I need to develop a motive for Count von Balogh to secure the relationship between the two families.
2024-Mar-08 17:04 DONE. Left it in and cleaned up the copy. Makes Irén look just a bit foolish. I think it works. I removed the word “treasure” and replaced it with something more scholarly.
19 redundant info on the courtship with the baron, and not consistent. Need to tag this throughout and make consistent and not redundant. See A future countess, A baron, A final peace
2024-Mar-11 17:12 DONE
20 did Máté really not tell Róbert about his past association with Balogh by this point? I need to understand exactly what Róbert knows about Máté’s past up to this point so that this scene is accurate.A turn of events
Marshaling - Máté tells Ignác, Róbert, and Flórián that he knew Balogh from Sarajevo.
Gusztáv’s room - Máté tells Róbert that Balogh was his commanding officer and they parted on difficult terms, then he went to work for Filipović.
A turn of events - The issue is not directly discussed but Róbert is present when Máté defends his actions at the Balogh estate to Dankó, so we assume Róbert knows.
2024-Mar-11 19:25 DONE. No change.
21 Need to search out Dankó’s name everywhere and clarify his motives and goals.
2024-Mar-12 11:43 DONE. Tagged all Dankó scenes and prepped the antagonist goals field. Will complete this with scene review for all scene goals and other elements.
22 Catalog all the injuries to Máté and make them consistent.
One more body - Máté receives cut on forearm and strike to the head
A headache - Júlia treats Máté’s head and forearm
Duel - Máté receives a nick to the shoulder and a slice wound to the abdomen above his navel.
Deciphered - Júlia sews up the slice on the abdomen. No follow up is appropriate. No good place to put it in. He runs in The trap, but it seems weak for him to comment on pain from the stitches as he sprints across the square.
2024-Mar-12 09:51 DONE. Cleaned up.
23 What of photos and why would I need them. Maybe in the A headache somewhere back in the beginning Máté secures photos of the cadets from Ludovika. He has a photo of Lőrinc and Antal.
“- somewhere back in the beginning Máté secures photos of the cadets from Ludovika. He has a photo of Lőrinc and Antal.”
2024-Mar-12 11:46 DONE. So I think I was concerned that Máté might not recognize someone by this point, unless he saw a picture. But who hasn’t he seen yet? By The funeral, Máté has seen all of the major characters in the story.
24 Need to add a ticking clock to Interrogation in the meeting with Petrik.
Ticking clock options from ChatGPT - need to review these and pick one. They are good. Delete the previous attempt in the cell.
2024-Mar-12 12:23 HOLD. Chose #4, which will force me to revise a few chapters forward. This also answers why Dankó didn’t kill him in the woods. He wanted him to be the fall guy for Gáspár’s death.
Add the ticking clock to A turn of events. Make Dankó accept a diplomatic appointment to Serbia:
Captain Dankó 2024-Mar-22 16:51 DONE.
A turn of events 2024-Mar-22 16:51 DONE.
In the park 2024-Mar-22 17:01 DONE.
The plan 2024-Mar-25 10:19 DONE.
The trap 2024-Mar-25 10:47 DONE.
25 Is the Count von Pari ill?? And when does Mate find out?? I can’t find where he’d told this. He repeats it back to Ignac at the stable in “Gustav arrives.”
2024-Mar-12 14:15 DONE. Máté learns of the apoplexy in Ludovika
26 why didn’t he kill him. This needs to be harmonized with Dankó and Ignác’s plans and motives.
Because he wants Máté to take the fall for killing Gáspár. Will be resolved with the ticking clock, item 24 above.
2024-Mar-12 14:21 DONE. Will be complete with 24 above.
27 need to be more explanatory about how Gusztáv and Antal must have been communicating in coded documents. Based on the letter Antal was preparing to go to Dankó with his fears. Did this happen before Antal was killed, or was Dankó involved in the death and the visit precipitated the murder?
A headache - the letter from Antal to Gusztáv is decoded by Júlia.
Inserted fatherly affection for Antal in Gusztáv tells his story.
Captain Dankó - added Szvetics speech about Gusztáv, mentor, and agent with the Honvéd.
The documents - Máté reiterates what Szvetics said about Gusztáv and being a scout.
2024-Mar-12 16:19 DONE.
28 when does Máté learn Gáspár’s last name? Maybe in Interrogation?
2024-Mar-12 16:24 DONE. Yes.
29 Máté’s reason that the killer didn’t kill him in the cemetery doesn’t seem right, and I don’t play that out anywhere. I think Máté’s reason needs to be the truth. I need to give the reader that here.
2024-Mar-12 16:30 DONE. Will be resolved with #24 above. Clarified that the murderer was trying to frame Máté for Gáspár’s murder.
30 Inventory where Máté lies and deceives in the pursuit of justice. Then reframe the statement here on lying to the old woman about being Gáspár’s friend.
2024-Mar-13 10:26 DONE. While Máté does deceive Balogh, Dankó and then Irén, he does so in the pursuit of justice. The others do so with the intent of impeding justice. I’m ok with this.
31 check injuries for consistency throughout. How many times does he injure his head? Check for recuperation from each wound.
2024-Mar-12 16:38 DONE. See #22 above.
32 if Lőrinc didn’t sign the letter, how does Máté know it was he who wrote it when he looks at it in Gusztáv’s room, and then when Marianna reads it in Marianna?
2024-Mar-13 11:15 DONE. Fixed references to the letter to make consistent.
33 Double check that Máté says that he believes Lőrinc was hiding in the woods and saw Antal kill Péter as recounted in Duel.
2024-Mar-13 11:45 DONE. Not necessary.
34 Was Gáspár Antal’s groomsman? I think this should be, but where shall I plant this earlier? Maybe Interrogation?
2024-Mar-12 17:10 DONE. Seeded more Gáspár info in Ludovika and One more body.
35 why didn’t Dankó kill Máté when he could have in the cemetery? One more body.
2024-Mar-12 16:42 DUPLICATION. See 24 &29 above.
36 GB- review Máté’s statement that he would not deliberately lie or mislead someone in the pursuit of justice. First, check to see if I’ve said this already, and then check to see if it is true.
2024-Mar-12 16:41 DUPLICATION. See #30 above.
37 It doesn’t work to have the lawyer return the receipt and the results of Máté’s query. It’s only been four hours or so since he left Balogh.
2024-Mar-14 11:13 DONE. Rewrote the scenes and had Máté meet with Balogh at 10am, rather than the afternoon, giving him 6 hours to trace the bank receipt.
38 ???Change Petrik ask in A Cell to Petrik asking Máté to snitch on von Balogh. Also in Petrik (again) Revise his involvement to have him somehow discover the arms dealings with Ignác/Dankó. He blackmails Dankó
2024-Mar-13 11:48 DONE. No. I’m not going with these ideas, too disruptive. Don’t need the further convolution.
39 I must discuss what happened to the Countess, Antal, Ignác, and Irén’s mother. Earlier, perhaps in A future countess* or in While Buda-Pest sleeps.
2024-Mar-12 16:36 DONE. Added to A future countess.
40 The trade embargo will need to be with another country beside the Ottomans. Perhaps Russia will work. There’s not a lot of good documentation about such conflicts and embargos.
2024-Mar-13 12:01 DONE. ChatAI says to change it to Serbia. Fixed.
41 Need more about Kati throughout the story. Here but also elsewhere. I make it feel as though she doesn’t exist.
Gusztáv tells his story - enhance
Marshaling - add something after the statement about late hours
2024-Mar-13 12:45 DONE. Added a few references and substituted her name for “wife”.
42 Dankó scene on the steps in the cafe. He was never Máté’s superior. The trap
2024-Mar-14 12:26 DONE. Emailed Lajos asking about a code of conduct in the 19th century Honvéd. See #code of conduct.
Fixed with a reference to a continuing duel between Máté and Dankó. Also revised A turn of events to include backstory about the continuing feud. Needs to be cleaned up.
43 Pistol vs. Shotgun in the the hunt. What were they hunting?
2024-Mar-13 12:54 DONE. Chasing a wild boar.
44 Would Dankó know how to use a knife so well, good enough to kill Gáspár in the stable and fight with Máté? See: The plan and Another body
2024-Mar-15 10:57 DONE. It will be okay because I added some story about his challenging Máté in the past with a knife.
45 What does Irén withhold from Máté and when? I need to clearly present this. A future countess, While Buda-Pest sleeps, In the park
She knew that Antal was terrorizing Ignác after he was made conservator of the family money. She knew that Antal had access to money, and she secretly suspected Ignác of murder but said nothing.
Review all the letter passages for accuracy. There is only one letter now, the draft letter from Lőrinc to Marianna. It would be nice to have a red herring to be misinterpreted. All of it has to be read through.
Gusztáv’s room
A witness
The documents
A headache
Deciphered
Now the timing doesn’t work, decipher needs to come after Count von Balogh. Not sure how to do this.
2024-Mar-19 11:13 DONE. Made the journal entries meaningful for the big picture and laid a clue that someone in the list was perhaps a nobleman. That would be great to develop in future stories.
46 Check that I haven’t placed too much focus on Lőrinc.
2024-Mar-15 12:15 HOLD. Wait for feedback from beta readers.
2024-Jun-17 16:47 DONE. No comments from betas.
47 The letter from Lőrinc to Marianna… do I ever explain how that came about? I need to. In Gusztáv’s room, Marianna, Duel, The plan
2024-Mar-14 14:01 DONE. I do explain it, but now I need to rewrite due to #48 below.
48 Students slept in large shared dormitories per Lajos. Need to change how the letter was obtained and leverage this if possible. Be sure to correct how Ignác got the letter from Lőrinc.
2024-Mar-14 14:30 DONE. Will continue to watch for opportunities to leverage the barracks sleeping arrangement.
49 Decoded journal text in A headache still feels weak with the horse feeds stuff. I need something that reveals something we don’t know, something that pushes us closer to the answer to the puzzle. See: #journal decoded 1
2024-Mar-25 12:04 DONE. Added language about Gusztáv meeting with Dankó the morning he was murdered. He withholds this info from Máté.
50 Double check that Lőrinc didn’t see Máté at Gusztáv’s funeral. He needs to not recognize him at the soiree.
2024-Mar-19 16:59 DONE. This is fine. Lőrinc never sees or identifies them.
51 Double check that Máté says that he believes Lőrinc was hiding in the woods and saw Antal kill Péter.
2024-Mar-19 17:05 DONE. #hiding
52 Problem with Róbert not saying he knows the Pongratz family in the first scene, and then the second scene when he has the discussion with Irén.
2024-Mar-25 12:23 DONE. Added line to Gusztáv tells his story where Róbert tells Máté that Count von Pongracz is a customer.
53 Máté asked Gusztáv to find the men from Sarajevo in The Magdalene. Square this with all the discussions of the journal to be sure it is in parallel. Too much on the nose. Remove most of it. Even from A headache.
2024-Apr-01 09:29 DONE. Fixed. Made it clear Máté asked him to find what happened to the men. Deciphered is the reveal.
54 Resolve the blood on Máté’s knife in Interrogation. Did he or did he not cut Danko in the stable. If he did, there needs to be some recognition of an injury on Danko at some point. But that might make it too obvious.
2024-Mar-25 12:38 DONE. Interrogation, added language with Dankó’s hands behind his back. Added to The trap, while he’s standing on the steps.
55 Suspicion of Dankó is too much on the nose. Tone down. Interrogation.
2024-Apr-01 10:40 HOLD. For feedback from beta readers.
2024-Jun-17 16:48 DONE. No comments from Betas.
56 Square the passages about Gáspár being religious, see: #prayer.
2024-Apr-01 10:20 DONE. Bolstered Gáspár’s piousness in The plan, One more body, and Gáspár’s apartment
57 Too much on big and strong Gaspar. Take some out!!!
2024-Mar-25 12:30 DONE. Rephrased in a couple of places and removed a few others.
58 Deepen Júlia’s personality
2024-Apr-01 11:30 DONE. Gave her a bit of an edge. More can be done at the scene level.
59 Make Máté more Hungarian.
2024-Apr-01 12:43 HOLD. Not sure how to do this. Still thinking on it.
2024-Jun-17 16:49 DONE. Moved to beta list.
60 Add ticking clock to Crime KS 3: A turn of events. Have I already done this?
2024-Apr-01 10:42 DONE. See #24 above.
61 Flórián observes Máté with the countess in While Buda-Pest sleeps, and comments that he was following him in The Magdalene. Have him make some other knowing comment about Máté and the countess later on.
2024-Apr-01 12:52 DONE. Added statement to Interrogation.
62 Plant that Irén takes morning walks in the meadow behind Castle Hill.
2024-Apr-01 17:29 DONE. Planted in While Buda-Pest sleeps.
63 Check all instances of walking about Buda-Pest. When will they need to ride from Ludovika to Andrassy and elsewhere?
64 Track the assassin theme from Postmortem to the end, making sure carry the thread to resolution.
2024-May-01 08:32 HOLD. See how it plays in the beta stage.
2024-May-10 15:59 DONE. No comments from betas.
65 Redo cemetery scenes. Not likely Gusztáv would have been buried there. Waiting on further info from Roland.
2024-May-01 08:29 RESOLVED. Roland said the cemetery was fine.
66 Where is Máté storing the strong box. The old ice box? Clean this up.
2024-May-01 17:11 RESOLVED.
67 Balogh is Máté’s commander. Is it unrealistic that Máté would think he’d forget him? There would only be three or four lieutenants under Balogh.
2024-May-08 08:12 HOLD. Perhaps it reveals something about Máté that he thinks he would be forgotten?
2024-May-10 16:02 DONE. Added that line to Reversal
68 Add horse trams and electric trams when I get some good maps.
2024-May-13 15:25 HOLD.
2024-Jun-17 16:45 DONE. Got maps from Roland.
69 Add forints info from Roland.
2024-Jun-17 16:46 DONE. Moved to Beta list.
70 Incorporate info from Szylvia.
2024-Jun-17 16:46 DONE Moved to Beta list.
1 Like
Yes, that is one of several ways I brought up as a possibility, in those posts. But it isn’t quite right to think of it as “text files” that you are making. Scrivener is an outliner, the sidebar to the left of the text editor should be thought of as being a lot closer to the bullets you might make in a text file. You list out lines, you indent them, etc. Yes, you can open them and write 3,000 words into them—this is what makes Scrivener special though. There are lots of programs that let you make outlines, many of them are to-do organisers in fact, because nested items in a list is a great way to organise to-dos. Not many let you write lots and lots of text into each line though!
So you see, the difference then is not using them for that, in Scrivener, and using them more like you would in a to-do list manager. In fact I sometimes jot down lists in the outliner (or table view if you wish), right “under” the text file I am typing in. You can toggle between the two with Ctrl+3 / ⌘3. Your notes are super convenient and immediately available in this way. They are set to not compile, so it doesn’t matter where I put them.
But, like I said, that’s but one option available to you. For the kind of notes you demonstrate here, these look like a good candidate for one of the first ideas I shared, or using either inline annotations or comments to make these lists in the text itself, where they directly matter, and use some kind of system to mark them so you can search for them and build to-do lists.
This is what I refer to as an “embedded” todo list. It’s not a separate checklisit or outline somewhere that you have to cross-reference with to your text, it’s right in the text itself. We’ve always been able to do that, but Scrivener has great features for making that idea quite useful.
1 Like
There are several ways to do things in Scrivener and if you’re happy with how you’re doing it now, there’s no need to change, of course. But there are advantages in having your To Dos as separate documents – particularly when they’re spread across the whole story because a) you can see the entirety of the progress at once, and 2) you can have To Dos linking to more than one document when they’re relevant without duplicating them.
In your circumstances you could set Scrivener up up so that:
- You type the To Do in square brackets in a document.
[[Move time period of novel]] - This creates a new document in the ‘To Do’ folder in the binder, and gives it a coloured label meaning ‘To Do’.
- It also opens the new
Move time period of noveldocument in an editor (the same one, or a split, or a new window) where you type in the explanation. (“In 1888 Ludovika only……”) - It also creates back links between
Move time period of noveland every document from which is it links – and you can see those, and the paragraph around the link so you can the context, in the Document Bookmarks Inspector. - When you’ve finished the To Do, you change the label and/or add DONE to the title, and every mention of that todo in any document can be updated to reflect the new title.
Because every todo has a text attached, all those dated changes in status in your existing system (e.g. when you’re waiting for the beta readers to reply) can be entered without making the rest of the source document too cluttered, while the complexity is only a link away.
In the screenshot below, you have a main document (‘Matés emotions’), which have a list of links to the to do documents. The right hand editor shows one of those tasks (‘What does Irén withhold…’), with details of the task, and in the Document Bookmarks Inspector you see every document (in this case ‘Another Document’) which links to this same task, with a sentence or two of context.
As Amber says, you can now view the To Do folder as an Outline, and therefore see and change your progress at a glance, sort by label etc, and with the appropriate view, cycle through them to see/edit their text:
Obviously, this all takes a bit of setting up, and you wouldn’t want to do it for every project, but you can see why in some cases it could be really useful.
HTH
3 Likes
Awesome!!! This is definitely a step above what I’ve been doing. I’m going to give it a whirl. I knew there must be another way to handle this stuff.
1 Like
There are times when active check boxes in Scrivener would be very convenient.
True. I write up narrative outlines for my characters and use certain aspects to flesh out my characters, some of which ends up in my story. But I’m stuck with emoji tickboxes, which are slightly less inconvenient.
Something like that found in OneNote would be better.
Perhaps L&L can reach out to developer Omer Atay for a proposal. He’s still making side-line enhancements to OneNote with Onetastic for OneNote—especially since it’s been back on track for the past couple of years after being messed up by Star Wars freaks, who destroyed that franchise.