Although most of what I’ve had to say on this topic has already been amply covered above, here are some links that go into further detail on my theories and processes:
- A roundup of links with regards to tagging text. While that topic is general, marking todos could be seen as a sub-topic in the larger umbrella topic of tagging text, there are basic techniques higher up the chain that can benefit more precise usages.
- On whether checklists are obsolete. This, and in particular the section on “embedded todos”, dips into some thought on whether a program like Scrivener makes separate checklisting a bit obsolete, in the same way that it might make a spreadsheet for tracking plot points a bit obsolete. Perhaps it is a bridge too far, but I do feel it is food for thought, especially given how I have noticed in my own work that while I still heavily use checklists, my use of them for organising writing projects themselves has markedly declined since Scrivener 3 came out. The origins of that change started long before Scrivener even existed, but its capabilities allowed much of what I envisioned in my first primitive attempts to become a practical reality.
- Building a revision tracking or ticketing system in Scrivener. This real-world demonstration of a technique I use heavily kind of goes beyond the notion of a typical “todo list”, and deeper into the above rumination on whether discrete and separated checklists are the right tool for the job in the first place.