Writing Productively (3): Insightly Tasks & Life-cycle of a story

This is the third in a series on productivity tools for writers. I use technology to minimize the tasks that I find tedious, or to help me avoid errors, and maximize the time I have to be creative.

[03/31/2014 Edited to update screenshots reflecting latest version of Insightly.]

This is a tutorial that shows how I use tasks to plan and keep track of what I am doing on each writing project. For now, I'll stay on the Project tab, mostly on the Project Summary screen, but I'll go over the Tasks tab in a future post.

In the first article, I described using the Projects tab as my Idea File for stories. I jot them down there as they occur to me (sometimes using the Insightly mobile app on my phone). Here is the Project List:

When I'm ready to start working on it, I can change the status to In Progress. I do that by clicking on the project title and going to the Project Summary:

To change the Current Status, there is a "Change" link next to it. If I want to flesh out the details, a bit more, I can click the pencil icon or go to the Actions drop-down and choose "Edit this project." This will take me to the Project Details, and there is more about that screen on the first post in this series. I usually don't need to go to the Project Details. The primary screen for managing the project is the Project Summary.

As you can see in the screenshot above, there is a Tasks tab on the top section of the Project Summary. I like to create tasks from one of the buttons you can find for this on the project page, but there are other ways to do it (e.g., from the plus symbol next to the red "UPGRADE NOW" button, or from the main tasks screen you can access using the left-hand navigation toolbar). Starting from the project page will saves you some steps. It's also a logical workflow since I usually start by perusing my existing project ideas and then decide which one to work on next.

In the Tasks tab on the top, you can see there is a history of what tasks have already been completed, and there is a link Add New Task. When you click the link, you go to the Task Detail:

Notice the "Related Project" field and the Tasks section near the bottom of the page. Because we created a task from the Project Summary, this task has automatically been linked to the project and the "Related Project" field is filled in. If you create your task in a different area, you would need to manually add the link to the project and complete that field.

The Links and the Category are the driving fields on this page. Not all task categories apply to projects, but I use the category to indicate what kind of task this is. The categories with an asterisk are the ones I use in conjunction with writing projects.

Category

• Critique
• I use this to record each critique I do for another author in my writers groups. I consider critiquing to be an essential part of the job of a writer. I don't just do it in exchange for getting critiqued by other writers in my writers groups. I learn a lot by doing it, and it helps me to develop my "editor's eye."
• Email
• I use this when I need to set up a reminder to email someone about something, not a follow-up.
• Follow-up*
• I use this when I need to set up a reminder to follow up on a submission, either by checking the website or emailing, etc.
• Meeting
• I use this primarily to track conventions I would like to attend. It helps to have a list of these and set them up as annual events in Insightly so I can plan my year.
• Outline*
• I don't always outline my stories, especially if they are short stories, but sometimes I do. I find outlining has been helpful in planning my novel, although it wasn't necessarily my first step.
• Phone call
• I use this if I need to set up a reminder to call someone about something, not a follow-up.
• Revise Draft*
• I use this to schedule when I plan to revise a draft, scheduling it (using the Due Date and Reminder fields) after I expect to receive critiques. It's helpful to create this task and place it chronologically before the Submission task.
• Submission*
•  I use this to schedule/track submissions of stories to writers groups and workshops as well as to contests and markets. For contests and markets, I add a link to that contest or market. I set those up as Organizations (which I will discuss further in my article on the Organizations tab). I usually schedule these submissions in advance using the Due Date and Reminder fields.
• To-do
• I use this to schedule miscellaneous tasks.
• Web
• I use this for miscellaneous website maintenance tasks.
• Write Draft*
• Once I decide to start working on a story, I create this task. Sometimes I schedule these in the future (using the Due Date and Reminder fields) to plan for a contest.

Title

I find the Title field to be a little redundant. However, the title is the most viewable piece of information on the task. So, if I am planning to submit a story to a market my title will look something like this:

Sub [Story Title] to [Name of Market]

The category will be "Submission," the story title will be in the Project Link, and the Market will be in the Organization Link.  I usually abbreviate in the title (e.g., "Sub" instead of "Submission" and a  short version of the title, etc.). For example, the project in the screen shot might have a task like this if I submit it to the Writers of the Future contest:

Sub Secret Svc to WOTF

Other items on Project Summary

While we're hanging out here on the Project Summary, let me point out a couple other things I do from here.

Notice that there is a Notes tab. I like to add research, often links to web sites or news articles that inspired the writing project:

There is also an Email Summary tab:

When I get critiques back by email, or when I get email responses from contest/market submissions, I forward those emails to my Insightly project. To do this, I first copy the "Link Email Address" which you can see higher up on the page. Simply copy this email address and forward any email to it, and the email will be attached to your project.

I find the email attachment functionality very helpful for remembering exactly what happened and when. For critiques, I go through them one by one (click on the email for the Email Detail screen), and I enter comments on that email record to indicate whether I have incorporated their critique into my revision of the story. This is a great way to "check off" each email and make sure I haven't forgotten to make changes to a story.

Here is the Email Detail from a Critters.org critique I received:

On the History tab, you can see all the activity on this task, but I don't use this tab:

Another note on Submissions: When I actually do submit a story to a contest or a market, I create an Opportunity record. You can see the Opportunity link on the Project Summary screenshots above, and I will discuss that in a future article.

The next post in the series will discuss how to configure Task categories so they will look like what you see above.

Prior posts in this series:

1. Tracking Story Ideas with Insightly Projects

2. Configuring Insightly Projects