to do list

Time is a precious commodity. I have been given roughly 24 hours to get stuff done. It feels like that should be embroidered on a pillow ("Get stuff done", perhaps with a skull embroidered alongside as a warning), but it would take too long to do the embroidery.

I mean to take care of writerly things. That is how I would like to spend the time.

I lose focus easily, & so I usually have a couple of things going at the same time. Currently, I have 

• a long-suffering novel; 
• a brand-new middle grade that is becoming more and more epic in scope as time passes;
• research and reading related to the novel and middle grade;
• a couple of picture books; 
• query letters; 
• some poetry for good measure;
• my daily haiku habit; and
• oh yeah, did I mention this is a blog post? 

I cycle through them in case I get stuck on one project so as not to stop entirely, but it is a bit of a scattered approach. A very scattered approach. Okay, it's like trying to round up squirrels. Is this the best way for me to work? I don't know. It's how I've written to date --use time when I can find it, work on what I feel like working on, and don't get stuck.

I'm always curious, though, what other writers do. What do they have on their to do lists? Is it one thing at a time? Do they cycle through? How do they keep it all organized? Because if there is one thing I am not, it is naturally organized. Prolific, sure, but organized? Cut to film of me collapsing on the floor with laughter.

What do other writers do? And what would you do for your writing given 24 hours where you didn't have to do anything else?