Free project template
Book writing template with every task dated from the day you start
A board with every chapter as a card, moving from outline to first draft, revision, readers and done.
- 7 sections
- 18 tasks
- Opens as a board
- Dated from day 1
Book: [working title]
Days count from the day you start. In the app, pick a start or a finish date and each task lands on a real day.
Planning
- Write the one-paragraph pitch of the bookDay 1High
- Outline every chapter in two linesDay 4
- Set the target length and the finish dateDay 4
- Writing sessionEvery day 6:30
- Weekly word count checkEvery Sunday 20:00
Outlined
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
First draft
Revising
With readers
- Pick three readers and ask themDay 31
- Tell them what feedback you want
- Agree a return date
Done
Finishing
- Full read-through, start to endHigh
- Copy edit
- Title, cover and blurb
- Decide: agent, publisher or self-publish
About this template
A book is too big to hold as one task and too long to track in your head. This board makes each chapter a card and each stage a column, so you can see which chapters are drafted, which are waiting on readers and which you have not started.
The planning cards and the writing routine sit in their own columns. Add or remove chapter cards to match your outline.
Tips from the template
- Set a daily word count you can hit on a bad day.
- Draft forward. Park revision notes on the card instead of rewriting.
- Send chapters to readers in batches of three or four.
How to use it in Palby Planner
- 1Open Tasks and choose Templates.
- 2Find Book writing and open it. You see every section and task before anything is added.
- 3Pick the day you start, or the day it has to be done by. Every date moves with it.
- 4Press Use template. Rename the project, then work down the list.
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Questions
Yes. Copy it as a checklist or print it, with no sign-up. Using it inside Palby Planner, with the dates filled in, needs an account.
Each task has a day counted from the start: Day 1, Day 3 and so on. In Palby Planner you pick a start date or a finish date, and every task lands on a real day. Tasks that repeat keep repeating.
Yes. It's your project: rename it, add tasks, delete the ones you don't need. Save your version with Save as template and it's there next time.
Describe it in a sentence and the AI in Tasks writes a template for it, with sections and dates you can change before you use it.
Run it with the dates filled in.
The templates are free. The app puts every task on a real date.