Working Smarter, Not Harder: Breaking Down Your Novel the Agile Way
So, you want to write a book…
Maybe you’ve even started. Maybe you’ve started three. And somewhere along the way, the whole thing turned into a jumbled soup of half-finished chapters, worldbuilding tangents, and vague guilt.
Let me guess: your brain is loud, your notes app is messy, and you’re not totally sure what to work on next. Cool. Let’s fix that.
This is where we talk about the backlog—Agile’s best-kept secret to calming the chaos.
What’s a Backlog? (In Writer Terms)
A backlog is just a fancy term for a brain dump. That’s it. It’s the place where you list everything that needs to get done, no matter how big or small. You don’t have to organize it yet. You don’t have to do it all today. You just need to see it.
It’s the list that holds your novel’s soul—in the form of chapter ideas, editing notes, and questions like “Is my protagonist boring or just emotionally repressed?”
Agile teams use backlogs to keep track of all the work that needs doing. You’re the whole team now. So let’s build yours.
What Goes Into Your Backlog?
Everything. Don’t laugh. I’m serious.
Here are some example categories to help you think it through:
Writing Tasks
Draft Chapter 5
Add foreshadowing to scene with the dagger
Rewrite the dialogue in the breakup scene (less cringeworthy, more pain)
Planning Tasks
Finish outline
Figure out antagonist’s backstory
Rearrange timeline after that massive plot hole
Support Tasks
Research how long it takes to sail across an ocean
Name the magical creature that’s definitely not a dragon
Make a playlist to get in the zone (necessary, obviously)
Miscellaneous Tasks
Look into making a book cover
Find an artist for character concept art
Research overused tropes
Draw rough sketch map to plan character route through world.
But How Do I Not Freak Out?
Simple: Don’t try to do it all at once.
The point of a backlog isn’t to overwhelm you. It’s to give you a place to put all your ideas so they don’t live rent-free in your head anymore. Think of it as your holding space — a judgment-free zone for stuff you might do, want to do, or really should do eventually. (Hold space for tasks, not Wicked. This isn’t an interview with Cynthia Erivo.)
When it’s time to work, you’ll come back to this list and pull a few tasks into focus (but we’ll talk about that in the next post).
Priorities: Just a Starting Point
Once you’ve brain-dumped all your tasks, give each one a quick label:
High Priority = “This moves my story forward”
Medium Priority = “This would make things better”
Low Priority = “This is me avoiding writing again”
You’re allowed to change your mind. This isn’t a test. It’s just a way to help you focus when your brain wants to spiral.
Let’s Do This—Start Your Backlog
Right now—yes, before you scroll away—jot down 10 things that need to happen for your novel to move forward. They can be messy. They can be obvious. They can be “Decide if I want to keep that terrible prologue.”
Once you’ve got your list, you’ve officially built your first backlog. Welcome to Agile writing.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a perfect system. You just need to see the work, and give yourself a way to come back to it when you’re ready.
Next up, we’ll talk about how to actually use that list—because planning is cute, but progress is even better.
Want a Template?
If you’re the kind of writer who loves a visual system, I’ve made a downloadable backlog worksheet to help you organize your chaos (and maybe color-code it too, if you’re like me). It’s free inside the Agile Author Starter Kit, linked below.
Don’t have a printer? Screenshot it and scribble on it on your phone or a tablet. Don’t want to do that? Grab a scrap of paper and a pen. No excuses. This can be as colorful or basic as you want it.